I didn’t go to my last reunion because they decided to open it to all graduates of the school. Why would I want to attend a reunion with people I don’t know?
Class of '89 here. 
We were a small-ish cohort of somewhere around 100 people. I mostly enjoyed high school. I wasn’t popular but I wasn’t un-popular, and senior year I had the lead in the spring musical.
[ul]
[li]5-year: I went. It was fun enough.[/li][li]10-year: Got cancelled due to lack of interest.[/li][li]15-year: I never heard about it, but found out later there was one.[/li][li]20-year: That seemed to be the year we all joined Facebook. There was a small “pre-reunion” get-together with about a dozen of us, which wound up being all I needed. I skipped the actual reunion.[/li][li]25-year: I skipped it due to lack of interest. I stayed FB friends with anyone I wanted to keep in touch with.[/li][/ul]
I *might *go to the 30-year if one or two other friends go, and if it isn’t on a Friday night (getting from DC to Baltimore on a Friday is pure hell).
(Tangentially related: my 25-year college reunion is in a few weeks, and I’m skipping that. It’s near Philly, so going would be a “thing,” and I’m just not interested enough. I’m only FB friends with a few folks from college; I’m in touch with significantly more HS – and grade school – peeps.)
No. I wouldn’t mind attending one, but my class only had 74 people in it, so what should’ve been our ten year reunion was bundled in with a reunion for all classes that still have surviving members - I wasn’t really interested in hanging out with the class of 1943 too, you know? I didn’t even bother looking to see if anything had been planned for our 20th in 2015 figuring it’d be more of the same.
I declined to attend my 10-year high school reunion…I have, however, reconnected with a handful of people, one of whom turned out to be a much better person than I had ever thought for when I was interacting with her on a daily basis. I’m also in contact with a couple of teachers. Two of my classmates are already dead (prolonged illness in one case, and horrific car crash that necessitated a closed-casket funeral in the other); the rest, based on what I can see from Facebook, are just as horrible as they were back in the day. I haven’t been back to my high school since I graduated – I never even went back to pick up my yearbook, which was eventually collected and delivered to me by a family friend. Heck, I haven’t even been back to my hometown since the day I accepted my current job, and I don’t even list the place on Facebook as my hometown.
I don’t think a single high school friend has my contact information, except through Facebook. I used to have a cruddy job, so I wouldn’t have gone anyway, but I would go now.
Class of ‘79 here. It’s been a few days in this thread but I only went to 20 back in 1999. That was the first reunion I went to. I’m in California and my high school is in Connecticut. I’ll likely go to 40 next year, but I haven’t committed to it yet.
So the reunion came and went last weekend without me attending. And it really isn’t a big deal, but now I find a tiny bit of me regretting that I didn’t go. Like I said, it would’ve only cost $60, and was a short drive from my home. If I didn’t enjoy it, I could’ve left. And, like I said, I violated my general urge to give something a try - and at least KNOW what it was like, rather than just rejecting it and forming an opinion in ignorance.
Folk posted a bunch of photos. At first, I scanned through and didn’t recognize a single face. Even when seeing the names, I didn’t recognize any that meant anything to me. But then I saw a couple of my old track team buddies w/ big grins on their faces, and thought it would’ve been worth $60 to shoot the breeze with them.
I looked through my old yearbook, and at first was stricken by how few pictures/names meant anything to me. But then I read the signatures and a lot of people wrote really nice things. Made me sorta wonder about my self image of myself as insecure, etc at the time.
But most of all, I’m often disappointed at what few memories I have of my youth. I really can’t remember what I was like back then - or reliably know how others perceived me. This would’ve been one opportunity to get some insight into that.
Oh well. Not a big deal. But I wanted to post this, just in case any of you were in a similar position.
I understand your feelings of vague regret, but your instincts, which have kept you alive and in good stead thus far, served you well. Too much trouble, not enough time for what matters, and no one should care about what other people though of you back then, especially you.
My class had about 1,100 students. We have a reunion every 5 years, I think I have missed two of them. I just attended my 50th and think it might be my last. I was bored stiff. We had some really good after parties until we got into our forties then that seem to slow down. I sit with the same 5 people every 5 years. We catch up on things. I make the rounds and say hi to people I knew casually most of the time. This last reunion I didn’t even bother with that.
Never - our class president’s boyfriend stole all the money.
No, it wouldn’t even occur to me to go. I did so much after high school and I stayed in touch with the handful of people that I wanted to from that time. Plus, Facebook has helped me understand that the people I went to high school are leading pretty boring lives.
I get e-mail for them and it turns out the person running it didn’t go to my high school. But they do their best to disguise that fact. After all, you don’t remember everyone’s name or knew everyone in your high school, so this is a pretty easy scam to pull. They are just someone who puts togethers these reunion events and charges people to attend them held at a hotel which isn’t in the area you attended high school. If they don’t get enough people, they hold them for multiple generation years. The idea of attending a reunion for people who I never knew sounds pretty pointless.
Sometimes the reunion notifications I have gotten are from people who attended the same high school. They are run by people who never progressed beyond high school from what I’ve observed living in the shadows of what they perceive to be their glory days. High school just isn’t important, so I can’t imagine what they have to discuss about it. Friends I made in high school I’m still in touch with, and if I didn’t know them well enough in high school to still be in contact with them, than I don’t see the point now.
As for people showing up to these things to show off to everyone about their life accomplishments that sounds shallow, extremely boring and sad. I say sad that you actually care what a bunch of people who barely know you think of you. And I have no interest in hearing gossip about people who made a mess out of their lives with multiple failed marriages or substance abuse problems.