| Straight
from the holler.
by "Buck" October 9, 2006 I recently attended my 20th High School reunion. I must admit going in I had reservations about the whole thing. I mean let’s face it, we all remember a collection of well-oiled assholes from our high school days. Can 20 years change that or would they now be only well-seasoned assholes? I feared it would digress into an ass kicking festival or in this case an asshole kicking festival. Frankly however, I was pleasantly surprised. A number of those who I once considered walking testicles had matured into easy going, pleasant to talk to adults. It was a nice change of pace. Don’t get me wrong there were two people who still held strong to tradition and proved they were hard core assholes and gave credence to my opinion of them in our youth. But overall, not a bad time…in fact I rather enjoyed the whole affair. You know how we always say, “I wish I could go back knowing what I know now.” Well, this particular reunion was very much like that. Over the course of two days I was transported back in time to a collection of people from a former life, but we all had a greater world view and with some living had learned that we weren’t all that we used to think we were. It began with a meeting in a vacant lot in town where the organizer passed out tickets to a football game. It was there that everybody exchanged all of the “Oh, you haven’t changed a bit!” comments. There were also the anticipated whispers, “Oh look at her, she’s SOOOO fat!” or “Who is that?” After a good 20-minutes of this foolishness we walked as a group to the ballpark where we had RESERVED SEATS on the 50! It marked the first time I had ever watched a game from the stands. I was always on the field in school and after high school, I’d stand in the end zone with the rest of the ex-players/hillbillies. The next day was an innocuous picnic where everybody brought their Secrets and turned them loose. It was interesting to observe how many of the kids were just like their parents and fought with the kids of the same people their parents hated in high school. The last night we had “The Banquet” where there was definitely some great “people watching” as Jeff Kay likes to say. Once the liquor was flowing---things really got interesting. Few people brought a spouse, those who did had a very bored spouse who gave up and left early. The music started and it was like 1986 all over again. ZZ Top, Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Guns N Roses!. The first song of the night was by the Police—to which a girl yelled “Oh my God it’s the POLICE!!!” To which I, in perfect comedic timing yelled, “Who gives a shit, we’re legal to drink now.” It was a panacea of dress. Some of the women literally had evening gowns like it was prom night—one guy showed up in a tee-shirt that said “Remington, First in the Field.” HA!!! One extremely drunk guy staggered over to me and stammered through slurred speech, “You know, Buck I always liked you. Man, you went off to college and now got that job making the ‘big money.’ For me, I just skate by. Heavy equipment is my life.” Classic. Another girl, husband absent, was hitting on everybody. After she was drunk, I observed her doing the bump and grind with about four different people. I think she eventually went home with one of them, but I could be mistaken. The hotel rent-a-cop came in and got all pissy. Apparently some of the party goers were “brown bagging” and bringing liquor in from the outside. One guy responded to the charge by saying, “Well hell, you charged $5.00 for a bottle of beer and the bar don’t stock shine!” There’s a comment you don’t hear too often. Finally, at midnight they ran us out of the hall. We all headed to the bar where culture shock set in. I haven’t been in a hipster nightclub since 1992. Holy shit have things changed. The music is freaky, but the dancing is damn fine. One girl actually had a bare tit exposed during a slow dance…crazy man. We closed down the bar at 2:00 and regrouped in the lobby for more foolishness. Finally at 2:30, the Brown Bag Police broke us up and we dispersed for another 20 years. All in all, a great weekend. This is a poor description, but I gave it a shot. I’m not really in the mood today. Sorry. Buck Out |
