Even though this is the pit, and maybe a lot of folks have very good reasons for -not- wanting to attend the High School reunions, I just wanted to say that I went to my 30th and had a pretty good time! I had missed out on the 10th and 20th, because they did not know where I was, and I didn’t know who to contact there about alumni information, as my parents had moved from the town the fall after I graduated from HS. I had not seen many classmates in 30 years, and it was good to see them again. I was not in the “IN” crowd LOL I was more the “on the fringe” crowd, actually. Surprisingly, many of the women in my class had aged more … gracefully than the men (iow, the men did not look quite as nice as most of the women :)). I could not stay the entire evening, though, and there were so many people I didn’t get a chance to see–either they hadn’t come or didn’t show until later. I’m hoping that my class will have a 35th and not wait until the 40th for the next reunion!
Any way, there can be some good memories come from class reunions.
Back in High School, I felt like a complete outsider. I didn’t date much, and I only had a close circle of friends. When my ten-year anniversary came up, I went just to see those friends again. I didn’t expect anyone else to remember me- I thought I was one of the invisible kids.
Boy, was I wrong. EVERYONE remembered me- I apparently intimidated everyone. They were afraid of me. sigh
I enjoyed it, and as I said, I was one of the “outcasts”. I’m planning on going to my 20th, too.
Back in High School, I felt like a complete outsider. I didn’t date much, and I only had a close circle of friends. When my ten-year anniversary came up, I went just to see those friends again. I didn’t expect anyone else to remember me- I thought I was one of the invisible kids.
Boy, was I wrong. EVERYONE remembered me- I apparently intimidated everyone. They were afraid of me. sigh
I enjoyed it, and as I said, I was one of the “outcasts”. I’m planning on going to my 20th, too.
I just got an invite to my 10 year reunion. They want the $ (40 per person) by June 1, but the reunion isn’t until September. Uh-huh. Wonder if they’re counting on people paying and forgetting about it or not being able to go and keeping the bucks?
I thought about going, but all of the people on the reunion committee are people I couldn’t stand back then, and I doubt they’ve changed much. So as it stands right now, I doubt I’ll bother with it.
I did not go to my 10th and will not go to the 20th in a few years. The people I want to stay in touch with I do. I was not as badly treated as some but always felt like an outsider. Rather than being one of the nerds, military fanatics, punkers, jocks, cowboys etc, I was one of the nobodies. I had a couple of friends who made HS tolerable. I do not feel hatred or anger (anylonger) just disinterest. I have moved on, and have no desire to revisit the past.
I actually enjoyed my tenth and was a bit disappointed there was no 15th. Note that by the time I graduated I wasn’t tormented anymore - I had a group of friends who hated h.s. as much as I, and we were kinda just another group of kids, neither outcasts nor in-crowd.
I remember the reunion itself was rather expensive ($75 does sound eerily familiar), but still worth it to see people I’d lost touch with. The best was seeing a couple of really shitty people all-grown-up, much nicer than their adolescent selves.
It happens, y’know.
But if $75 was something I’d really miss - and I’ve had years like that - hey, I’d skip it, too. There’s always the next round year.
I didn’t go to my 10th, didn’t go to my 20th, plan on skipping my 25th, plan on skipping my 30th, and will be dead by the time the 40th comes around. High school is not a time I remember with any fondness even though I still keep in touch with a few old friends.
MannyL, dragongirl: From the prices being charged, I would wonder if the planning committees weren’t skimming a few bucks off the top.
honey: The invite said my 20th reunion would be alcohol-free. That was one reason I didn’t go. As I told one of the reunion committee members (to his face): “You must be out of your cotton-pickin’ mind if you think I will attend a major social event where no alcohol is served.” Personally, I might have attended a kegger.
Geeky, nerdy brain checking in from the class of '83:
I went to my 10th just to see some old friends (mostly other geeky, nerdy brains), and it sucked. Not because of the mean people I remember, but because whoever the reunion committee hired out to organize the damn thing took off early with all the information (about jobs, who moved the farthest away, who had the most kids, etc.) so we couldn't hear any of that. Also, the d.j. didn't play any of the music of 1979 to '83, and the food was mediocre. And the little photo album they produced afterwards was pitiful. Very few pictures, and most of them were of the popular crowd showing off their boob jobs. It really was not worth the $75 or so that we had to pay for it. Oh, and we had a low turnout too.
Now the 20th is coming up next year, and I don't know if there's any point. I'm sure they could find more people now that almost all of them are listed at Classmates or Planet Reunion, but...I don't think so.
