Sunday, August 13, 2006

A few tips for going to your grad reunion.

Having just survived mine, I thought I'd share what I've learned.
  • Definitely go to the 'Grads Only' pub night, if one is planned. It's great to get the trippy "oh my god, I haven't seen you in 20 years!" moments out of the way before the spouses (plural "spice"?) come along.
  • Be aware that your high school crush (or worse, ex) will be at the big night with his wife/her husband in tow. Be prepared to get over it quickly.
  • Don't worry about the career thing. It is guaranteed that someone is ultra-successful (in our case, I guess one guy married serious money), and others have really interesting jobs. What is also true is that people are doing supremely unexpected things...and are not as successful as they had envisioned themselves.
  • You will recognize the women easier than the men. As 18-year-olds, the guys had barely finished growing...they have hair to lose, beer bellies to gain, and polish to acquire.
  • Be above the rivalries high school brought, but know you will probably feel them again.
  • Know that the girls who were popular in high school will still (be trying to) look like they did then -- that was their peak. The other women will be...who they were meant to be.
  • My friend Sonia will say that if you dread your reunion (10- or 20-year), the best remedy is to get involved in the planning.
And, if you are a man accompanying a woman to her reunion, the best, most subtly supportive line you can utter is: "Oh, everyone knows only the good-looking people go to reunions!" (And no, I can't attribute that one to Metro, but he did me proud anyway! It's weird being the newlyweds at a 20-year reunion...)

Anyone out there want to share their experiences?

Lori

5 comments:

Sonia said...

So who was the crush? and who was money? It was wonderful to see you & Ted - glad you came!

Anonymous said...

Marrying money is still seen as "successful"? Was that in his life goals? Wow, I thought the world was more meritocratic than that.

Lori said...

Oh, did I say I thought he was successful? Gads. Someone whispered in my ear, "Oh, he'll never have to work again!" (Sonia, supposedly Mr. Doll with wife and baby....)

And my crush? Didn't you know? Bill.

Sonia said...

Oh ya...that was my guess on the $$ but I had forgot about Mr. Bill.

I found Friday nt was the surface "so what have you been up to?" nt and Sat was the more "now that I know what you are up to ...how is your heart?"...maybe that's just me...but that's what I want to know ...

Lori said...

Yeah, but then I found that the hearts I cared about (people I'd really lost touch with), weren't there the 2nd night, and people had started to remember that they hadn't cared about me in 1986...why should they care now?

Gads, that just sounds pathetic. Why do I care what a bunch of strangers thinks? I have a life unconnected to the bs that was high school.