High School Reunion

[X-Rated]

Just got back from my 35th. Some things change, and some things don't.

People look different. One of my HS buddies came up to me and I had to ask who he was. When he said. "I'm not tellin'", I recognized the voice right away. One guy I walked up to at Johnny's Tavern asked me if I was there for the reunion. I said "I don't know where I'm supposed to be. I just drove in from Chicago". He said his name was Ben F and I said that we played in his grandfather's back yard when we were like 6 or 7. I could tell he couldn't remember, but he knew his grandfather was on Learnard Avenue.

Janet Re came up to me and said, "Did you recognize Kareen H?" I said, "No, which one is she?" She pointed and said, "Now that's not natural, is it?" I concurred that there was a fair amount of plastic surgery at play.

The homecoming queen from my senior year came up and talked to me for a while. We reminisced on the university we had attended together and never saw each other at. There was another girl there who attended that university, but she selectively didn't remember me from the high school or the university.

Sportscaster Michael Coleman was there. He was my sportscaster in Austin and he had been a sportscaster on Long Island, but finally made it big in Kansas City. He showed up with some really really young thing. He said he was thinking about me when he was recently in Green Bay. I said I lived in Chicago. He doesn't remember me too well.

One of my best buddies from grade school had about 2 minutes to talk to me. I would say "eff him" but he is so gay, it wouldn't sound right. My first girlfriend broke my heart. She was looking over a list of people they couldn't locate and she pointed out a name that wasn't me and said "He was my first boyfriend. Yes Jerry. Before you." She had never told me before. **sob sob**

The mayor's (mayor back then) daughter was telling me how happy she was that she will have a man to bring to the annual family Thanksgiving dinner this year. I was so happy for her to finally meet her guy.

The class artist was there. He wanted to know the name of the chick who sat near us in Geometry. There were 2 chicks who sat near us in Geometry. I mentioned one, he said "No". I mentioned the other, and his eyes lit up. Dunno where that's going.

One of the local radio station announcers was there for KLWN radio. I sais, "So you work for the CLOWN?" Yes. She says she gets out of her jammies at some ungodly hour and rolls down the road to the studio and starts getting paid to just say whatever she wants to say. Doesn't get paid much but she loves to talk. She was talking about the genius in music that her son is. He writes his own music and she says she is good at it.

One girl could not afford the airfare from North Carolina to Kansas. She asked on FB whether anyone could spare some tickets. One alum saw it and bought her tickets. That girl was out of town with her sick mother. She could not make it. Anyway, I picked up Teresa at the airport and got her to the reunion. She was able to find friends who would get her to the airport this sunny Monday Morning.

I saw AF3RM's (sk) daughter there. She looks like she always did. She was asking me about my radios. We made a few contacts on the dance floor. I can't forget her call sign.

When I was in line at graduation, one girl said, "This is the last time we will all be together. Someone will always have something else to be doing and they won't come." She did not make it from PA5 land. Maybe Cor knows her.

One guy is a purchasing agent for a massive bakery who makes cakes and stuff for Wal Mart. He was there with a widow from the class of '79. I learned that a semi truckload of cocoa is about $125,000. Those two were pretty clingy.

Matt is an agent for Morgan Stanley in Kansas City. He had many questions about the business I was in.

Someone took a picture of a bunch of us who had attended Kaw Valley school. I hope to get a copy of that picture.

Doug is a real estate agent and had his new sweetie there. Doug always sat there in class twiddling his pencil in his hand and very studious to get all of the answers to his questions and he needed to understand where the answers come from. Today, he is a RWN who watches Fox News and says, <shrug> How can anyone tell what is truth and what is a lie? </shrug>

Herb didn't want to talk to me, nor I to him.

Very appropriately, our class wall-flower, Cindy T, is a professional at flower arrangements. She is married. They have regular parties with unmarried people at their house.

Margy was there. A political adversary in local politics, we had a great time catching up on family. She was the sister in law of AF3RM's daughter.

