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High School Reunion

post #1 of 55
1/15/09 at 11:43am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I got that stupid letter in the mail yesterday. My high school reunion invite. I have been kind of dreading it, because I have no idea if I want to attend or not. I only went to that school for just over a year, so most of my friends were at another school. A lot of my friends I did go to that school with were also a year below me. I have considered going to see who I do run into, and thinking the next time I have a reunion we would be 40 is kind of depressing. I'm considering going the Grosse Point Blank way and telling everyone I'm a hitman as well.

So please, share your stories about your reunions and help me decide if I should go or not. And yes, there is one girl in particular I wouldn't mind running into.
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post #2 of 55
1/15/09 at 11:59am
How has your life turned out, better or worse than you thought?
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post #3 of 55
1/15/09 at 12:12pm
This is your 10 year, right? I went to mine. Total waste of time. I'm actually more interested in checking out the 20 year one (2 more years away). Enough time to divorce myself away from the high school years that I'll actually be interested in seeing what became of people. Plus 10 years really isn't enough time to really establish yourself (especially if you consider 4-5 years of that 10 was spent getting more education).
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post #4 of 55
1/15/09 at 12:29pm
The 10-year was just sort of a mess of drunk 28 year olds, the 20-year was completely fascinating. But if you didn't know anyone, it's easy to sneak in and out. You can do recon on the girl through Facebook or something, right?
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post #5 of 55
1/15/09 at 12:37pm
I didn't bother with my 5 yr or 10 yr reunions, but I went to my 20 yr last summer. Considering that I was still in shape with a full head of hair, I felt pretty good. It actually turned out pretty cool, and I got to reconnect with a few friends from high school that I'd lost track of.

One thing that I noticed: alot of the female wall-flowers from high school had blossomed into very attractive women, and alot of the jocks had turned into slugs. It was very eye-opening.

Another thing: our reunion was a meat market of single/divorced people. If you're in the market for a date, this is a good event to go to.
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post #6 of 55
1/15/09 at 12:45pm
That was true of my 20th, but not my 10th. Everyone was married at the 10th and divorced at the 20th.
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post #7 of 55
1/15/09 at 12:50pm
I got the invitation to my fifth last year and just laughed and threw it away. I would imagine it would be the same for my tenth. The twentieth might be pretty interesting.

Five year reunions seem like the stupidest idea ever. Everyone's story is going to be that they have an entry level job right out of college or a shitty job and no education.
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post #8 of 55
1/15/09 at 1:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KidNtheHelmet View Post
Five year reunions seem like the stupidest idea ever. Everyone's story is going to be that they have an entry level job right out of college or a shitty job and no education.
Correctamundo.
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post #9 of 55
1/15/09 at 1:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KidNtheHelmet View Post
Five year reunions seem like the stupidest idea ever. Everyone's story is going to be that they have an entry level job right out of college or a shitty job and no education.
The concept of high school reunions just strike me as dumb anyway, but I hated high school. Practically everyone was either inbred, pregnant, or both. I doubt much has changed since then aside from the number of teeth in everyone's head.
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post #10 of 55
1/15/09 at 2:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KidNtheHelmet View Post
I got the invitation to my fifth last year and just laughed and threw it away. I would imagine it would be the same for my tenth. The twentieth might be pretty interesting.

Five year reunions seem like the stupidest idea ever. Everyone's story is going to be that they have an entry level job right out of college or a shitty job and no education.
My 5th was way more interesting than my 10th. But there were mitigating circumstances, one being that the 5th was a casual thing held at a bar and the 10th was arranged under the delusion that it would be "classy," another being that two friends and I took some shrooms before the 5th.

Most notable sentence I spoke that night: "I had the biggest crush on you in 8th grade... but that may just be the drugs talking." I later found out she misheard me and told a mutual friend that I'd had a crush on her since the 8th grade... and, sadly, she completely ignored the second part.

