My 10 Year Reunion Update

Well, ladies. I went.

Back in May, I posted a long nervous rant about going to my high school's 10 year reunion and I wanted to thank you guys for your encouragement and feedback.

So my final verdict? 2 out of 5 stars. Lame-ish. Could have spent that money on cute metallic gladiators instead. Looking back, the only good part was my date: my best friend from high school. And thank goodness I didn't bring my husband. The spouses there looked five times more uncomfortable than I felt and guaranteed a hundred million times more bored.

Why it stunk:

1) My graduating class was pretty large, I'm talking 500 students! Even a 50% turnout would have been cool. But how many ended up showing? Oh ... 85 people. Weak!! The chances of me wanting to catch up with anybody in attendence was pretty slim. Turned out to be very true.

2) It only took one look around the room (which was a sectioned off portion of a community college gym, mind you) to see that not a single guy I dated or even went on one date with, was there. It caught me a little off guard that this was something I noticed right away, I'm happily married and had no intentions of chasing an old flame, but I thought it would have been very interesting, fun maybe? to see one or two of these guys and laugh/chat about old times. Am I weird?

3) The mingling was so awkward, just as I had pictured. What made things worse was that as soon as you got there, there were round tables and people were seated wherever they pleased while a buffet-style dinner kept people planted in their seats and not up and about talking to people. I really wish there was something of a cocktail hour first so that people could mingle a bit more and then be seated for dinner. It took major guts just to think about going to another table to talk to someone.

I could go on, but those are my top three gripes. I agree with CityGal who commented on my orginal post about waiting to go to your 20th reunion instead. In 20 years, more things are likely to change, people grow up a little more. I mean, c'mon, some people at my 10 year were still in school! For their Bachelor's.

Anyway, one thing though, I have to say part of me is glad I went. My best friend and I afterwards commented on how proud of ourselves we were for going. We braved the storm. We went in for the plunge. It was like we needed T-shirts that said in big blocky letters, "I SURVIVED."

I guess the lesson learned here is that if you already keep in touch with the ones you care about from high school, there's no point in going to your 10 year reunion unless for curiousity's sake, or to simply say, "I did it." You won't miss much if you don't go, except for that healthy dose of awkwardness that only high school can bring.

Reunion Jitters

Next month is my high school's 10 year reunion, and for some reason it's really starting to freak me out. Blech, I feel old! An ironic post too given the last one is all about graduation, very nostalgic.

In high school, I was a pretty cool girl (at least in my head). I had a lot of friends and I like to think the popular kids found me tolerable. I was in band (not pep band, that's a totally different world) as a third chair clarinet, and one year my name actually managed to find itself listed as a runner-up for Homecoming queen. I ran track and cross country, I was no star, just average, and I was on the Yearbook staff as Sports Editor. Man, I hate sports, who knows how I ever got that role. And like every other girl, I lived for the dances. My baby sister's prom is actually tonight, aw so cute.

Anyway, so what am I afraid of? Who am I afraid of seeing? I don't know, I just think it will all be very awkward, that's all. Awkward because I haven't kept in touch with anyone (except for my best friend, we're going together btw, thank goodness for her). Awkward because I feel like the small town I grew up in isn't "home" anymore since I haven't been back in years and since my family moved away after I left for college. Awkward because I think most of my classmates stayed put, and according to Facebook it looks like many actually married each other. Can we say insta-clique?

And speaking of Facebook, a lot of us have reconnected over the years. Yet, we don't do anything beyond friending each other. So technically, I don't think Facebook counts when it comes to "staying in touch" ... hm, unless you count Facebook stalking? So I don't keep in touch with anyone, yet thanks to Facebook I still know how many kids people have, where they went to college, what they had for breakfast, how they feel about the weather, oh and I've even seen all the pics from their last vacation and probably left a cute comment in there somewhere, etc. All that personal stuff! AHH! Yet when we see each other next month, I'm betting it'll still feel like 10 years are between us. So awkward! See why I'm freaking out?

OR, what if I get there and me and an old classmate start talking and everything. And what if what I remember about her isn't what she remembers about me? Like, I remember something good (i.e. that we were friends) and she remembers something bad (i.e. that one time I made her mad and she ended up hating me forever and I never knew about it)? Ugh, the horrors.

