Well, I just got back from my 10 year high school reunion. I can honestly say the outcome doesn't entirely surprise me. We didn't have a large class to begin with so we had five graduates (and three spousal creatures) attending a night at the bar in which the event took place. It was too loud to hear half of what was said and I was really too hungry to want alcohol, and too guilty to want food since everyone else already ate. (If you're reading this and you were there, don't feel bad for me - I just can't eat around non-eaters... it feels weird.)
But it is amazing to see how divorced you truly are and were to those you went to school with 12 years of your life. Ten years ago, I left to switch high schools when I was kicked out of one parent's house and sent to the other's. Today, I was met with surprise that I wasn't around to finish school at that high school. I had no idea what was going on in the lives of those few who attended the reunion.
I tried to engage in conversation casually to find out what was going on in the other people's lives, but you might have an idea what that was like for me. Put me in a customer service setting and I can sell like a champ (I used to do that to people in the bookstore I managed, selling people books they didn't know they needed or wanted). However, putting me in a social setting, with no clear guideline on how you talk to people and I am Stammering Stan.
The simplicity of reunions just amazed me. I never got invited to the reunion of the school I graduated from, but the one I grew up in and left early from did invite me. However, those at the reunion spoke largely of things I knew nothing about. I was reminded strongly of my own introverted nature growing up (which hasn't much changed, as I am an introvert who occasionally likes to pretend at extroversion with other introverts). I read books, tried to keep to myself in school, wrote novels (by hand - I was so badass!) and even got a senior work study at the library in town.
There were only 40 or so students in our class. Was I that invisible that no one noticed I abruptly switched schools six months before the end? Well, needless to say I felt like I wasn't truly contributing to the group. I actually felt a little like I was bringing the group down with my inability to decide where a person would put their limbs to seem the most normal and casual in a social environment.
I'm not ashamed to say I bailed out. I gave my contact information out and I'm okay with seeing if anyone reaches out to me. All I know is that I wish that, on just one occasion, I might manage to socialize with people without feeling like I brought the awkwardness to the party.
What about you? Have you had any situations you just didn't quite know how to handle before?
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