My 20th is coming up in a couple of years, and frankly I have no interest in attending.
Within 5 yrs of graduation, of the six or so closest buds of mine:
4 were dead.
1 was in jail.
1 was a smarmy politician.
Of my ex GFs in high school:
1 had 3 kids.
1 was a drug addict.
1 became a Mormon*
1 was deported back to Mexico.
So, I skipped it.
Ignored all the other (10 yr, 15 yr, 20 yr) notices.
Never finished college, so no reunions for that either.
*nothing against that, just very little at all in common.
Skipped the 10th.
20th was called off due to lack of interest. HA!
I went to my ten-year and it was a bust. No music from our high school days, no games, lousy food, cheapo memory book.
The 20th was last year and I refused to go, knowing it would just be another joke. I stupidly ordered the memory book and it was crap. I might try the 25th but I doubt it. I see no reason to revisit the past, considering that my pals and I didn’t care for most of the people we went to school with.
Wow, some of the bitterness in this thread surprises me–particularly the desire to see the once “popular” kids as ugly failures. Let it go, already.
I was out of town and missed my five year reunion, but I’d love to go to my ten year reunion. I’m still in touch with a handful of friends from high school but I’d like to see how everyone else turned out. Even the people who I didn’t particularly like–it’d be nice to see how they’ve changed.
It’s been long, and I’ve missed 10, 20 and 30th. 40th is in 4 years (my youngest will be 6, my oldest 24). I think it might be interesting by this time to see what has passed for others in my class–or maybe not…if we decide to adopt another one I might just be too busy; that’s what happened all the other years. 
If I do go, it’ll be simple curiosity…OK, OK, and the chance to show off the fabulous NoCoolSpouseName and NoCoolKidNames.
I skipped my 10th back in '99, even though I was actually in my home town at the time, visiting my parents.
If I’d had any emotional attachment to any of those people, I would have stayed in touch with them. Same argument for elementary school reunions, college reunions, military unit reunions, etc. I’d rather spend time with the people who are my friends NOW.
I haven’t gone to any of mine and the 20th is some time this year. I am curious on my classmates, but that is what classmates.com is all about. Prying without getting involved and then trapped into the diasterous life Betty Sue Farknockle has had.
I’ve moved on, I am not that shy, insecure, naive, clueless doormat anymore, baby. However, I am still aimless and drooling. but I’ve run into a few of my class mates ( 125 or so in my class) and it’s like time stood still for them. I can’t remember shit from anything back then ( no drugs.) and I threw a couple of jokes or one liners at them and it was like the rock had no ripple effect in their mental lake. Very scary.
Went to Mr. Ujest’s 20th last year. Other than the fact that one day of it was a charity golf outing that was fun, the night before party thingmabob was a waste of my time. I ended up letting him have his fun and hiding in a corner with all the other spouses of attendees wishing I could drink or nap or surf the web or had a book or a razor to shave my legs…anything.
He said he would attend my reunion with me and I replied, " Why don’t you go as me. That would be more fun and funny."
One a lighter note, when my mom returned from her 45th class reunion, I asked her how it was.
“Well, a well dress man talked to me the better part of fifteen minutes about this date we went on and what we did and who said this and how it was one of the highlights of his school years.”
Me, expectantly. " And?"
" I have no memory of him at all."
I did attend my 10 year reunion… and it was a very enlightening experience for me.
I was one of those quiet, shy introverted types, yet I also helped a lot of people. Socially inept, and had a small circle of friends that broke up after college.
What was amazing to me was the amount of self-esteem and self-respect I got back from attending that reunion. I looked at all the Cool Kids, and all those others I viewed with respect and awe – and wondered what the hell was wrong with me, letting rejects like that influence my life and keep me from being me. If I had stopped trying to fit in, and adapt to being how they viewed I should be, and just had continued to be me, I would have had MUCH more fun and interesting times in high school.
Looking at them as middle-aged people still acting like they did back in high school, not having accomplished much, and then comparing my life and where I was… Was a huge ego boost to me, and got rid of a bunch of angst and hang-ups I didn’t even know I was still carrying around.
I strongly recommend going to these things. At least once, just to give you perspective on your life, and who you are.
i was very shy, quiet and bookish in high school. i only had a few close friends and couldn’t wait to get out of town!
i skipped the five year reunion, but got talked into attending the 10 year by one of the close friends. i too, grew up in a small midwestern town, in fact it sounds quite similar to the op’s town. so i went to the 10 year and while it was an ok time, i felt like not enough time had passed, the whole thing was very cliqueish (if thats a word) and it felt very much like high school.
when my 15 year reunion rolled around i didn’t intend to go, but my cousin and classmate was going and i wanted to see her. i have to say, i had a really wonderful time! i was stunned.
i won’t miss another reunion, i think the thing to remember is that people do change. maybe not in the first 10 years but thereafter, they do. i think, in retrospect, i have changed more than they have, came out of my shell and gotten much more social. its called growing up i suppose. i am not saying “oh yes go” but consider that it is entirely possible that things might be different. then again if they aren’t well what are you out? a weekend? in the big scheme of things that not a lot, and it might be worth it.
My 10 year will be next year sometime. Not entirely sure if I will go or not. At my 5 year reunion, only about 80 people showed up out of 1000ish in my graduating class. Knew only the people that I came with. My highschool was so big that it was hard to know everyone. I’m assuming even less will show up for the 10 year. Dopers have any experiences that prove this to be true btw?? Pointless to go and see classmates that I’ve literally never talked to in my entire life.
You know, going to dopefests are much more fun than class reunions.
I went to my 10th year reunion back in 1999.
I wasn’t exactly popular, but had friends and acquaintances. I was honestly surprised at how many people remembered me and people that I barely knew back then were happy to see me there. There were a few people I would have liked to have seen, but they didn’t show–didn’t matter, the people I spent the evening with were fun and social, and we drank and laughed the entire night. My only beef with the event was that it cost $70 per person to attend (my now-spouse came with me). I’m hoping that by my 20th, it’s not that costly… or I’m better able to afford it.