And what exactly am I supposed to wear to the reunion? On TV, it's always the picture of, "Oh, I have to look super sexy and have really white teeth and nicely-toned arms so that guy I had a crush for three whole years will regret he never hooked up with me." I guess the good news is that I don't have any kids, so I don't have any baby fat to worry about losing in four weeks ...

Also causing me jitters is the inevitable, "So what have you been up to these past 10 years?" question. I've been thinking a lot about this. So, what have I done? Did I accomplish all I've wanted to do? Did I land in the career I've always wanted? Do I have any regrets? Am I a better person? Have I changed the world yet??

If you've been to your high school reunion or have one coming up as well, I'd love your empathy and advice. Everyone else, please, just tell me it will all be OK!

That's One Demerit For You, Young Lady

I am no stranger to getting into trouble...though I have to admit that this trouble I speak of isn't the kind that led to any arrests, jail time or even a grounding from the 'rents. 

The trouble I'm talking about is detention. Man, oh man, was I a rebel in high school. In particular, I loved not tucking in my shirt, wearing my skirt just a little too short, and my favorite indiscretion was being late (specifically to French class).

I went to a small, Catholic, and all girls (yes a trifecta if you will) in the suburbs of Chicago. And each time you made a boo-boo (aka not making it from one end of the school to the other in under five minutes) you got a demerit. And 3 demerits equaled one detention. 

At work last Friday when I stepped onto my floor at work, I felt like I had done a time warp. There in the front lobby were The Boss and our HR/legal counsel waiting for each employee to take their steps off the elevator. With notebooks and pens poised, they were taking attendance. Flash back to five years earlier and I felt like I was running down the corridors of my high school after a long, long (maybe too long) lunch standing in front of my French teacher as she marked me late in her date book.  

Luckily, I was ten minutes early and instead of getting a demerit, I got a gold star. Literally, The Boss came over to my desk later that morning and starting complaining about everyone's attendance of late. Then told me how proud of me she was for being on time. "A gold star for you WG2," The Boss said. 

Um...thanks. But really? Really? My work place is starting to take attendance? Really? That can't be normal. 

Of course everyone in my office starting freaking out, bitching, and all around complaining. We were all told that if we were going to be late to work that we should text or e-mail our direct managers to let them know we would be late. And to make sure that if we were sick, took a personal day, or if we were on vacation to mark it on the Company Calendar so everyone would know you were going to be out. 

And around 5:30 p.m., our HR rep took a spot back in the lobby and checked off anyone who left early...may I remind everyone that it was Friday. Sitting at your desk until 6 o'clock on the dot on a Friday is painful. More painful than say writing, "I will not be late 150 times" on the white board in the conference room.

So I'm exaggerating a little. But really?! Attendance? Really?!  

Back to School

Yesterday at work, we had a fire drill. A legitimate fire drill. Alarms. Walking to the nearest exit. Stop, drop and roll. Okay, so we didn't stop, drop and roll. Our Fire Safety Director instructed us on what to do in case of a real fire. As I've mentioned before, I am responsible to helping the disabled in the event of a fire. The entire drill reminded me of high school. Then I realized that most of my work life is comparable to the life of a high school girl. 

High School Girl: takes the bus to school.

Working Girl One: takes the bus to work.

High School Girl: sits at a desk in each of her classes.

Working Girl One: sits at a desk all day.

High School Girl: gets called into the principles office.

Working Girl One: gets called into her boss's office. 

High School Girl: has an allowance.

Working Girl One: has a paycheck. 

High School Girl: writes notes to her friends about the cute boys in her classes.

Working Girl One: writes e-mails to her co-workers about her Top Five.

High School Girl: eats lunch in a cafeteria with her groups of friends.

Working Girl One: eats lunch in the Cafe with her co-workers.

High School Girl's Cafeteria: has tables with the popular kids, the geeky kids, the jocks, etc. 

Working Girl One's Cafeteria: has tables with the clackers, the IT guys, the CEO's, etc. 

High School Girl: reads a magazine and hides it behind her textbooks.

Working Girl One: reads PerezHilton and hides the screen behind her e-mail.

High School Girl: has extracurricular activities - sports, clubs, and jobs. 

Working Girl One: has extracurricular activities - happy hours (on a good night) and tv on the couch (on a lazy night). 

High School Girl: goes to the nurses office when she is sick.

Working Girl One: goes to the Wellness Center when she is sick. 

High School Girl: watches Gossip Girl, Greek, The Hills and One Tree Hill.

Working Girl One: watched Gossip Girl, Greek, The Hills and One Tree Hill.