Class of 1996
Ten years ago I graduated from Centennial High School in Champaign, IL and two weekends ago I went back home for my class reunion. I don't know why I have been putting off writing about the reunion for so long. I think I felt like I needed to have this perfect response and it was stressing me out thinking about what to say or not to say. Anyhow, here it goes...
We had a two evening event where Friday night was happy hour at Jillian's and Saturday evening was at Western Bowl, the scene of our 1996 After Prom party. Champaign does have more classy establishments, but it ended up being okay.
Tanino and I went together on Friday night and we weren't really sure how many people to expect, but we were shocked by how many people there were. They had given us this "room" at the end of the bar where we were supposed to be, but it was really small and poorly setup so that there were a couple longish tables and then not much space to move around them. So, it wasn't good for mingling at all which meant we were actually stuffed into this kind of long, narrow space between some booths and the bar. It worked alright, but it was really hard to get a handle on who was there and once you saw someone off in the distance, you might not see them for a long time again. For the most part, people were good at getting around and talking to a lot of different people, but there were still obvious cliques in tact.
The first thing I was surprised at was that people were pretty dressed up. Well, let me rephrase that...the women were really dressed up. The men were fairly casual, but the women...WOW!!! I totally wasn't prepared for this. Here's why: 1 - I didn't go tanning, 2 - I didn't wear tons of makeup, 3 - I didn't have huge jewelry, 4 - I wasn't wearing high heels, 5 - I wasn't wearing a cute little (aka skimpy) dress. Now, this wasn't everyone, but there were enough people dressed like this that I felt underdressed in my khaki Capri pants with a brown shirt and sandals. But I didn't even have anything in my wardrobe as an option to compete with these girls and I am glad I didn't make myself go shopping just to have something else to wear.
When I was deciding whether to go or not, I asked Tanino whether or not he would rather just go by himself or if he minded me standing by his side whenever I didn't have a conversation of my own going on. He was super sweet and said he wouldn't have it any other way, so I took him at his word. We got quickly separated at the beginning and many times throughout the night, but we were never very far away and I was always welcome (by him, at least) when I popped up beside him so I didn't look stupid standing by myself. I knew that Tanino would have way more people coming up and talking to him and that didn't bother me at all, but what was a little disappointing was that a lot of people came up and talked to him while I was standing right there and didn't even acknowledge me. I know I didn't go out of my way either, but I was at least engaged in the conversation with my body language and some of them didn't even look me in the eye. It was kind of sad to feel that, but don't get me wrong, it didn't make me feel bad about myself. It just made me feel glad that I have real true friends who love me and care about me and glad that I didn't try extra hard to impress all these people that didn't care in the first place or ten years later. Maybe another five or ten years will do some more good in this area, but I won't be surprised if it doesn't.
Here's how I rated people - First off, all you needed to do was make eye contact with me (acknowledging someone's presence goes a long way). Second, any conversation directed at me was cool (you didn't necessarily have to ask me tons of questions, but just include me in the conversation by occasionally talking in my direction). Third, obviously asking me questions about my life was really nice, and fourth, actually sounding interested was an extra bonus point. Fifth, not seeming like I was crazy when I started up a conversation with them was high on the list. Sixth, initiating the conversation with me was the absolute highest rating. I know, it's a lot to ask, but come on!, what is the point of being at a reunion anyhow. Seriously, I'm afraid that I might be coming across as bitter or depressed about this experience. But I don't regret going at all. I had a really fun time talking to people and especially seeing what everyone looked and acted like. And as I said earlier, it made me appreciate my life and my friends more. So, thank you all for being my friends and looking me in the eye.
So, moving on to Saturday night. If I had only gone Saturday night I would have been even more disappointed because it was totally segregated by cliques. This wasn't totally the fault of the people, it was mostly a fault of the atmosphere. Being at a bowling alley meant that people just kind of got a lane with their friends and then hung out there all night, even if they weren't bowling. Now, I had an amazingly fun time that night because I had already gone through the stress of the night before and seeing people for the first time and getting some of those awkward conversations out of the way. So, I was perfectly happy just to hang out with my friends, talk to a few nice genuinely nice people and then do a lot of people-watching. But I especially felt bad for Melissa and Steph, who couldn't be there on Friday, because they didn't get to catch up with as many people or even probably get to take a look at most of them because we were so separated down the bowling lanes.