Teresa, living in North Carolina, has a son with autism. He graduated from HS recently. They are so proud of him. She will be working in the registrar's office at Eastern Carolina. They were at a Scorpions concert or they were really rocked by a hurricane.

Janet is in the process of a divorce. Her husband is walking out. She is scared. I don't blame her. She was telling me about Rodney. In HS, he tried to hand her his class ring and asked her if she would go out with him. She declined and he insisted she take it and think about it. An hour later he wanted it back and said, "Who would want to go out with you?" Anyway, if skinny old Rodney was an ounce under 350, I would be surprised. Janet stood there and could not believe that this was the same Rodney. She was happier now.

Nancy has been working at the Douglas County courthouse since HS. She floats now between working at a Lawrence office and the Baldwin office.

Cindy C was there. She always looked like the little "9 year old" girl on Billy Jack except she had dark hair instead of blond. We had played clarinet in the bands. We didn't get much chance to talk but she is on my FB.

Cathy M was easy to spot. She has a light patch of bangs she combs over. She is doing well.

Don't know why I went. Peer pressure on FB, I guess.

[NQ6U]

Did you enjoy yourself? Will you be going to your 40th?

My own 40th will be coming up next year but I will not be attending.

[KG4CGC]

Interesting story. Thank you for sharing.
My 30th will be next year. I didn't attend my 20th, or any before that, but I didn't attend my 20th which I seriously considered because it was being held on Thanksgiving weekend and maybe 7 people said they would be there. Who knows, maybe it would have turned out like The Breakfast Club movie.

I looked for information on my 25th but I believe I would have been more successful explaining quantitative particle size, microtextural and outline shape analyses of glacigenic sediment reworked by paraglacial debris flows.
So now with FB being the giant that it is, I have found people I grew up with whom I've not spoken to in decades. DECADES. Too bad. I would have liked to have stayed in touch with some of them after parting in school. There is a group just for the people who grew up on my side of town too.

All I can say about these professional reunion companies is that holidays are not the time to expect everyone to collectively come together because it is plainly, slap in your face obvious that family time is going to come first no matter what except for a very small few who may be having troubles. Maybe they don't care because they are still collecting their fee. Either way, the cost of a ticket will probably be $75 and and I already know one couple who graduated the year before I did that are having their reunion in couple of weeks, are complaining that it's too expensive and that for that reason, they're not going. Between you and I, we all know that's horseshit. They had a self image problem in HS. Their memory is flawed because of it. They think everyone hated them which is a total farce. People actually thought they were pretty cool but a warp self image as a teen can eff you up for years, maybe even a lifetime.

You know, I hated school for my own reasons but looking back in time with the help of others, you start to remember more and more of the good things about growing up and people around you. We focus far too much on the bad and if we are not equipped to deal with things at that age it can haunt us for years, maybe even a lifetime. there in lies part of the problem with strict conservative structure in America, it causes people to focus too strongly on the negative especially at a young impressionable age and before you know it, you and millions of your contemporaries are looking at the world through Shit Colored Glasses.

I guess you can see how this now ties in with the political landscape today and how the only answer certain groups can come up with is to force you to wear THEIR shit colored glasses wrapped in a flag and emblazoned with a cross on the hinges when the real answer is to stop wearing shit colored glasses and to stop obsessing about shit.

[PA5COR]

When I was in line at graduation, one girl said, "This is the last time we will all be together. Someone will always have something else to be doing and they won't come." She did not make it from PA5 land. Maybe Cor knows her.


Callsign, name ? there are almost 17 million peeps here ;), i lived in the Hague, Amsterdam, Tilburg, and now Sneek.
Chance will be dismally small i ever met her me thinks...

[NQ6U]

Only 17 million, Cor? I would have expected you to have that many Facebook friends... ;)

[X-Rated]

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=672206817

I thought Amsterdam was a tiny town. LOL.

