Social Question

Nomore_Tantrums's avatar

Do any of you Boomers out there still attend high school reunions?

Asked by Nomore_Tantrums (4456points) July 4th, 2022

Got an invitation in the mail the other day to attend mine, don’t even know how they got my address.

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39 Answers

Nomore_Tantrums's avatar

I have never attended one in my life. I was happy to graduate from that penal institute.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Did my fiftieth a few years ago also several others !

zenvelo's avatar

I went to my tenth, and was on the committee for my 20th and 40th.

The 40th was a lot of fun because we had broken out of any cliques or groups and just enjoyed each other’s company, I started dating a woman who I had never spoken to in high school, she is now a dear friend.

I will probably be on the Committee for the 50th next year.

The biggest disappointment at the 20th was a group of four girls that had been part of my general circle since 7th grade, but none of them showed for the reunions.

Brian1946's avatar

Not a boomer. :p
▼ ▼

Mimishu1995's avatar

I’m a millennial and I have never attended any school reunions. I have cut tie with every single classmate, except for a few who went to college with me. To be honest, my life before college was absolute hell, and I would rather I didn’t have to revisit that past again.

I had a question a year ago about when my high school classmates attempted a reunion. Being invited actually brought stress on me and I’d rather they have forgotten me.

Brian1946's avatar

The last one I went to was my 40th in 2005.

They wanted $125 for the 50th, so I didn’t go.

SQUEEKY2's avatar

Never have, never will.
Mrs Squeeky was hounded to attend her twentieth she finally had to tell them to fuck off,they wouldn’t take no for answer.

filmfann's avatar

I was in a class of about 750.
Class reunions usually attract about 125 of them. Most of them hoping he will show up.
He never has, but he usually sends a video greeting, and pays for an open bar.

Jeruba's avatar

I never did. I thought about the first one, but no one I was in touch with was going. It was pretty much geared to the “popular” kids, the athletes and cheerleaders and their pals. I didn’t enjoy high school very much and never wanted to see that lot again.

And then, a decade or so later, I was 3000 miles away and had no interest in traveling for such an event.

Around the 25th year, though, I did organize a mini-reunion for the small group I knew best. We had a great time back in the old hometown, and I still enjoy the memory of that occasion. We even gathered and presented a significant donation to the public library in honor of our favorite teacher. That was worth doing.

 
@Nomore_Tantrums, you were probably on the class secretary’s “missing” list. Any classmate of yours who was hearing from the secretary and knew where you were could have turned you in.

Nomore_Tantrums's avatar

@Jeruba Ratted out huh? Suspect I may know who culprit was. Oh well, I suppose there are worse atrocities.

canidmajor's avatar

I went to a few, but I didn’t do my 50th (2021) because of covid, in June, but I’m still avoiding gatherings of strangers.
I liked my school and I have really enjoyed connecting with former classmates on social media, we’re much more interesting people now.

rebbel's avatar

Don’t know what I am, generation wise, but I’ve never attended, nor been invited to one.
Till two years ago I would’ve never attend one, but, I might in the future.
It’s been forty years though, high school.

gondwanalon's avatar

The only high school reunion that I went to was the 50th. Was surprised how little everyone had changed. Everyone looked different but inside they were the same. Cool to talk to most of the classmates but some assholes never change. HA! Got food stuck in my throat during the formal dinner and choked up food onto the table cloth. So embarrassed.
No more high school reunions for me. HA!

LadyMarissa's avatar

My class now has one every year!!! I didn’t like most of them when I was in school & I have absolutely NO desire to reconnect with them now!!! The few that I enjoyed, I have kept in touch with over the years & we don’t “need” permission to get together & have fun!!!

@Nomore_Tantrums With the Internet, it’s NOT that difficult to find anyone no matter how good they think they are hiding!!! Plus, a friend who means well will rat you out in a hurry…especially IF they enjoy them as they can’t think of one reason you wouldn’t want to go & it gets them brownie points with old classmates making them feel important!!!

It took me about 10 years of not going before they finally quit sending me an invitation. I recently ran into a guy who said he graduated with me & he was very pushy about getting my address. I’m pretty sure that he planned on passing it on to the committee. They already have it, so I told him that unless he was planning on moving in, that he was denied that info because it was “need to know” basis ONLY. He dropped it.

The town I live in is so small that I already know who married whom & who got the most prestigious jobs, plus how many kids & grand kids they have, so I find NO reason to go & pretend that I care what they’ve accomplished!!!

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Annually there is a mini-reunion in Arizona. There are 25 classmates out of 300 that live within an hour’s drive of Chandler, AZ. Went to high school in Neo England.

elbanditoroso's avatar

My 50-year is in a couple weeks. It’s 600 miles away. I can’t see making the effort.

