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Jun. 26th, 2023 05:23 pmFor better and worse, my 20th high school reunion was exactly what I thought it would be.
-I was the only person there wearing a mask. I didn't expect a lot of people to, but I didn't think it would be just me. That off the bat made me feel out of place, a little, and also it made it a little harder for people to hear me talk.
-But that was a side issue compared to the fact that the reunion committee booked a DJ and they were blasting loud music the whole time. I did not really understand this. A few people danced but mostly people were there to talk to people they hadn't seen in years- why would you want music drowning out the conversations?
-Also, for whatever it's worth, the popular music of 2003 that they were playing was not the soundtrack of my high school experience. Sure, I recognized most of the songs, but setting aside the ultra-weird music I listened to when I was on my own, when I was with friends we much more commonly listened to hard rock or metal, or indie rock, or folk- depending on the friends. We did not listen to top 40 radio.
-All of this just speaks to the way I did not think and still do not think the same way most of my high school classmates do. And I'm okay with that.
-In the end, I spent a bunch of time talking to people, but I also spent a decent bit of time chilling in a corner watching people, because I have limited introvert energy to handle big crowds and I probably have less now since my interacting in large group skills have atrophied during covid.
-Of the thirty people I was closest to in high school, two were there. In retrospect, of course the friends I had in high school didn't go to this reunion, they knew just as well as I did what it would be. But it was really good to see the two guys I did see and catch up a bit. And it was kind of nice to talk to some of the other people that I was never close to, but that I just had a long history with. So I'm glad I went, all in all.
-But I feel like the biggest piece of the puzzle is the realization that if I do want to catch up with the people that I actually was closest with in high school, I have to do that work myself. I'm... not sure I want to do that work, and it's okay if I don't. But maybe I'll reach out to some people.
-I was the only person there wearing a mask. I didn't expect a lot of people to, but I didn't think it would be just me. That off the bat made me feel out of place, a little, and also it made it a little harder for people to hear me talk.
-But that was a side issue compared to the fact that the reunion committee booked a DJ and they were blasting loud music the whole time. I did not really understand this. A few people danced but mostly people were there to talk to people they hadn't seen in years- why would you want music drowning out the conversations?
-Also, for whatever it's worth, the popular music of 2003 that they were playing was not the soundtrack of my high school experience. Sure, I recognized most of the songs, but setting aside the ultra-weird music I listened to when I was on my own, when I was with friends we much more commonly listened to hard rock or metal, or indie rock, or folk- depending on the friends. We did not listen to top 40 radio.
-All of this just speaks to the way I did not think and still do not think the same way most of my high school classmates do. And I'm okay with that.
-In the end, I spent a bunch of time talking to people, but I also spent a decent bit of time chilling in a corner watching people, because I have limited introvert energy to handle big crowds and I probably have less now since my interacting in large group skills have atrophied during covid.
-Of the thirty people I was closest to in high school, two were there. In retrospect, of course the friends I had in high school didn't go to this reunion, they knew just as well as I did what it would be. But it was really good to see the two guys I did see and catch up a bit. And it was kind of nice to talk to some of the other people that I was never close to, but that I just had a long history with. So I'm glad I went, all in all.
-But I feel like the biggest piece of the puzzle is the realization that if I do want to catch up with the people that I actually was closest with in high school, I have to do that work myself. I'm... not sure I want to do that work, and it's okay if I don't. But maybe I'll reach out to some people.