We had Friday night at Johnny's Tavern and the next night at Maceli's. At Johnny's, you buy the drinks and food you want to buy. If you don't drink or eat anything there, it is free. That way, you can choose to go to one and not another, or decide to go to both or neither.

[KJ3N]

Never been to a class reunion and very unlikely I ever will.

I couldn't stand most of them back then. I was the nerd and was tortured in line with that label. What possible reason would I have to go see these assholes 30+ years later?

Three of my former classmates are FB friends; all of them women. Dated none of them. Dated no one from my HS, as a matter of fact. Didn't have a GF until I was almost out of school.

HS was a fucking disaster, like most of my school-life experience. Fuck 'em.

[KC2UGV]

Never been to a class reunion and very unlikely I ever will.

I couldn't stand most of them back then. I was the nerd and was tortured in line with that label. What possible reason would I have to go see these assholes 30+ years later?

Three of my former classmates are FB friends; all of them women. Dated none of them. Dated no one from my HS, as a matter of fact. Didn't have a GF until I was almost out of school.

HS was a fucking disaster, like most of my school-life experience. Fuck 'em.

To show them that nerds run this planet...

[X-Rated]

To show them that nerds run this planet...

Like the Senior Homecoming Queen and I had quite a discussion. It wouldn't have happened 35 years ago like that. And they do realize that they were left in the dust brain wise. The guy from Morgan Stanley kept asking questions on my job and he was really perplexed that it was possible to get this education A) In Kansas and B) In the 1970's. So they can get a taste of what they dished out for all those years.

[W5GA]

I went to my 25th some years back. Who the hell were all those old fat people?

[rot]

Bwaa...Funny...I went to the 30th...probably will not get back until the 40th in 2015. I hooked up on FB solely as a shot to saying hello to a few of the ones I graduated with in '75. Even that turned out to be a little puny.....I joined a FB group of "Native Charlotteans" which is mostly +/- 10 years from me. That has been quite the hoot. One guy I went to school with in 3rd grade has has been loading up totally awesome pics of some of the great ass concerts we used to go to in the Coliseum, Park Center, and old venues which are now gone. He had some great stuff of a '71 Who concert back when we where all dreadfully skinny and had a bit to much fun. Tons of post on late 60's/early 70's Pink Floyd stuff, Charlotte Hornets baseball and Charlotte Checkers hockey. Of course there are those who can only chat about the grand mall openings and some training bra type stuff, but there ya go...That memory lane has been alot of fun. Amazing how many people remember and are still barking on that stuff via FB. Lots of good crap and hell I may even do an eyeball with a few when I get back to see my mom down the road a bit.
rot

not sure iffen thisll work...but anyhoo..Pete in Charlotte circa '71
4619

[W3WN]

My wife always tells me about the great times she's had at her HS reunions. Her favorite stories revolve around the football stars & cheerleaders & others who were the snobby elite... who now sit at a table or three by themselves, miserable, as everyone else is having a good time together and not giving them their due.

Up until a few years ago, if my HS class had a reunion, I never knew about it. Then out of the blue, I get invited to our 30th. RSVP address was for a guy I kinda knew, lived around the proverbial corner... still at the same address. Tickets were $75 each, and it was followed by a picnic brunch (with a hike) at someone's home. Name didn't ring a bell, I guess if I knew the wife's maiden name it would have clicked.

We didn't go. Two reasons. The second is that we had a family wedding to go to a couple of weeks later in the same area, and at the time, I couldn't afford both trips. But the first? I hadn't heard from ANYONE in that group since graduation, save for a short "reunion" the following Christmas for a small group of us. Not a peep. And it's not like I was hard to find. I had no interest in seeing total strangers whom I had once shared 2 years of school with (having moved to PA right before my junior year, I was definitely an outsider looking in, and I never did really mesh with any of the established cliques) 30 years before. I'm not sure any of them would have recognized me anyway.

