It’s been 10 years since I accepted my high school diploma and forever left the halls of my alma matter behind. Since that landmark day, those of us who graduated together have gone off in all sorts of directions. Many of us continued onto college, some joined the ranks of the working class, a few went into the military and some, well… some just decided that eeking by and smoking lots of pot is all that they needed out of life. Not that I’m judging.
As I’m sure you already know, I was REALLY cool in high school. Really, really cool. Scarily cool, even. But I digress. Recently, this cool guy(me) received notification that our 10-year anniversary was coming up and that if I wanted to go, I needed to buy my tickets. This got me thinking; Are High School reunions really necessary in this day and age and, do I really want to go?
You see, in the past, high school reunions were meant to bring old classmates(who you haven’t seen or heard from in a decade, mind you) back together in order to catch up, see who got fat, show off how much money you make, find out who came out and see who’s had the most kids. But now that we live in the age of the internet, this sort of information can be accessed through a couple of quick keystrokes and mouse-clicks. And with a user count of over 200-million, the odds of being able to find and keep up with your former classmates on Facebook are relatively high.
Of course, there’s one thing that no website will ever be able to replicate and that’s face-to-face human interaction. Sure you can hold conversations through text, IM and email, but if you’re really wanting to see and speak with your former schoolmates, then the digital world isn’t your best bet.
All of this begs the question; are high school reunions antiquated? Do they hold the same purpose and meaning as they did in years of the past?
While my gut reaction is to say “yes, they are antiquated,” a little thought on the subject brings out some counterpoints to that mindset. While it is much easier and commonplace to keep up with the whereabouts and going-ons of our former classmates nowadays, does that make it old-fashioned to want a little face-time with old friends, past significant-others and perhaps a few of your favorite teachers? I’m going to have to say “No. Absolutely not.”
However, with the advent of the information superinterhighwaywebs(I think that’s what they call it) and the ease of which we can access our schoolmate’s information, we certainly have less motivation to go. Furthermore, now that air travel is commonplace, a flight home is only a few short hours away enabling many of us keep up with and see our old friends far more often than the generations that came before us.
So, will I be going to my 10-year high school reunion next month? In a nutshell, no. I’ve been fortunate enough to stay close friends with many of my former classmates and have kept in touch with several more. Will there be people there that I’d like to see and catch up with? Of course. However, I just don’t feel that compelled to go. Maybe I’m just an old fuddy duddy, but I’m perfectly happy keeping up with everyone just like I have been; on the innerwebs.
What about you? Will you/did you go to your next high school reunion?
