Monday, November 13, 2006
Breakfast Club 2 and other Tales from a Wack HS Reunion
I went to my HS reunion last month and I'm still feeling the wackness. The only reason I decided to go was to see my two really good friends Shelly and Maureen. Well I also wanted my citifiedcatholicschoolgoing husband to bear witness to what country public school was like. Oh yes he's heard the ill tales from me but to witness first hand the a bad version of the breakfast club is a whole other situation. So we drove across the bridge into Chestertown, MD. The "glorious" event including a reception and dinner was to commence at 6pm at the Betterton Firehouse. I had no idea where this was. The only thing I remember about Betterton was the beach. And I was about 10 years old. My parents gave me their usual "oh its about 2 minutes from here" because everything in "Cheddertown" as Carl calls it, is 2 minutes away. Now in "Chestertownese" 2 mins can anything from literally 2 minutes to 20 minutes to 4o minutes. But as we soon found out, Bettertown was about 10 minutes away from my house. My parents church had their prom there.
I begin to think about my hs days. I was never in a clique. I hung out with the band nerds, the alty kids aka or the weird kids, the foreign exchange students, and some future farmers of America. I guess most would remember me as the shy introverted tomboy nerd girl who liked books, U2 and pocket watches. (I'll never blog that)
So we get there from some dark, scary, winding road on time. We walk through the doors and I'm thinking no one is going to know who I am. And Carl is like "umm if we're the only ONES here, we need to leave." Now in Blackese, that meant if we're the only black folks up in the place, we're dippin' . Now any other time, in any other environment, that would not be a problem. But this is hickville folks and coming from the city, you automatically stand out. So imagine two black folk from the city who are well-traveled, well-rounded and well-mannered coming into the mix. Anywho, here's the magic moment in short or rather top 10 reasons why I WILL NEVER GO TO ANOTHER HS REUNION AGAIN!!!!!!!! drumroll
10) Business casual takes on a new definition as some folk don jeans, tight-legged khakis, tight church shirts, country club sweaters choking necks and penny loafers. Guess I didn't get the memo that we were supposed to actually dress like its 1991!!!
9) Okay so we were the only ONES there until my cousin Brian showed up and another black guy i didn't remember. He turned out to be my cousin too. Yes every black person in Cheddertown is related. Well, rather every black person in Cheddertown in related to me.
8) Okay so most of my "meet and greet" went like this:
RHC or Random HS classmate- "Oh, So u live in dc, Aren't u scared?"
Me-"Actually with all the cameras I feel pretty safe. Where are u now?"
MOST of the RHC's response- "Oh we're still here."
Me- "Oh in Cheddertown. He he. I mean Chestertown. "
RHC-"So how many kids....?"
Me-"Enough. I mean 2. Well take care, I'm going to get a cheap drink."
7) Davis DeeJay's spinning Frank Sinatra at a 91' HS reunion? But i thought you're supposed to play what was on the radio in high school. That's how they do it in the movies. My husband made a hairband request and the next thing you know, he's spinning Poison, Bon Jovi even Run DMC. No one boogied. Then came Sexy Back and Promiscious Girl. Still no boogie from my boring mates.
Save for a brief two step between my cousin Brian and his wifey.
6) It's so sad that $2 beer, $3 mixed drinks and a $5 pitcher doesn't make a happening party. What's the matter with you people!!! I come from the land of the $10 cover and $12 drink.
5) Hey I bet you I'm more high school than you are because I'm going to sit over here at my lunch table with my friends and make fun of you richie country club kids. Ha take that. Who's popular now beatches????????? Ahh a segregrated lunchroom in a firehouse!!!.
4) Shelly and Maureen didn't come. I'm after you hoochies.
3) None of my alty band nerd friends showed up.
2) It's 8:30 and I'm extremly tired. I never thought 10 pm could be so late. Oh I'm awake. Huh. Yeah DC. Not scared. 2 kids. Uh huh. Excuse me I need to
go to the ladies room. I silently scream WACK!!!!!!! into the bathroom mirror.
1) I wish I had paid $6o bucks for my parent's church's prom. I could of tossed back a few glasses of punch, watch my grandparents shimmy, pose for a polaroid and praise Jesus all in the name of fun.
PS.-I did want to give a post reunion shout out to my friend Michael Ann, her husband and my cousin Brian who helped me get through such an awful night.
And to Carl, I'm so sorry to had to endure this. But now you understand where I'm from and why the hell I won't go back. And I won't get on you for puffin a ciggy with my cuz outside the FIREhouse.