I feel the same way about the National for my old college fraternity. About once every 5 years I get a note from them trying to remind me about all the good times (hah!) and please donate money, otherwise, they ignore me. So much for fraternity. I'd rather that they just left me alone altogether at this point.

[X-Rated]

I went to my 25th some years back. Who the hell were all those old fat people?

My XYL was afraid to go because of her weight. It turned out she was feeling under the weather and she still does, but neither of us would have been above the average there for heaviness.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m165/n9xr/Sept%202009%20Asia/Karen.png

Then there are those, like on the right, who are not really natural. What's that all about? There is no way she just grew up that way. No one sees any resemblance to what she looked like 35 years ago. Looks like another Elvira or something scary.

[X-Rated]

My wife always tells me about the great times she's had at her HS reunions. Her favorite stories revolve around the football stars & cheerleaders & others who were the snobby elite... who now sit at a table or three by themselves, miserable, as everyone else is having a good time together and not giving them their due.

Up until a few years ago, if my HS class had a reunion, I never knew about it. Then out of the blue, I get invited to our 30th. RSVP address was for a guy I kinda knew, lived around the proverbial corner... still at the same address. Tickets were $75 each, and it was followed by a picnic brunch (with a hike) at someone's home. Name didn't ring a bell, I guess if I knew the wife's maiden name it would have clicked.

We didn't go. Two reasons. The second is that we had a family wedding to go to a couple of weeks later in the same area, and at the time, I couldn't afford both trips. But the first? I hadn't heard from ANYONE in that group since graduation, save for a short "reunion" the following Christmas for a small group of us. Not a peep. And it's not like I was hard to find. I had no interest in seeing total strangers whom I had once shared 2 years of school with (having moved to PA right before my junior year, I was definitely an outsider looking in, and I never did really mesh with any of the established cliques) 30 years before. I'm not sure any of them would have recognized me anyway.

I feel the same way about the National for my old college fraternity. About once every 5 years I get a note from them trying to remind me about all the good times (hah!) and please donate money, otherwise, they ignore me. So much for fraternity. I'd rather that they just left me alone altogether at this point.

A) We did not go through school in a vacuum. Acts of kindness from others affected our lives and even acts of derision affected our lives as well. One girl I saw this reunion was telling me of a girl who requested a friendship in FB. She explained that the girl had cornered her in the girl's restroom with accomplices in Jr Hi and demanded that she provide a great paper for one of them in her class. Fortunately a teacher came in and she started a conversation and got out of there, but the girl on FB said she was sorry. She was on drugs at the time and did not remember the situation. That one is married to a Church of Christ minister today and says her live is totally turned around. The former druggie was not at the reunion. Those who were give you a perspective on the way things were and the way things are that you would not get otherwise, confirming or denying what you had believed.

B) We don't know what that perspective of others is until we get that perspective from others. Some people are still jerks. Some people may think that you are too snobby to want to converse with them. I mean, I didn't belong to a frat in college, and therefore, I could think that you became a snob from that tidbit.

But like I saw Herb at Johnny's Tavern. I never had a good experience with Herb in my life. I made no effort to even make eye contact with him nor him with me and I had a great time with about everybody else. I had nothing to apologize to Herb for and apparently he had no apologies for me. 99% of all the other people there I had a great time with, and that is something I can think about. I can think about Leslie getting to her family Thanksgiving dinner for the first time with a man she loves. I can think about one of my old buddies who is afraid of another relationship. I can think about Teresa and exchange ideas on her child with autism. I can look for things to come in the way of music from Kim's son. I can watch my emails I will send to my 1st grade buddy remain unanswered even though he assured me they would be answered. And I will know that several who I thought didn't know me actually did and that several who knew me, I don't ever remember even after looking at their old picture. But that is something that is my fault and cannot or should not be blamed on others.

FYI. There were about 500 who graduated in my class and not all graduated so there was probably 600 in my class. I did try to become acquainted with them all.

