CLASS OF 1998 REUNION... Last night, I attended my 10-year high school reunion at a restaurant in Pasadena. Pretty much a lot of my former classmates who I talked to before yesterday were apprehensive about showing up at the event. Of course, if any of you have already attended your get-together, you would know why. What would you tell them if you still lived at home? What would you say if they asked you about your job, which wouldn’t exactly be the most exciting or prestigious occupation out there (one of my old classmates used the term: "Not being accomplished yet")? What if you run into people who you didn’t get along with in high school a decade ago? For the most part, there was no reason to worry about these issues. My reunion went off really well!
Even without boozing up to feel relaxed for the event, it was easy to approach almost everyone at the restaurant. Even if it was people who I didn’t talk to AT ALL back in my alma mater, they were very friendly when I walked up to them to start a conversation. Granted, the conversation was brief ("Hi. What’s your name again? I’m Richard. So what’ve you been up to? Just work? Me too. All right, talk to you later")...but the fact everyone bonded last night was what made the reunion an awesome experience. And do I even need to mention how this helped make it easier for me to walk up to hot girls who I didn’t talk to that much in high school and take photos with them? There was one girl who I couldn’t approach for a pic (since she was sitting next to her fiancé on a couch for much of the night), but that’s okay. I was able to take a pic with this other girl (let’s call her Mandy) who was a cheerleader back in high school, and helped organize the reunion. Thanks Mandy...you did a great job!
All-in-all, I am extremely glad I attended the reunion. And that was the sentiment shared by a lot of my old classmates who showed up as well. Some of the other dudes who were considered "jocks" back in high school were cool to talk to, and I got along with one of my, um, former friends who I stopped talking to back in 2004. He’s pretty successful right now... Owns a local motel (which he said he’s gonna tear down and turn into a suite) and several Subway restaurants. I’ll feel envious when he or his family starts buying In-N-Out or Yogurtland shops. Of course, I think a lot of other people would feel envious about that too, haha.
AN ADVICE FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE YOUR REUNIONS COMING UP:
GO TO THEM. The most common remark when you ask someone if they’re going to their get-together—especially in this Age of Facebook and MySpace—is "Why bother? All the people who I’d want to see, I still talk to." Trust me... When you show up to your reunion, that mentality will go away, and you’ll be walking around the room taking pictures and wanting to know what your fellow classmates have been up for the past decade. And you’ll realize that it’s such a great experience to reminisce about the good ol’ days...when all we had to worry about was who to ask to the Prom or when to start that book report...and not about buying a house and then facing foreclosure, or who to vote for who would be suitable to handle today’s crappy economic situation and the war on terror.
I’m looking forward to 2018...
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