High School STILL Scares the Sh*t Out of Me

Nice, Not Mean, Girls

Holy whiplash!  After a bit too much flying in a 48-hour period, I have returned home from my 20th high school reunion.  In short:  it was so great to see a people I liked; it was not great to see people I didn't like.  Even after twenty years!  I guess I shouldn't be surprised, human nature being what it is:  mostly people had not changed.  In particular there was a coterie of girls in high school - certainly a bright and attractive bunch - who continued to be so cold, so frigid, to anyone outside their hallowed circles that (to steal from Pretty Woman) - you could not melt ice on their arses.  I had foolishly thought that after twenty years if I made eye contact, smiled, and said, "Hi, Mary," one of them at least might respond in kind with eye contact and a smile.  But NO!  In fact their total ignorance of my presence, or that of any of my band geek friends, was breathtaking:  you might think that the disturbance in the concatenation of atoms in the air resulting from a body passing by might at least register on their faces, but NO - so still and (purposefully?) unchanged did their expressions remain.

Really?  Twenty years of living has not softened you?  You still think that talking to a shy, awkward band geek might be a Contagion that you can CATCH?  As a friend pointed out, it's possible they just wanted to hang out with old friends and not make small talk with people they don't really know.  True, true.  I wanted to talk to my friends too.  But I don't think mere EYE CONTACT is too much to ask.

Well, I hope these girls all at least live on the same block right now.  Because otherwise I suspect it's difficult for them to make new friends.

So while I had a marvelous time, I must admit I was a bit shaken.  Thank goodness for my dear friends in high school.  Otherwise I am pretty sure I would not have SURVIVED.  And I dread the day I start sending my OWN children to high school.