[NQ6U]

A) We did not go through school in a vacuum. Acts of kindness from others affected our lives and even acts of derision affected our lives as well.

Most of us didn't get much of the former in high school but got a lot of the latter. Hence, the disinclination to attend a reunion.

[NA4BH]

I like going to the reunions to see all those snobby people and how their lives are crap now. You know the ones: 6 divorces, just as many kids, bankrupt, foreclosed, and all the family money pissed away. Now they are humble and seeking friends. I laugh (to myself) when I see them.

[X-Rated]

I like going to the reunions to see all those snobby people and how their lives are crap now. You know the ones: 6 divorces, just as many kids, bankrupt, foreclosed, and all the family money pissed away. Now they are humble and seeking friends. I laugh (to myself) when I see them.

You can see it. Yes. I do not find this as sweet as others might, but undoubtedly, tables have shifted as the plates under Virginia.

Here is something I got out of the reunion.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m165/n9xr/Sept%202009%20Asia/2ndgrade.png

I am the one in the scout uniform in the front row closest to the camera. The other dude in the front row in the scout uniform is the guy pictured above. This is actually a country school. The first row on the right is the 3rd grade, the second and third rows are the 2nd grade, and the 4th row is the 1st grade.

[KG4CGC]

↑↑ Churldren, put your hands on your desks and smile at the camera.

[X-Rated]

↑↑ Churldren, put your hands on your desks and smile at the camera.

And, and, and remember Easter and keep it holy in our public schools.

[K7SGJ]

DUCK AND COVER

[X-Rated]

Carol Sneegas finished out that year teaching and then went on a nervous breakdown. She later returned to teaching far away in another district where she did well and retired happily.

[w3bny]

You can see it. Yes. I do not find this as sweet as others might, but undoubtedly, tables have shifted as the plates under Virginia.

Here is something I got out of the reunion.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m165/n9xr/Sept%202009%20Asia/2ndgrade.png

I am the one in the scout uniform in the front row closest to the camera. The other dude in the front row in the scout uniform is the guy pictured above. This is actually a country school. The first row on the right is the 3rd grade, the second and third rows are the 2nd grade, and the 4th row is the 1st grade.

What...No friendly neighborhood Mexican? come on...

[X-Rated]

What...No friendly neighborhood Mexican? come on...

Nope. No Meskins in this photo. There was a black in another class at a higher grade level. And in the next grade, there was one of my cousins who was (is?) a half breed like in Cher's song. But many here were from either a farm or a rural trailer court where their fathers were laborers in the fertilizer plant. The local Hispanics were way too high classed for this country school.

[W1GUH]

Went to my 30th. It was exactly what the cliche' said it would be. Nobody has changed at all and the same groups formed as always. One would think that after 30 years of living and growing people would have expanded to where petty HS BS is put where it should be...down the toilet. But no....


What was really surprising were the people how were still around in that god-forsaken place.

[W1GUH]

To show them that nerds run this planet...

Nerds really, really suck at running anything. Take a butcher's hook at what mayor mike has done.

[W3WN]

A) We did not go through school in a vacuum. Acts of kindness from others affected our lives and even acts of derision affected our lives as well. One girl I saw this reunion was telling me of a girl who requested a friendship in FB. She explained that the girl had cornered her in the girl's restroom with accomplices in Jr Hi and demanded that she provide a great paper for one of them in her class. Fortunately a teacher came in and she started a conversation and got out of there, but the girl on FB said she was sorry. She was on drugs at the time and did not remember the situation. That one is married to a Church of Christ minister today and says her live is totally turned around. The former druggie was not at the reunion. Those who were give you a perspective on the way things were and the way things are that you would not get otherwise, confirming or denying what you had believed.

B) We don't know what that perspective of others is until we get that perspective from others. Some people are still jerks. Some people may think that you are too snobby to want to converse with them. I mean, I didn't belong to a frat in college, and therefore, I could think that you became a snob from that tidbit.