The 10th was mostly just a bunch of baby pictures. Plus, I'd started seeing MissZooey between when I bought the ticket and the event, itself, so I was dateless.
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post #11 of 55
1/15/09 at 2:45pm
Spouses don't belong at reunions. They don't want to go, and you're using up their evening for something that doesn't overly intrigue them. I think a third of the attendees at my 20th all had a variation of "my husband/wife begged me to let them off the hook for tonight."
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post #12 of 55
1/15/09 at 2:54pm
If your spouse insists on coming to your reunion, she's worried that you're going to hook up with an old flame or something.
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post #13 of 55
1/15/09 at 2:59pm
My 10 year reunion comes up this year. But i keep regular contact with at least 20 of my highscool classmates, so it's kinda pointless.
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post #14 of 55
1/15/09 at 3:05pm
I found writing my "where are they now/reflections on your time in high school" thing for the companion scrapbook a lot more entertaining than the actual 5 year reunion, which I didn't go to. Part of that was because I didn't want to be the only guy in the room without a degree, and part of it was I'd just started a new job and so forth and so on. I went to a very small Jesuit high school and most of my classmates went to the same colleges and live in the same towns, so it would have been a repeat of high school for me. Pass.
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post #15 of 55
1/15/09 at 3:53pm
I got voted "Most Changed" at my reunion. I'd lost a bunch of weight and my hair. I got a free beer as a result. Score!
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post #16 of 55
1/15/09 at 4:02pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Domingo View Post
How has your life turned out, better or worse than you thought?
Actually, it's turned out really good. I'm not in my dream job, but I am doing pretty damn good for myself.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
You can do recon on the girl through Facebook or something, right?
I actually tried to get in touch with a lot of former classmates a couple years ago on Facebook and Myspace, and struck out. Didn't find anyone I wanted to. Kind of worried she'll have gone to shit since the guy she was seeing during high school was basically a massive, drunk, abusive prick.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post

Another thing: our reunion was a meat market of single/divorced people. If you're in the market for a date, this is a good event to go to.
That's kind of what I was thinking. Might be worth it just to meet the girls there that I didn't even know. My class was pretty big. This is supposed to be a big classy gig downtown, which seems hilarious because my school ended up being out in the sticks, so 50% of the graduating class wore Wranglers and cowboy boots to class, while dipping skoal. I feel bad for the hotel ballroom.
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post #17 of 55
1/15/09 at 4:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post
If your spouse insists on coming to your reunion, she's worried that you're going to hook up with an old flame or something.
If your spouse doesn't come, she/he is hoping you hook up with an old flame or something.

Take your significant other to keep yourself in check. Again reunions are mostly for single people looking to hook up.
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post #18 of 55
1/15/09 at 4:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by neaux View Post
If your spouse doesn't come, she/he is hoping you hook up with an old flame or something.

Take your significant other to keep yourself in check. Again reunions are mostly for single people looking to hook up.
I thought it was more to brag and perpetuate old feuds.
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post #19 of 55
1/15/09 at 4:43pm
I almost didn’t go to my 10-year reunion. I found out that the troubled students who attended the half-day “Wilderness” school were also invited. I was incensed. Bad enough they were allowed to graduate at the same ceremony as me and purchase the same yearbooks but to also get to pass themselves off as legitimate alumni was too much for me to take. But in the end I decided to be the bigger man and went.
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post #20 of 55
1/15/09 at 4:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveB View Post
I thought it was more to brag and perpetuate old feuds.
And encounter people who still haven't left high school behind.

I can't say if I would attend a reunion. I wasn't close with anybody compoudned with the fact I went to two high schools.
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post #21 of 55
1/15/09 at 4:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdHocken View Post
I can't say if I would attend a reunion. I wasn't close with anybody compoudned with the fact I went to two high schools.
I felt much the same way. I pretty much hated high school (various reasons) and I kept in contact with most of the people who I gave a damn about. Going to the 20 year reunion was pretty eye-opening, though. Seeing how much people had changed over 20 years was pretty stunning, and I saw some pretty cool things:

- I saw one guy who was pretty socially inept in High School get apologized to by several people. 20 years worth of maturity compelled several people to try and make amends of a sort, and that was a really neat thing to see.

- I got hit on HARD by a gal that I kinda had a thing for in High School. It turned out that she had felt the same way...go figure. She looked GOOD, too...had I been single, I would have gone after her. (Needless to say, the wife wasn't around for that particular exchange).

I'm glad that I went.
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post #22 of 55
1/15/09 at 5:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyG View Post
I actually tried to get in touch with a lot of former classmates a couple years ago on Facebook and Myspace, and struck out. Didn't find anyone I wanted to.
Try again. Facebook kind of exploded for grownups this past year. I have new people from high school turning up on my "people you might know" list every month. And so many of us reconnected in the months leading up to the reunion that it took the edge off the weirdness once we got there.

