# My Yearbook is Ruined **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 24, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194 "2005-05-24T00:08:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/21 "2005-05-24T08:31:46Z")
> [@Mirror Image egamI rorriM](#): > > One said “Feelings about the removal of the Most Obnoxious Category” and the rest were comments about it. Some of the other ones were things like “I feel that you shouldn’t be so petty to take away the fun of the senior polls” and then there were a couple of others, one about how it wasn’t big deal to have the category taken away and one about how you should be proud of being “most obnoxious.” I had the same crap from the formal at the end of school too. Even though I wasn’t there, an arse-licker who wanted to get a little kudos from a group of people who hated him as much as they hated me (I just wasn’t in denial about it) made up a similar “award” for presentation. In a fit of hatred (since the act was widely broadcast long before the event) I went up and painted over his car, outside the hotel it was being held in. Stupid of me, and if my parents hadn’t been there to defend me I would have been in trouble with the police, but I sympathise with Mirror Image. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/22 "2005-05-24T11:43:01Z")
I’m sorry, but I agree with you, that is just totally unforgiveable. Kneeing him in the nads, or hanging by his thumbs isn’t good enough. Crap like this makes you wonder where the good is in tenure - that sorry bastard will, at most, take a nasty letter in his file and move on. You can, and it sounds like you should. This sounds like a story on this morning’s news, where an honor student somewhere - Texas I believe, got her yearbook, and there in a group picture is identified as “ **black girl** ”. The sponsor said it was a temporary tag in the caption until they could look up her name and it just never got filled in. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/23 "2005-05-24T11:51:59Z")
You live in an odd culture. That is the only reason this mattters. Most of the rest of the world went through high school with no graduation and year book …and no one thought about it. Now year books and graduations are starting to pop up. They spread no joy. Way to pollute the world. School is school. Do it and leave! That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/24 "2005-05-24T12:16:26Z")
Ummmmmmmmm…treading lightly In my school 21 years ago, the Mock Elections were for the ‘pretty eyes’, ‘class clown’ and so on. (It was all rigged anyway by the Yearbook Staff, but here was never any cruelty invovled.) There was a large chunk of truth behind it all. Have mock elections changed that much? Besides going out with dignity, Mirror, take this as a Life Lesson to aspire not to be obnoxious I’m not saying you are. Just use it as an example.and put the degrading years of puberty behind you and welcome the degrading years of The Rest Of Your Life with open arms. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/25 "2005-05-24T13:50:17Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > I interpreted it as the printer covered the stuff about the obnoxious award and people’s reactions to it with the gray stickers. She pulled hers off and found out that the award was still printed when she was told it would be removed, and on top of that, they had interviewed people about how they felt about her asking that the award be removed. Later, someone scribbled in her book over the stickers she couldn’t remove. I could be wrong, it’s been known to happen, especially at 3 a.m. You’ve got it right, except I was never identified as being most obnoxious by name (which is good). I think the stickers were there because the printers didn’t want to reprint the page. So fuck you, Josten’s, for not taking the time to redo it, and you’ll never see another dollar from me. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/26 "2005-05-24T14:02:59Z")
> [@Mirror Image egamI rorriM](#): > > You’ve got it right, except I was never identified as being most obnoxious by name (which is good). > > I think the stickers were there because the printers didn’t want to reprint the page. So fuck you, Josten’s, for not taking the time to redo it, and you’ll never see another dollar from me. Again, not that it excuses it or anything, but it seems like it was probably printed (and possibly bound) long before your advisor ever communicated that it needed to be reprinted. I think the stickers are a standard way of dealing with changes after something’s already gone to press when a reprint isn’t feasible for economic or time reasons. In other words, I don’t think it’s a matter of Josten’s not _wanting_ to reprint the pages, but since the fault (most likely) was on the school’s end of things, they certainly wouldn’t reprint for free. Any reputable publisher (which AFAIK, Josten’s is) just does what they’re told by the client, like putting stickers over parts of the yearbook to cover the school’s asses, when they shouldn’t have been sent to the printer in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/27 "2005-05-24T16:36:12Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > Now year