But like I saw Herb at Johnny's Tavern. I never had a good experience with Herb in my life. I made no effort to even make eye contact with him nor him with me and I had a great time with about everybody else. I had nothing to apologize to Herb for and apparently he had no apologies for me. 99% of all the other people there I had a great time with, and that is something I can think about. I can think about Leslie getting to her family Thanksgiving dinner for the first time with a man she loves. I can think about one of my old buddies who is afraid of another relationship. I can think about Teresa and exchange ideas on her child with autism. I can look for things to come in the way of music from Kim's son. I can watch my emails I will send to my 1st grade buddy remain unanswered even though he assured me they would be answered. And I will know that several who I thought didn't know me actually did and that several who knew me, I don't ever remember even after looking at their old picture. But that is something that is my fault and cannot or should not be blamed on others.

FYI. There were about 500 who graduated in my class and not all graduated so there was probably 600 in my class. I did try to become acquainted with them all.Sorry, wasn't trying to come across as snobby. Limitations of the written word, the tone doesn't always come across correctly.

My school had 450 students. Grades 7 - 12. Graduating class was 63 IIRC. So when I arrived as a HS Junior, most of the other kids had known each other for years, the groups had been formed, and I was on the outside looking in. (One of my best friends my senior year was a girl who had just transferred in, and was in the same situation I was) There were other extenuating factors as well... I couldn't invite people over because my grandparents were living with us, and my grandmother, sad to say, was suffering from dementia, so we weren't allowed. There was a religious difference (my brother and I were 2 of only 5 or 6 Jewish kids in the entire school), other things. So, I simply didn't connect well with everyone else. And yes, that's in part me as well.

Then there was also the one guy... well, he informed the whole class that the reason I was "odd" and "talked funny" was because I was gay. Which I wasn't and I'm not, but that little bit of gossip made it near impossible to get a date. Ironically enough (and I can chuckle about this now), he was the one who invited me as his date to the prom! No wonder everyone believed him...

Oh, and the only thing I can say about joining that fraternity? It was a huge mistake, I would have been much better off without them. That's another story for another thread. Suffice to say, I should have realized that I already belonged to a fraternity... one that didn't have greek letters, just an FCC exam, which was jokingly nicknamed "I Tappa Key"

[X-Rated]

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m165/n9xr/Sept%202009%20Asia/Matt.png

I had a good time talking to the Morgan Stanley guy, Matt. We spent more time together here than we ever had before. We didn't hate each other. We didn't fight each other before. We just never really knew each other before. He knew my name and I knew his. Even connecting on this level helps me to understand different angles from whence we came. I thought talking to him would suck. But I had a good time this weekend with this guy. You really don't know until you find out for sure.

[X-Rated]

4677

Here was a photo of my HS back in the 70's when I was there. Fond memories shared by others on the internet.

[K7SGJ]

4677

Here was a photo of my HS back in the 70's when I was there. Fond memories shared by others on the internet.

You went to police school?

[X-Rated]

You went to police school?

No. Police went to my school. Someone is getting busted there on the right. This was recess for us.

[K7SGJ]

Instead of basketball and baseball, I assume you had night sticks and teargas?

[X-Rated]

This incident was in response to a night time driveby with a Molotov Cocktail to the University of Kansas Student Union the night before. This was actually the involvement of the FBI there at the school questioning the usual suspects.

[NQ6U]

Here's a shot of my high school on graduation day:

http://www.earthenvesseljournal.com/static/images/San Quentin 4.jpg

You'll notice that they decorated the guard tower.

[X-Rated]

Here's a shot of my high school on graduation day:

You'll notice that they decorated the guard tower.

How festive. But this was my high school.

[W1GUH]

4677

Here was a photo of my HS back in the 70's when I was there. Fond memories shared by others on the internet.

Looks like the accreditation committee to me.