And if you're doing well for yourself and didn't go bald or gain 50 pounds, you really should go. Nothing better than hearing "you look EXACTLY the same!" over and over by a bunch of people who appear to have eaten your former classmates.
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post #23 of 55
1/15/09 at 5:34pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post

And if you're doing well for yourself ... gain 50 pounds, you really should go.
Yeah, I got to work on that part. I've probably gained 50-60lbs since I left high school. And due to sports I was in really, really good shape all through high school. I don't want to hear "Billy, is that you? What happened to that lean beast?" then go drink myself into a stupor at the bar.
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post #24 of 55
1/15/09 at 5:47pm
Well, in that case, I want to assure you that you won't be alone on that front.
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post #25 of 55
1/15/09 at 5:48pm
The weight thing or drinking into a stupor thing?
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post #26 of 55
1/15/09 at 5:48pm
I'll also add: it was interesting to see how many of my classmates came out of the closet in the past 20 years. Many of them brought their partners, too.
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post #27 of 55
1/15/09 at 5:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdHocken View Post
The weight thing or drinking into a stupor thing?
Both, in my experience.
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post #28 of 55
1/15/09 at 5:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post
I'll also add: it was interesting to see how many of my classmates came out of the closet in the past 20 years. Many of them brought their partners, too.
Interesting while providing absolutely NO surprises. We had about 6.
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post #29 of 55
1/15/09 at 5:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post
I'll also add: it was interesting to see how many of my classmates came out of the closet in the past 20 years. Many of them brought their partners, too.
Now that's nice.
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post #30 of 55
1/15/09 at 5:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
Interesting while providing absolutely NO surprises. We had about 6.
We had a couple of surprises in this regard. Surprisingly, one of the ones that everyone assumed WOULD be gay was married with a few kids; I don't think that the family was a beard, either.

eta: Ed, I meant no offense on this issue. It was merely an observation of what transpired at the reunion, that's it.
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post #31 of 55
1/15/09 at 6:08pm
I ignored my 10th year reunion, but was compelled to go to my 20th. My best friend, who still lives in Atlanta, spent quite a few years trying to convince our old classmates that I was not dead, as the rumor went.

Since I was the ropesmoker supreme in HS, I threw a monkey in the wrench, and went in full dress uniform. This was 3 years ago, and before my retirement.

I hate full dress. You feel like a mannequin. But the results were worth the discomfort. Jaws dropped. Illusions were dashed, and I did not go back to my hotel room alone.
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post #32 of 55
1/15/09 at 6:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lima Oscar Lima View Post
...and I did not go back to my hotel room alone.
Wife #3?
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post #33 of 55
1/15/09 at 6:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post
eta: Ed, I meant no offense on this issue. It was merely an observation of what transpired at the reunion, that's it.
I think Ed literally meant that the gay folks bringing partners to the reunion was nice.
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post #34 of 55
1/15/09 at 6:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post
Wife #3?

No... But possibly ex-wife #4.
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post #35 of 55
1/15/09 at 6:23pm
I enjoyed myself at both my ten and twenty year. But I think I had a lot different experiences in High School then most. I was never an outcast, I played hockey, and had lots of friends. I also managed to move on despite not having a bad High School experience.

But the hook up thing is dead on. I got some after the ten year and could have had some after the 20 if I wasn't a married man with a six month old.
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post #36 of 55
1/15/09 at 6:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
I think Ed literally meant that the gay folks bringing partners to the reunion was nice.
Nah, can't be that. We've established that bringing a partner prevents the sexin', which is the sole point of a reunion.
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post #37 of 55
1/15/09 at 6:35pm
My ten-year was in '07. I wasn't even invited. That's what I get for falling off the grid, I guess.
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post #38 of 55
1/15/09 at 6:41pm
My ten-year was last year. My classmates chose to hold it in some townie bar a few blocks from my high school. I chose to throw a dinner party for a handful of my former classmates and receive regular updates on the goings-on via text message. There was apparently a drunken fistfight between some of my classmates and some of the townies.