A friend of mine who went to a different high school is feverishly trying to plan her 20th (for this year--and rather late, I think). She takes things like this very seriously and believes the world will stop rotating if the reunion doesn't happen. So far, she's had nothing but bad luck with Great Reunions and with some other company.
I say, "Screw it. Screw 'em. That's it."
I kinda wanted to go to my tenth, even though I hated everyone there, just to fuck with them. I got the invite and it was like 100 bucks a person, no way in hell. If the 20 is cheap, I may go, if nothing is on TV.
I did not go to my 10 or 20 or 30 year HS reunion for the same reasons as most of you! I was picked on and harassed all through HS from 7th to 12th grade and only 1 person out of my graduating class has ever looked me up. My class hasn’t even bothered to post their reunion pictures on CLASSMATES.COM.
Let us see…I graduated in '95. There was a five year reunion, but I didn’t go. I didn’t care. By the time the 10th rolls around, I’ll be out of the country by then(I’ll be in Greece by then…ehehehe), so it wouldn’t matter by then! Besides most of the people who went to high school with me have moved.
I wasn’t teased near as much as a lot of other people though. Just the usual dumb tiffs, but nothing relentless or to the point of physical violence. When I hear of those who’ve been through worse, it angers and sickens me. I truly feel for people who’ve had to go through that and don’t blame them for feeling a little vengeful.
I happened to see one come in to my place of work a few years ago when I worked at Office Max. He was the same obnoxious ass that I had known ever since grade school. He hadn’t changed much. He didn’t physically threaten me or anything like that, but he was just so boorish in the way he talked to me.
For me, like quite a few others in this thread, high school meant HELL. I have not attended any of the reunions and will not attend any future ones. I did have a little bit of revenge, though. When it was time for the 10 year reunion, one of the most popular girls in my class called everyone that had not moved away. She was looking for people to help plan and write letters and do whatever else needed to be done. My response to her was: “You did not have time for me when we were in school, and now I don’t have time for you.” Then I hung up on her, the first, and so far, the only time I have done so.
My 5 year reunion was held in the “grand ballroom” of a fairly decent hotel. It cost $45, with a cash bar and a choice of two really hideous and utterly unappealing entrees. I was living in the area, and hadn’t finished my BA yet, and wasn’t planning on going, but my best friend from high school couldn’t go, so I ended up going in his stead.
It wasn’t as hideously awful as I thought it was going to be. It was organized by two of the very popular crowd of girls. I got there about 45 minutes after it had started. It was quite amusing having people not recognize me, simply because my appearence had changed so much. I actually had 5 people come up and say variations on, "Wow, what happened to you? you’ve changed so much!!!
Yeah, thanks, guys.
For my brothers 10 year reunion, they made it into a weekend long type of thing, with a picnic/cookout/get together on Friday afternoon evening, and a semi-formal dinner saturday night.
So, I was looking forward to my 10 year.
What did they do? They rented out the upper floor of a bar and charged $10 to get in, with drinks costing $4.50 a pop. What made this evening interesting was that by this time i had taken to shaving my head, so I looked utterly different from when I had hair. I actually had 2 people ask if I really went to high school with them.
Sadly, my best friend from high school and I had a falling out, so I don’t know if I’ll go to the 15 year if there is one.
I hated high school. I didn’t even get teased, I was just a total non-entity. I haven’t bothered to really keep up with anyone since then, and I sure am not about to pay a lot of money for a 15-year reunion. They didn’t care about me then, and I don’t care about them now. Ya reap what ya sow, y’know?
My (only) friend in HS used to tell each other there would be no way we’d go back for a reunion. We hated everybody in that tiny parochial school. Our tenth has passed us by and we didn’t go, had no desire to go, don’t even remember if we were invited (if those cliquish bitches didn’t invite us on purpose, I wouldn’t be surprised). Our 20th will be in a couple years and I doubt we’ll be invited, much less go. My friend might want to only because she’d want to show off how gorgeous she is now.
I hate to admit it, but I might be embarrassed to have to tell anyone who asked that the 8th top graduate is now “just” a secretary.
Surprisingly, many of the women in my class had aged more … gracefully than the men (iow, the men did not look quite as nice as most of the women :)). I could not stay the entire evening, though, and there were so many people I didn’t get a chance to see–either they hadn’t come or didn’t show until later. I’m hoping that my class will have a 35th and not wait until the 40th for the next reunion!
