So good

I got an invitation and biographical update survey for my 10 year class reunion the other day. It immediately brought to mind the days of Pom Pon, Drama Club, my job delivering flowers for Country Gardens, sneaking 6-packs of Zima, my cute red Honda Civic, my even cuter bf (he had his nipples pierced and bleached his hair...that was so hot), and Warren G on repeat.

My girlfriends and i often share those universally awkward stories of growing up...horrible fashion and hair choices, battles over Independence with our parents, heartbreak, prom dresses, insecurities, etc. One topic that has come up again and again with all my many different groups of friends is our social status in high school and how it in no way mirrors the social status we have now.

Many of my girls have expressed to me, after several cocktails, that the unkind way they were treated in high school left deep emotional scars and a complete lack of interest in returning to their class reunions. In fact, there is general consensus to flip the bird to anyone even resembling that asshole in high school who made fun of our favorite outfits and laughed at us in gym class. Being unpopular in school may seem meaningless now, but at the time, it was easy to use popularity as a thermometer for our eventual success and happiness in life. I mean, frankly, what else did we have to go on?

Some of my friends, who are now both successful and drop-dead gorgeous, claim that they were misfits in high school, much like Daria or Mary Katherine Gallagher in Superstar. They didn't fit in, were unpopular with boys, and got made fun of. They are real-life examples of how being "in" in high school has nothing to do with your eventual fabulocity. (Of course, I don't have any friends that used to be one of those beautiful but bitchy chicks in high school...those chicks grew up to be uninteresting, medicated housewives.)

I actually didn't have too much trouble in high school. I had good friends and fun parents. I'm not saying i fit in (i think i'll have to accept that i may never experience that sensation.) but i made it out alive and without any severe phsychological damage. And i've been kinda riding that wave ever since. No major changes to report on the BHS Class of 1998 Survey.

But for all those people who also just got their class reunion invites and had a mini-panic attack at the prospect of having to face all those mean people again, don't worry. You don't have to go. In fact, i'm of the opinion that 50% of people who attend reunions only have something to prove. The other 50% just really do like polite chit chat. I'm not in either of those groups so i won't be attending. However, i dedicate this cheesy 90s song to my friends who had a shitty time and still turned out fabulous.

So Good by Destiny's Child