Pied_Pfeffer's avatar

Graduated from high school in 1981, so on the tail end of the boomer era. Our class had 250ish members. We still hold reunions, and I’ve attended a few despite living 11 hours driving distance away.

I created a FB group for our class about 15 years ago, and about ⅔rds of our class are members. The clicks are gone. We seem to be supporting each other through group posts about successes and losses. An example is when one classmate died and the collective raised money to send flowers. Another was when a classmate was dealing with cancer and a group got together with him for a vacation.

The classmates that still live in the hometown get together on a regular basis. It’s an odd mix from the stereotypes of our schooldays. I like this.

eyesoreu's avatar

I would rather have my eyeballs gouged out & replaced with hot toffee apples than attend such crass gatherings.

Jeruba's avatar

@Nomore_Tantrums, your class probably has a website where you can see event listings, photos, a list of deceased classmates, etc. That’s most likely where your name would have appeared as a classmate they were trying to locate.

It’s all so much easier these days to track people down.

WhyNow's avatar

I was accepted to college after getting a paper published in junior high school.
I convinced this college to admit me with a G.E.D. so I left HS after a few weeks.

Today I’m an asshole with no social skills.

Blackwater_Park's avatar

Went to my 10th and had fun. My 20th was lame. Won’t be going to any others. Also, not a boomer. Gen X

Dutchess_III's avatar

Been to them all! I have the best class ever!

Nomore_Tantrums's avatar

@LadyMarissa I didn’t think about that but you bring a good point. Just that if it was who I think it was they know me well enough to know I would never go to a dumb reunion. But I’ll assume they meant well. To hot for that crap anyway. Latter part of July in Texas? These people are smoking crack, I’ll swear. : )

smudges's avatar

Seriously?? Hell to the no!

Pied_Pfeffer's avatar

My brother graduated from high school in 1967. He was only there for a few years due to a family move to a new state. Despite that, he bonded with a great group of guys. They get together every year for a weekend of re-bonding and poker.

Nomore_Tantrums's avatar

Re beering and poker. Sounds like MY kind of reunion. @Pied_Pfeffer

YARNLADY's avatar

I had no friends in highschool and barely even knew anyone by name. I have never had any desire to go back.

Nomore_Tantrums's avatar

I’m at least happy about making the deceased list (yet).

Nomore_Tantrums's avatar

Not making the deceased list I meant.

cookieman's avatar

Gen-X here.

I went to my fifth which was silly. It was basically a check-in to see who went to college, who works in a trade, and who was flipping burgers.

I didn’t go again until my twentieth which was surreal. I barely recognized anyone and spent most of the night staring at people, wowed by how much we all changed. Plus, of course, the inevitable “who died” conversations.

I don’t plan to attend another, but maybe, if somebody reaches out to me and insists.

Pied_Pfeffer's avatar

@Nomore_Tantrums I suspect that there is plenty of beer involved in my brother’s reunions. As for the “deceased” list, my class’s list is growing.

@cookieman Interesting. At the 25th reunion, almost all were easily recognizable, albeit a bit less youthful. Only two weren’t. What was enjoyable was the stereotypes were wiped away and we all seemed to enjoy the party. There was a DJ and a slide show of photos from our high school years.

KNOWITALL's avatar

Also GenX, never went to one or plan to. I’ve seen most of the ones I care about at various funerals for classmates over the years.
My mom dragged me to all of hers and I hated it.

kritiper's avatar

I did my 20th but vowed never to go to another. Too expensive and I only went to that school for 2 years anyhow…
Really didn’t know anyone.

Nomore_Tantrums's avatar

https://youtu.be/_UnPzp2lmNk @Jeruba I could say I was popular in an undesirable sort of way. A woman I knew in school told me once that every time she heard that song above on the radio it reminded her of my antics in high school. Lol. Not sure if that is good or bad.

Nomore_Tantrums's avatar

@YARNLADY well I like the hell out of you, and the fact that you are always so happy and upbeat so, don’t sweat those a holes. Screw ‘em and the mule they rode in on. Reunions are BS anyway.

tedibear's avatar

I went to my 25th, but won’t go to any more of them. It was boring as heck after the initial hellos to people I liked but hadn’t kept in touch with.

Dutchess_III's avatar

We all still hangout on Facebook too.

RocketGuy's avatar

I went to my 10th, 20th, and 30th but won’t be going to my 40th. Don’t know enough people who would be going. In fact, at least one of them has passed away, so at least one fewer person that I know.

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