I'm continually astonished that I'm actually from that f-ing hole.
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post #39 of 55
1/15/09 at 6:44pm
If you DO go to your reunion, find out if there's a pre-party the night before. THAT'S where all of the fun is, trust me. People are putting on a show at the actual reunion; the pre-party is where everyone lets loose.
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post #40 of 55
1/15/09 at 6:47pm
Went to my 20-year in 2007. It was fun. No one got hot, though. At the 20, everyone's a parent, and looks it.
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post #41 of 55
1/15/09 at 6:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan "Nordling" Cerny View Post
Went to my 20-year in 2007. It was fun. No one got hot, though. At the 20, everyone's a parent, and looks it.
In Texas, maybe...
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post #42 of 55
1/15/09 at 10:45pm
Thread Starter 
Good call on checking back in on Facebook. Apparently there's been a reunion group made for some time, but it's starting to fill up. 130 right now, still only about a tenth of the entire class, but a source of information for sure. Sadly, out of the 130 people I know exactly....zero. And every cute former classmate seems to have kids and/or husband. But yeah, things are more interesting now.
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post #43 of 55
1/16/09 at 10:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveB View Post
I thought it was more to brag and perpetuate old feuds.
that's a bonus!
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post #44 of 55
1/16/09 at 10:51am
My 15 year reunion was this past November. I didn't go to that or any others mainly because all the people I would want to keep in touch with, I already do, and the ones I don't want to, I don't. I also went to a small private school where my graduating class was 20 people. So we don't really have class reunions. We have all-school reunions with maybe a specific class dinner the night before depending on how many people said they were coming. The people I would want to hang out with were not going, so I passed.

I second the Facebook thing. In the past year especially, dozens of high school friends have popped up (although mainly from the class before and after me). I have to brag a little though. Maybe its because the majority of my classmates live in Florida or New York (pretty health conscious states), but not a single one of them looks overweight or balding. They all look pretty much the same, except with kids.
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post #45 of 55
1/22/09 at 11:17pm
I blew off my 25th a few years back. So that means I've effectively avoided every opportunity to see any of those folk again. I've remained close to my best friend from that time, and that's about all I need.

My lovely wife wonders why I don't want to catch up with any of them. But then, she didn't actively hate the people she went to school with.
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post #46 of 55
1/23/09 at 10:48am
Not having enjoyed my high school experience much, my first instinct when I get a reunion notice is to trash it. But a small part of me wants to go and show off; I have a lovely wife and a great kid, and a good job. Don't mean to come off snotty, but when we graduated, our senior yearbooks had a line for your ambition. Mine was to go to Syracuse, get a law degree and practice law. Today, you can see my Syracuse degree on the wall of my law office. It actually struck me for the 1st time not too long ago when I was looking at the old yearbook that I had done exactly what I said I'd do. I wonder how many of my classmates can say the same? That small part of me wants, sometimes, to go rub some noses in it. But then I snap out of it and realize what a waste of time that would end up being.

Besides, I went to an all boys Catholic High School. Not much chance of hookin' up there.
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post #47 of 55
1/23/09 at 11:14am
My ten year reunion was supposed to be in November but the organizers couldn't get enough people to go. $70 per person for a so-so restaurant and no open bar does not an enticing reunion make. Rumor was most of that money was supposed to go towards decorations.

Points deducted from the organizers for sending out notifications on the event and including two deceased classmates in the "do you know where they are?" section. You know, the part where they list people they can't contact. I know over the years you lose track of people and might not hear about it if someone you barely knew passes away, but the two chicks organizing the reunion never left the area and the deaths were pretty high profile.
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post #48 of 55
1/23/09 at 11:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by IggytheBorg View Post
Besides, I went to an all boys Catholic High School. Not much chance of hookin' up there.
Me too, another reason I am not interested in going to a reunion.
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post #49 of 55
1/23/09 at 12:26pm
That's awesome Iggy, I could only wish to have the same kind of clarity you did. BTW what type of law do you do?

And you guys went to private schools huh? We've got some rich folk here
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post #50 of 55
1/23/09 at 2:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdHocken View Post
That's awesome Iggy, I could only wish to have the same kind of clarity you did. BTW what type of law do you do?

And you guys went to private schools huh? We've got some rich folk here
Get their names, Ed. We'll roll them later.

They either did or didn't have my 20 year HS reunion about four years back. I got an invite, paid my fee, then got it returned to me with a note saying the event was moved to another reunion company. No news as to where it was going to be held, etc. Hopefully, there'll be a 25th reunion in 2010, as I wouldn't mind seeing a couple of folks here and there I haven't seen in awhile.

And Iggy? If you do go, successful lawyer or no, have you and the Mrs. rock Motorhead shirts. Fuck dressing up, you're going to PARTY damn it.
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