So, that's my reunion in a few long paragraphs. Will I go to the next reunion? Probably. I am still really interested to see how everyone turns out. I would especially make a special trip if all of my friends were thinking of going. I might even think a little more about my wardrobe, but won't stress out about it a ton.
We had a two evening event where Friday night was happy hour at Jillian's and Saturday evening was at Western Bowl, the scene of our 1996 After Prom party. Champaign does have more classy establishments, but it ended up being okay.
Tanino and I went together on Friday night and we weren't really sure how many people to expect, but we were shocked by how many people there were. They had given us this "room" at the end of the bar where we were supposed to be, but it was really small and poorly setup so that there were a couple longish tables and then not much space to move around them. So, it wasn't good for mingling at all which meant we were actually stuffed into this kind of long, narrow space between some booths and the bar. It worked alright, but it was really hard to get a handle on who was there and once you saw someone off in the distance, you might not see them for a long time again. For the most part, people were good at getting around and talking to a lot of different people, but there were still obvious cliques in tact.
The first thing I was surprised at was that people were pretty dressed up. Well, let me rephrase that...the women were really dressed up. The men were fairly casual, but the women...WOW!!! I totally wasn't prepared for this. Here's why: 1 - I didn't go tanning, 2 - I didn't wear tons of makeup, 3 - I didn't have huge jewelry, 4 - I wasn't wearing high heels, 5 - I wasn't wearing a cute little (aka skimpy) dress. Now, this wasn't everyone, but there were enough people dressed like this that I felt underdressed in my khaki Capri pants with a brown shirt and sandals. But I didn't even have anything in my wardrobe as an option to compete with these girls and I am glad I didn't make myself go shopping just to have something else to wear.
When I was deciding whether to go or not, I asked Tanino whether or not he would rather just go by himself or if he minded me standing by his side whenever I didn't have a conversation of my own going on. He was super sweet and said he wouldn't have it any other way, so I took him at his word. We got quickly separated at the beginning and many times throughout the night, but we were never very far away and I was always welcome (by him, at least) when I popped up beside him so I didn't look stupid standing by myself. I knew that Tanino would have way more people coming up and talking to him and that didn't bother me at all, but what was a little disappointing was that a lot of people came up and talked to him while I was standing right there and didn't even acknowledge me. I know I didn't go out of my way either, but I was at least engaged in the conversation with my body language and some of them didn't even look me in the eye. It was kind of sad to feel that, but don't get me wrong, it didn't make me feel bad about myself. It just made me feel glad that I have real true friends who love me and care about me and glad that I didn't try extra hard to impress all these people that didn't care in the first place or ten years later. Maybe another five or ten years will do some more good in this area, but I won't be surprised if it doesn't.
Here's how I rated people - First off, all you needed to do was make eye contact with me (acknowledging someone's presence goes a long way). Second, any conversation directed at me was cool (you didn't necessarily have to ask me tons of questions, but just include me in the conversation by occasionally talking in my direction). Third, obviously asking me questions about my life was really nice, and fourth, actually sounding interested was an extra bonus point. Fifth, not seeming like I was crazy when I started up a conversation with them was high on the list. Sixth, initiating the conversation with me was the absolute highest rating. I know, it's a lot to ask, but come on!, what is the point of being at a reunion anyhow. Seriously, I'm afraid that I might be coming across as bitter or depressed about this experience. But I don't regret going at all. I had a really fun time talking to people and especially seeing what everyone looked and acted like. And as I said earlier, it made me appreciate my life and my friends more. So, thank you all for being my friends and looking me in the eye.
So, moving on to Saturday night. If I had only gone Saturday night I would have been even more disappointed because it was totally segregated by cliques. This wasn't totally the fault of the people, it was mostly a fault of the atmosphere. Being at a bowling alley meant that people just kind of got a lane with their friends and then hung out there all night, even if they weren't bowling. Now, I had an amazingly fun time that night because I had already gone through the stress of the night before and seeing people for the first time and getting some of those awkward conversations out of the way. So, I was perfectly happy just to hang out with my friends, talk to a few nice genuinely nice people and then do a lot of people-watching. But I especially felt bad for Melissa and Steph, who couldn't be there on Friday, because they didn't get to catch up with as many people or even probably get to take a look at most of them because we were so separated down the bowling lanes.
So, that's my reunion in a few long paragraphs. Will I go to the next reunion? Probably. I am still really interested to see how everyone turns out. I would especially make a special trip if all of my friends were thinking of going. I might even think a little more about my wardrobe, but won't stress out about it a ton.
posted by Lara at 9:15 AM
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