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My 40th high school reunion

Posted: Mar 26, 2012

I haven't been back to a reunion since my 10th one. Now, I'm debating whether to go because so many of my classmates are successful, two published authors, military officers, doctors, lawyers. Very small graduating class. Many of them have taken early retirement, live on Hilton Head, SC, etc. I don't want to tell them my pay has been cut in half and I work for an Indian company. Is that pathetic? I would also add that I was the geeky, awkward, nose-in-a-book, dateless, flat-chested class mouse. My husband says why do you even want to go, you didn't get along with most of them anyway? I'm just rambling here, having a free-stream-of consciousness kind of a morning... Guess I could be like Michelle & Romy and say I invented Post-Its.

;

I never bothered with any of my reunions. - Cost too much, among other things. (sm)

[ In Reply To ..]
My social life was out of school, not at school, as most of my friends went to a different high school. I wasn't one of the popular kids, either. I basically just "did my time" in high school, so I could get out!

By the time my 40th reunion popped up, I was curious about going, but it was a fancy affair at a big hotel in Los Angeles, and the tickets were expensive. I cringe at those types of affairs - I always seem to end up by myself at a table in the corner, or worse, with a bunch of people from a different class I don't even know. (They lump them together, now - and my class was a mid-winter graduating class, so it was small). Having a conversation is next to impossible, because the music is always way too loud, and you can't even make yourself heard if you shout. Going to the dentist and getting a cavity filled would be more pleasant!

And you're right about the job-thing... it's embarrassing to try to explain what you do, and to be a poverty-level worker sitting in a room full of mostly successful people. I just don't need to do that to myself!

You're right - I don't need to do that to myself

[ In Reply To ..]
It's 600 miles away, so there's gas, motel, food, plus the cost of the dinner, then the additional drive to one of the classmate's lake house for a cookout. You just reminded me of how my 10 year reunion was, loud, with a bunch of drunks still hanging in the same cliques. I don't know what I want to prove to anybody or to myself...that I turned out better than they thought I would...but then there's that whole poverty-level job thing again. I should've gone to the 25th reunion in 1997 when I was still making good money. Sitting here having flashbacks from high school, nah, don't need it.

LOL - should have gone to the 25th - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
- when you were still making good money - sorry, being in the same boat, I got a kick out of that.

I have less money now, so I go grocery shopping less frequently - isn't it terrifying how much food prices go up - just from one trip to the store to the next?

So thanks for the chuckle on my shopping day - "sticker shock in every aisle" - oh yeah!

Can you believe the price of hamburger these days?! - Once a staple, now a luxury! -Meerkat

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Ground turkey is about half the price of beef here - And much healthier

[ In Reply To ..]
IMO, it's fairly interchangeable with ground beef for bolognese sauce, taco filling, burrito filling, stuffed peppers, etc. I've found if I spice it up a bit, no one can even tell it's not ground beef. It's about $2 a pound where I live (central CA), whereas the ground beef is up around $4-5 a pound.

I have a little Mexican meat market across the street. If I really feel I must have ground beef for something, I buy a pound of their tri-tip or chuck roast, and then have them grind it fresh for me (at about $3.49 a pound, so still cheaper than the mainstream grocery store ground beef...yay!).

At the rate the price of ground beef is going up, pretty soon Hamburger Helper will be over in the gourmet aisle, LOL!

I like the idea of getting it ground fresh - after hearing about...

[ In Reply To ..]
PINK SLIME they put in ground beef these days!

Pink slime is such a disgusting idea! - None for me, thanks!

[ In Reply To ..]
Reminds me of the meals in George Orwell's 1984.

I recall reading that meat ground at the market was probably ok, but that frozen patties and that ground beef that comes in the plastic tubes was more likely to contain pink slime.

Ages ago there was a mechanical method to remove the last shreds of meat from bones. It resulted in a certain amount of very tiny bone bits ending up in ground beef. The companies using that method defended it as a great way to get more calcium in your diet, but I thought it sounded more like product tampering. Pink slime beats it by a long shot, though.

I think I'm becoming a "vergetarian" - mthead

[ In Reply To ..]
Meat just grosses me out lately and now the news of this pink slime comes out. I hate the texture of chicken and the smell of pork. I sometimes don't like the smell of beef, either. If I could find an easy way to eat vegetarian, I would, but I'd still have to cook for the two carnivores in my house.

Easy way to do this - Coder

[ In Reply To ..]
There are websites and at least one cookbook that shows you how to cook stuff veggie then add meat to the carnies' part.

The less you use prepared food products the easier this will be. It isn't difficult, anyway. Just eat from the produce department. Dried beans are spectacular. See the new bean cookbook by Crescent Dragonwagon; it is inspired. Eggplant and big meaty mushrooms satisfy like meat. Roast potato chunks and roast any kind of veg are satisfying.

Start small. Fix great vegs for yourself with enough for them, then fix some meat thing for them to go along.

Thank you for the advice! I have some - mthead

[ In Reply To ..]
vegetarian cookbooks that we used before the kids were born, and I should go back to them, but I will get that Crescent Dragonwagon book.

It is available for Kindle for 8.77 - If you have no Kindle see msg

[ In Reply To ..]
If you don't have a Kindle, just download the free Kindle reader software from Amazon onto your computer. You can have your cookbook at about half price.

Kindle editions of cookbooks are often free for a few days to weeks. It can be worth it. Lots of free all kinds of books, including self-help and business, job hunting, inspirational, and other useful stuf.

