Way Back Weekend

We spent the weekend on a trip down memory lane. Wednesday night was Brian's 10 year high school reunion, and mine was Saturday night. While Brian highly anticipated his, I almost didn't even go to mine. I didn't exactly "fit in" in high school. But in the end, curiosity got the best of me and I signed up to go only one week before the event.

Attending someone else's reunion can be pretty boring. I only knew one person at Brian's school, and we weren't exactly great friends. Fortunately, his was hosted at a brewery and there was open bar. The food, also, was fantastic. Otherwise, I pretty much stood by his side, nodding my head a lot. I did wonder why he didn't keep in touch with a few of the people from his class... but I know that Brian and I are just those sorts of people. We mostly keep to ourselves.

My reunion was something right out of a 1980s John Hughes movie. It was hosted at a wedding reception/special events facility and it was far fancier than we anticipated. I think we were a little under-dressed, but who cares. As soon as we entered, you could see it was no different than high school. The cliques were alive and kicking. Everyone stuck to their little groups and barely made eye contact with anyone who didn't belong. Out of a class of 234 students (give or take), only about 100 people came, including spouses. My worst fear was that nobody with whom I used to converse would show up, and it wasn't far from that. Only a handful of people were there that I felt comfortable talking to, and they all left early. By 10PM, we snuck out the door. The food was pretty good, at least, but I could have found better things to spend the $80 on.

Brian says I would have wondered all the rest of my life about it if I didn't go. I don't know about that. He may be right... But since my class made up a Power Point presentation of what everyone had been up to, and they'll be emailing it out, I really could have found out what my former classmates were up to without attending anyway. Deep down inside, I did hope that some of the mean girls had ballooned and gotten some justice. Instead, most of them were *thinner* than in high school (read: anorexic thin). Only 1 girl (aside from myself) was noticably larger than she was in h.s., and I never had any problems with her. Some of the guys had put on a few pounds, but again, no big deal. I didn't feel anyone had been a recipient of karma. And the cliquiest of the cliques were certainly unchanged. Either totally blasted or high, they provided some entertainment (taking me back to the old high school dance days when they were all in the same mental state) but again, no huge failures. Am I evil for wishing some of them did? I was tormented for much of my high school career, for no reason other than I was different... Aren't I allowed some satisfaction? Apparently, not.

In any case, I've been cured of the reunion bug. Never again for me. It just made me feel like that anxious girl I used to be who tried so hard to fit in. I don't like that me and I don't want to be her again.