books and graduations are starting to pop up. They spread no joy. Way to pollute the world. Yeesh, it’s bad enough getting blamed for starting wars, inciting the world’s Muslims to jihad, using the lion’s share of the world’s energy, and giving the world McDonalds, Britney Spears, and Jar Jar Binks, but now we’re polluting it with graduation ceremonies and yearbooks? Sometimes it sucks to be American. ☹ **Mirror Image egamI rorriM** , I’m just glad you aren’t the sort to bring an AK47 to school because of this. You’d think teachers and administers would’ve figured this one out by now but I guess some are just mean and stupid. OTOH, I was thinking the other day that, for some reason, five years ago I signed up at [classmates.com](http://classmates.com) though I had little reason to ever speak to most of those people. In that time I haven’t contacted any of them and none of them have contacted me. There are billions of people in this world you didn’t go to high school with and now that you are graduating you can find people whose company you enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/28 "2005-05-24T20:37:34Z")
> [@Mirror Image egamI rorriM](#): > > You’ve got it right, except I was never identified as being most obnoxious by name (which is good). > > I think the stickers were there because the printers didn’t want to reprint the page. So fuck you, Josten’s, for not taking the time to redo it, and you’ll never see another dollar from me. AGH. That’s even more reprehensible. And Jostens does need some steam taken out of its engine. Not reprinting signatures, unless there’s a monumental mistake, is their policy. And even then, they’d rather offer you another signature of full color or an extra signature for next year’s book than reprint. It’s cheaper that way. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/29 "2005-05-24T20:57:17Z")
That’s a pretty scummy thing the yearbook people did, but I think you should learn something from it. Apparently, enough people at your school think you are a jerk. It may or may not be valid, but if a lot of people came to the conclusion that you are obnoxious, then maybe you should be working toward becoming a better person. Not that that lets the yearbook guy off the hook, I just think you should try to use situations like this to try to change what you can control. That yearbook guy may always be a flake, you, on the other hand, to do not have to be viewed as obnoxious by your peers. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/30 "2005-05-24T22:38:50Z")
I’m confused… > [@Mirror image egami rorriM](#): > > So today I happened to see the tally of votes…and I “won.” I was really pissed off, and I was saying things like, “I’m not really that annoying, am I?” to the girl with the tally sheet. And these other girls, 3 or 4 of them, started saying things like, "Yeah, you are. But then you say… > [@Mirror Image egamI rorriM](#): > > You’ve got it right, except I was never identified as being most obnoxious by name (which is good). > > I think the stickers were there because the printers didn’t want to reprint the page. So the writing was over the stickers or under? What did the stickers cover, and what was the gray part? Anyway, if I know educators, take it to the school board and you’ll see the teacher squirm. FWIW, I wore a disguise in my yearbook photo. And my blurb was in five-letter block cipher. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/31 "2005-05-24T22:52:05Z")
> [@Mirror Image egamI rorriM](#): > > Basically, I was voted “Most Obnoxious Girl,” and, since I didn’t want that printed in the yearbook, was labelled as some kind of touchy bitch. Everyone was like “It’s all in fun” or … > “I think that it was all in fun and she talks about herself or how people see her so it’s not like it was something new or a surprise.” > > Okay. So they are obviously talking about me. I freaked out and started pulling off the other stickers. One said “Feelings about the removal of the Most Obnoxious Category” and the rest were comments about it. Some of the other ones were things like “I feel that you shouldn’t be so petty to take away the fun of the senior polls” Sorry, now I get it. 1.You protested after the stupid election, so they didn’t name you or picture you, 2. Instead, for some stupid reason, they put down pointless comments about the fact that you protested. 3. Somehow, between printing and distribution, someone (probably the teacher) saw the stupid comments, and got cold feet. 4. So they did a second lame thing, and just put stickers over the stupid comments. (Well, what else could they do.) That’s a lot of stupidity for one stupid year book. Take it to the school board. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/32 "2005-05-24T23:42:22Z")
High school will soon be part of the past and all that, but meanwhile, I’m really sorry, **Mirror Image**. That’s just awful. And I agree you should tell the board or someone. It’s lousy of the students, but plain old stupid from the advisor who ought to know better. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/33 "2005-05-25T06:47:16Z")
