10.09.09

20 Years Later

Posted in Uncategorized at 11:34 pm by suzie

Why I hated high school:

I never fit in.
I wasn’t popular, nor did the popular people pay attention to me.
I never had a date. I didn’t go to either my junior or senior prom.
I hated homework and my grades were wretched.
I graduated by the skin of my teeth. Thank you Mrs. Lewis for giving me a “D” in English.
The list goes on…blah…blah…blah…

Why I chose to go to my 20-year reunion:

My friends that I hung out with in HS all got in contact on Facebook and wanted all of us to go, so we could have our own reunion
I wanted to see what became of the girl who got me stoned for the first time in when I was 14.
I feel like I have come a long way after high school and really didn’t give a rats ass about WHAT people thought of me now

That being said, how was it? Well…
It was good and boring. Fun and kinda sad. Annoying and rewarding. It was a lot of things.

When my sis came to drive me down to San Jose from my current badass hometown of San Francisco, I started to get really nervous. I mean REALLY nervous! Thank god I had made arrangements to meet my friend Kirsten (who is the only one I am in regular contact with) and her husband, Jon right outside the “epic” Crowne Plaza SJ. There was no way I was going to walk in alone. Yes, I would have liked to walk in there with someone special, but I ain’t gonna put up a front just to look good.
When we walked in, there were photos being taken, people talking, hugging, you know, typical reunion stuff.
I started to look around and noticed that there were not a ton of familiar faces. In fact, there seemed to be a lot of people I didn’t even know in high school. It was odd. It was a really low turnout, at least I thought. We walked around a bit, we found our friends Toni, Kristin, and their husbands and chatted. I said hello to a few people I recognized, but I wasn’t sure that they all remembered me. I did catch up my old BFF from elementary school who is still single and looks amazing, better than anyone in my class, which was cool. But in the 6th grade, I left for 3 years to go to private school. When I re-entered the public school system, so much had changed, I didn’t know how to act or who were my friends. I did adjust but it wasn’t easy. I digress…
Our group entered the “swanky”, low ceilinged room and sat down at our table that was decorated with tacky GreatReunions.com paraphernalia, white tablecloths and big bird colored bright yellow napkins. Off to the bar I went…
Later, we took a class picture and ate an undressed salad with stale croutons, chicken with a carrot tomato sauce, to which Toni asked “Ew. Who threw up on my chicken?” and a slice of cheesecake that was still frozen, with a splooge of strawberry sauce. Needless to say, I was not impressed. Of course, I am probably a snob but I was expecting a lot more for $100 per ticket, let me tell you.
After dinner we mingled. I said “hello” to some people but it was awkward. How do you catch up in a 5 minute conversation?
Then, the reunion committee (i.e. the popular people) read off the answers to a quiz we had to fill out. It contained such questions as “how much was a postage stamp in 1989?” and “how much did a can of Aqua Net cost?” Yawn…
Then came the greatest part of the evening!!!!! They were giving bottles of wine to the person who was married the longest, had the most kids, and still lived the closest to school! YAY! Once again, I didn’t fit in. It was annoying. How about the bottle of wine to the person who has a successful business? Or the person who can support themselves in a big city, has a career and does everything she loves? Or the person with the smallest carbon footprint? What? No such category? My bad.
Whereas nearly everyone was married, had multiple kids, and lived in the middle of nowhere, I was in the minority. But this time I was OK with it. In fact, I felt really good about the decisions I had made with my life. Sure it isn’t perfect. No ones life is. But what I did realize is how good my life is, has been and how much better it will get.
I have amazing, supportive close friends. I have travelled extensively and dined in incredible restaurants. I paid my student loans off from culinary school. I live in the greatest, most diverse and fun (and expensive) city in the country and I fully support myself. I have a successful career. I make people feel warm and fuzzy inside when they eat my food. How could all of that not make me happy? How could all of that not count for something? It counts for EVERYTHING.
I’m not trying to put down anyone by saying this. Its all a matter of what we, as individuals want. Thats all.
What I am saying is although the reunion was a bust in the actual “party” part of it, it was great to see my few old, close friends and it was a good pump to the ego. We all need to do what we want to do. Whether its having a family, traveling the world or working at Starbucks, just know that what you do is what YOU do. You may never get a bottle of wine for your “achievements” but you could always buy yourself a cocktail and toast to yourself for a job well done. “Fitting in”, isn’t for everyone, and sometimes its better that way.

P.S. The girl who got me stoned is married with 5 kids and wanted to make sure that smoking pot out of a Coke can in the girls bathroom, didn’t send me down the road to a lifetime of drug use. Hahaha! If she only knew everything I have done in the past 20 years!

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