Whether you’re going into your fifties, showing off your grandchildren and showing new teeth, or you’re going into your ten, showing off your degrees and showing off new cars, high school reunions can be awkward. This is partly because people change, losing touch with those they once copied in third period algebra. But most of all, it’s because no matter how old people are, they always seem to care a bit about what their high school classmates think of them. This can lead to awkward moments at Ridegement High, or any US high school.
But it is not impossible to make meetings comfortable. With a little planning and a little restraint, you might feel as great as you always remembered.
Don’t say you made up post-its
The hype and the reunions seem to go together, as if they arrived together in an old beat-up Honda but called it a limousine. However, exaggeration is risky, especially when the exaggeration is so great that it can be proven false. Few things are more uncomfortable than going overboard and getting sucked into by those you’re trying to impress. If you feel the need to improve a little, keep it to a minimum; do not say that you are married to someone who looks like Mel Gibson, when in fact you are married to someone who looks like Mel Brooks.
Don’t have preconceived notions
We all wondered what happened to the football team quarterback, the head cheerleader, the senior class president, and the class freak who just wore black and hopped with bagpipes. While we likely have guesses as to what happened to whom, don’t get so immersed in who you think people have become that you don’t want to see who they really are. People often turn out different than they think they will be and their version of them now can be 180 degrees from what they were before.
Don’t just talk to those you know
Most of us have a small group of friends from high school that we still keep in touch with, even years later. Although we will see them at the meeting, we will also see them playing poker on Saturday night. Instead of spending all your time catching up with the ones you’ve already caught, reach out to the ones you haven’t seen in years. Even if you weren’t friends with them in high school, you may have more common ground as adults.
Don’t mention the old meat
Most people had a nemesis in high school, that person they never got along with. While it may have been okay to turn this person down in high school, at a time when rejection was not only acceptable but highly social standing, meetings should be peaceful and full of maturity. A meeting is a time to get water under the bridge, not a time to open a flood gate.
High school reunions are ironic. We go to them as adults, with a bit of that insecure high school kid still in us. We want to impress our former colleagues, knowing full well that their opinions don’t really mean anything. But, more than anything, we just want to feel comfortable with who we have become and know that we are not defined by who we were in high school.
It doesn’t take a lot of preparation for a meeting. Surely there are people who will spend hours in the salon or weeks in the gym trying to lose the 20 pounds they have gained. But, for most of us, getting a good night’s sleep should be enough. The best way to refresh and rejuvenate yourself for your journey into the past is to sleep on a natural latex mattress. With a material that conforms to your body, leaving you free of pressure points and enveloped by comfortable temperatures, a natural latex mattress is your first step to getting through your high school reunion in one comfortable piece.