Hmm … OK, I can just barely understand including a “Most Obnoxious” category in the first place. So you protest, and they reluctantly take it out of the yearbook. Fine. Where it gets a bit surreal is that they then have a pitch the bitch session and actually print it in the yearbook? What the hell?! Then they cover it with gray stickers because it was a printer’s accident?! Why was it laid out? Why was it sent to the printer? Why did they even write their damn gripes in the first place. Anyway kudos to you for not going all Carrie about it. I see an absolutely stunning example of obnoxiousness, and it’s not coming from you. Look at it this way, you will have a great highschool misery story to tell for the rest of your life, which should one up just about anyone out there … unless you run into to someone whose family was murdered for the “senior prank”. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/34 "2005-05-25T10:19:00Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Yeesh, it’s bad enough getting blamed for starting wars, inciting the world’s Muslims to jihad, using the lion’s share of the world’s energy, and giving the world McDonalds, Britney Spears, and Jar Jar Binks, but now we’re polluting it with graduation ceremonies and yearbooks? Sometimes it sucks to be American. ☹ Hey, I am sorry. I didn’t mean to offend (though on rereading I DID sound offensive) all I meant is that we never had year books. Of course we had uniforms. On the last day we all signed each others shirts and then in little secret off school moments…we set fire to our uniforms( except for the shirt). Just as dumb and just as memorable :)(It pissed off the parents who wanted to resell the jumper though) ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/35 "2005-05-25T10:56:50Z")
> [@etmiller](#): > > Sorry, now I get it. > 1.You protested after the stupid election, so they didn’t name you or picture you, > 2. Instead, for some stupid reason, they put down pointless comments about the fact that you protested. > 3. Somehow, between printing and distribution, someone (probably the teacher) saw the stupid comments, and got cold feet. > 4. So they did a second lame thing, and just put stickers over the stupid comments. (Well, what else could they do.) > > That’s a lot of stupidity for one stupid year book. Take it to the school board. I agree with this. The school board ought to know they hired a dumbass, and could easily have learned a lot more than they wanted to about libel. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/36 "2005-05-27T18:37:17Z")
Have you been visited by the [Secret Service](http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2005/05/27/yearbook_prank_rankles_colorado_school/)? I still have my high school yearbook, I know this hurts. It was a really stupid thing done by people who seem pretty darn clueless. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/37 "2005-05-27T18:40:02Z")
_lots of hugs and snogs for **Mirror Image** _ Would it cheer you up to know I was voted in our eighth grade yearbook (we got one every year in the private school I went to) to be a librarian? Not that librarians aren’t wicked cool, mind you, but… er… _cough_ High school is a period of torture, death, and horror that soon passes. Trust me on this. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/38 "2005-05-27T19:28:43Z")
> [@](#): > > So all the people who bitch and moan about the PC movement and the way people want things to change because ONE person is offended by it, well I guess they are going to pit you Mirror. There’s a wee bit of a difference between not changing accurate speech to inaccurate speech because it may offend a half-theoretical category, and just being mean to someone. This was just tastless. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/39 "2005-05-27T20:45:58Z")
{{{ **Mirror Image** }}}} > [@Mirror Image egamI rorriM](#): > > And then I am going to graduate and never look back at those sorry fuckers. Good plan. That’s pretty much what I did after high school, and I found out that life after high school doesn’t suck nearly as much as high school. ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194/40 "2005-05-27T23:35:59Z")
Thanks, guys. (Actually I think being “Most Likely to be a Librarian” would probably fit me too). I have not been visited by the Secret Service, although the same stupid girl from one of the links in my OP almost didn’t graduate (she failed some class) and said, “If I don’t graduate, I’ll blow up the school,” and she got in school suspension for a couple days. (She ended up graduating, although I have no idea how.) And regarding the observations that enough people at school think I’m a jerk to elect me–I may be a jerk, but I don’t think I’m that awful. I am sarcastic and I make many facetious comments, as I am sure most Dopers do. I suspect that most of the people who voted for me are the same people who have no sense of humor regarding themselves. The sort who dress like they live in a hip-hop video, and try to act like it too. So I don’t really care anymore. The yearbook teacher may be a dumbass, but I bet he won’t let anything like this happen again. I have better things to do with my time then bear a grudge for the rest of my life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-yearbook-is-ruined/305194.md?page=3)