The Not-So-Wonder Years

 A rccurring question on socisl media: Given the chance, would you go back to your high school years?

I am often amazed by the number of people who answer in the affirmative (although, given the way some people in their 40s and older still brag about what high school they went to, I probably shouldn't be). An awful lot of people seem to remember their high school days the way Kevin Arnold did on The Wonder Years...and I have to wonder if they are only remembering the best parts.

My answer is negative. While my time spent in high school was not uniformly horrible--it is the place where I discovered theater and performing, after all--it is also a time when I had few real friends, was ostracized for not being athletic, and had my heart broken by two different girls. I had teachers I liked and admired, but others who I found to be cold, aloof and completely unsuited to the profession they found themselves in.

I did not come out of high school morose and depressed (thank heavens), but neither did I come out of it elated.

 

Marching to a Different Drummer

 Last night I did something I haven't done in about 15 years--I went to a high school marching band competition. Ridley was holding its "home comp" and I thought it would be interesting to see what's happening in the area after so long away.

Mostly what's happening is that participation is declining--not in number of schools (there were about 20 competing), but in numbers of students in each band. Even schools that once filled the field with marching players are now struggling to have 100 or so. One school had only about a dozen.

Spectators I talked to chalked it up to the pandemic--the loss of a marching band season at all last year and lingering concerns about social distancing, etc. I think it might also simply be because fewer kids are interested in this kind of instruments--they are mostly attracted to guitar and keyboards, and when drums are the focus, rock drum kits, not marching snares.

I hope it comes back...marching band was a big part and a big influence on both my sons.

Re-United?

 Have you ever gone to a class reunion? I have not.

The 50th year reunion of my high school graduating class was last year. I might have gone, but thinking it over decided it would be a waste...on several levels. I was not popular in my high school and I have not kept in touch with anyone I went to school with. Even when I have encountered them on Facebook (there's a group for people from my hometown), we simply acknowledge each other and then move on. I am not even FB friends with any of them. In addition, my high school was, by some standards, quite large: There were about 500 people in my graduating class; I knew perhaps a quarter of them by face and far fewer by name. I never went to the popular "hang out" spots. 

The 50th year reunion of my college graduating class will be 2024. I am even more unlikely to attend that one. If my high school class was large, my college class was enormous. My closest associates and acquaintances would be the couple of dozen people from the campus radio station...and there's no guarantee any of them would be there. In addition, I didn't finish in May; I finished in January. So, am I part of the 1973 class? Or the 1974 class?

I fear either occasion would be much like the high school dances I sometimes attended. I would be standing against the wall, watching everyone else enjoy themselves.