My son has one that I'm going to use; - mthead

[ In Reply To ..]
he only uses it to read in bed at night. What a good idea! We're going on vacation next week, so I will peruse it on the beach since it will likely be too cold to swim. Hopefully, I'll come home w/a bunch of yummy meal ideas!

I'll eat pink slime. There is so much worse that - goes on in food production

[ In Reply To ..]
It just hasn't been sensationalized by the media. I don't mind the pink slime one bit. It utilizes more of the animal, thus keeping prices lower, and it keeps me from having to hunt my own food. :) Please pass the slime!

Hubby bought a home meat grinder - much better

[ In Reply To ..]
Hubby surprised me. I didn't think he cared what he ate. He came home with a meat grinder and a bunch of round steak. It made excellent hamburger. The round steak was even cheaper than the pre-ground hamburger and it went further--I suppose because not so much discarded fat.

Gourmet Hamburger Helper - Hilarious! - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
it's not funny - that's the reason I laugh. I get ground turkey all the time too - even that has gone up in price.

Just my take from trying to - put together a 20th.

[ In Reply To ..]
A friend and I put together our 20th, and yes, we are from a very small town. We kinda had cliques back then but we all got along for the most part. I am so thankful for him asking me to help plan it as I ended up getting back in touch w/ my BFFs from back when and we're talking frequently now. Of course, if there's no one you really care to see again, then it's rather pointless. Good luck and have fun if you go!

Why do you feel you need to tell everyone what your pay is - Henrietta the Hermit

[ In Reply To ..]
My 30th was 6 years ago and I wanted to go so bad. I've never been back for any reunion just because at the times they had them I had other things to do. My 30th though I was sad I didn't go. I wanted to show my so called "best friend" that I did make something out of my life and been successful without her (nothing like being high school age and the poplar girl of the school you think is your friend tells you you will never be anything without her. I wanted to show her. I was by all means not poplar at all. I was shy, overweight, and pimples like you wouldn't believe (wish they had Pro Active back then) :-). But I made something of my life without her input. I am proud of what I accomplished as so should you be. I wanted to go back and tell them I served in the military promoted to Sergeant and I went to college and graduated majoring in medical transcription. You should be proud to tell people of your accomplishments. Nobody cares about your pay. I'll bet if you were to tell them everything you've done and the perks of being an MT they'll probably be envious. And also when I tell people about my job I don't tell anyone what my pay is or who I work for. That's just not information they need to know.

LOL - they'd have only to see what I was wearing - to know I wasnt doing well! -Meerkat

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

LOL - everyone is on a roll today! - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
humor is great, I appreciate it.

I find it humorous that all that pretentiousness in high school - Seems to carry over even to reunions

[ In Reply To ..]
Isn't that ironic? All that pomp and pretention in high school, trying to fit in with the "cool" kids, and even 30 years later, some apparently still strive to impress their "classmates."

Funny, I was semi-popular in high school and got along with pretty much everyone. I never strived to impress any of them then, and, if I attended a reunion, I can't imagine I'd strive to impress them now. They're figures in my past that I'd likely not see for another 30 years, so what they think about myself, my spouse, my profession or my income is of no importance to me.

I know some people get very excited at the prospect of showing their former classmates how well they did in life, while others fear their classmates will look down on their perceived lack of success.

I love my life and am proud of all aspects of it, including my spouse, my profession as a medical language specialist, my daughter in college, even my little dog. It would never cross my mind to consider myself less successful than my high school peers simply because they have more bank than I do. In fact, truth be told, probably half of them would do anything to have MY life.

If you go to your reunion, I hope you do it just to have fun and for the memories it will bring, and not spend one second of your precious life worried about others may think of you, your spouse, your clothes, your profession, your car, or anything else. Good luck with your decision :-)

I never went to any of mine, but my old - mthead

[ In Reply To ..]
neighbor sent me pics of our 25th reunion. My hubby and I were only 2 years apart and attended the same schools. While I couldn't figure out who ANYONE was in the pictures, hubby picked them all out. My main thought was, "Who are all of these overweight, grey-haired men, and what are they doing with these gorgeous stick-thin women?" I'm glad I didn't go because I'm not stick thin or gorgeous, and I'm not social or outgoing in any way, so I would have just sat there until someone recognized me and came up to me to say hello.

I just went to my 25th a couple of years ago. I didn't want to, but I'm glad I did. - SM

[ In Reply To ..]
I still keep in touch with my BFF from high school. Actually, to be honest she still keeps in touch with me. I'm not what one would call a social butterfly. I went to my 10 year reunion and that was it. My BFF begged me to go with her to this 25th. She had been to all of them and said she was not going to go to another unless I went with her. So under duress, I attended.

I was glad I went. I learned quickly how skilled everyone had become in the art of BS! LOL! Myself included. The important thing to remember about our profession is that we get to work from home. I found people are so envious of that. So hammer that fact when talking about your career.

It was fun to reconnect with people I hadn't seen in years. I grew up in a small town where everyone knows everyone so it was really like seeing family again, if you know what I mean.

Plus there's the added bonus of seeing who got fat, whose divorced. Believe me as bad you may feel about yourself or your situation, you're not the only one that crap has happened to over the years.

Anyway, I saw go and have fun. Look at like you're taking on some fabulous role in a movie.

reunion - gem

[ In Reply To ..]
Just tell them you're a medical transcriptionist. They won't know what it is, believe me. The men will all be fat and bald, even the football quarterback. Go and have some laughs.

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