I went to my HS reunion last month and I'm still feeling the wackness. The only reason I decided to go was to see my two really good friends Shelly and Maureen. Well I also wanted my citifiedcatholicschoolgoing husband to bear witness to what country public school was like. Oh yes he's heard the ill tales from me but to witness first hand the a bad version of the breakfast club is a whole other situation. So we drove across the bridge into Chestertown, MD. The "glorious" event including a reception and dinner was to commence at 6pm at the Betterton Firehouse. I had no idea where this was. The only thing I remember about Betterton was the beach. And I was about 10 years old. My parents gave me their usual "oh its about 2 minutes from here" because everything in "Cheddertown" as Carl calls it, is 2 minutes away. Now in "Chestertownese" 2 mins can anything from literally 2 minutes to 20 minutes to 4o minutes. But as we soon found out, Bettertown was about 10 minutes away from my house. My parents church had their prom there.
I begin to think about my hs days. I was never in a clique. I hung out with the band nerds, the alty kids aka or the weird kids, the foreign exchange students, and some future farmers of America. I guess most would remember me as the shy introverted tomboy nerd girl who liked books, U2 and pocket watches. (I'll never blog that)
So we get there from some dark, scary, winding road on time. We walk through the doors and I'm thinking no one is going to know who I am. And Carl is like "umm if we're the only ONES here, we need to leave." Now in Blackese, that meant if we're the only black folks up in the place, we're dippin' . Now any other time, in any other environment, that would not be a problem. But this is hickville folks and coming from the city, you automatically stand out. So imagine two black folk from the city who are well-traveled, well-rounded and well-mannered coming into the mix. Anywho, here's the magic moment in short or rather top 10 reasons why I WILL NEVER GO TO ANOTHER HS REUNION AGAIN!!!!!!!! drumroll
10) Business casual takes on a new definition as some folk don jeans, tight-legged khakis, tight church shirts, country club sweaters choking necks and penny loafers. Guess I didn't get the memo that we were supposed to actually dress like its 1991!!!
9) Okay so we were the only ONES there until my cousin Brian showed up and another black guy i didn't remember. He turned out to be my cousin too. Yes every black person in Cheddertown is related. Well, rather every black person in Cheddertown in related to me.
8) Okay so most of my "meet and greet" went like this:
RHC or Random HS classmate- "Oh, So u live in dc, Aren't u scared?"
Me-"Actually with all the cameras I feel pretty safe. Where are u now?"
MOST of the RHC's response- "Oh we're still here."
Me- "Oh in Cheddertown. He he. I mean Chestertown. "
RHC-"So how many kids....?"
Me-"Enough. I mean 2. Well take care, I'm going to get a cheap drink."
7) Davis DeeJay's spinning Frank Sinatra at a 91' HS reunion? But i thought you're supposed to play what was on the radio in high school. That's how they do it in the movies. My husband made a hairband request and the next thing you know, he's spinning Poison, Bon Jovi even Run DMC. No one boogied. Then came Sexy Back and Promiscious Girl. Still no boogie from my boring mates.
Save for a brief two step between my cousin Brian and his wifey.
6) It's so sad that $2 beer, $3 mixed drinks and a $5 pitcher doesn't make a happening party. What's the matter with you people!!! I come from the land of the $10 cover and $12 drink.
5) Hey I bet you I'm more high school than you are because I'm going to sit over here at my lunch table with my friends and make fun of you richie country club kids. Ha take that. Who's popular now beatches????????? Ahh a segregrated lunchroom in a firehouse!!!.
4) Shelly and Maureen didn't come. I'm after you hoochies.
3) None of my alty band nerd friends showed up.
2) It's 8:30 and I'm extremly tired. I never thought 10 pm could be so late. Oh I'm awake. Huh. Yeah DC. Not scared. 2 kids. Uh huh. Excuse me I need to
go to the ladies room. I silently scream WACK!!!!!!! into the bathroom mirror.
1) I wish I had paid $6o bucks for my parent's church's prom. I could of tossed back a few glasses of punch, watch my grandparents shimmy, pose for a polaroid and praise Jesus all in the name of fun.
PS.-I did want to give a post reunion shout out to my friend Michael Ann, her husband and my cousin Brian who helped me get through such an awful night.
And to Carl, I'm so sorry to had to endure this. But now you understand where I'm from and why the hell I won't go back. And I won't get on you for puffin a ciggy with my cuz outside the FIREhouse.
Labels: tale of a wack hs reunion
# posted by kokayi @ 5:09 PM 
