Since graduating in 1968 I have been to zero class reunions. I figure those in attendance would be pretty much of the same clique that I was never a part of. Ya know, the "incrowd", the cool people. My popularity was in the bottom 5% anyway. I mean, how do you catch up on 50 years of stuff? Ridiculous.
I was going to let them have it, for all the stuff I endured in high school. I listened to the Doors on the way there, after having drunk about 3 glasses of wine. I was going to take the microphone from the band, and give them the "Jim Morrison rant" (look it up). After I got there, a guy gave me another glass of wine, and I literally passed out. Such was my fiftieth.
In this case, I was actually glad. They were not the same people, and were concerned for me. I was "convicted" of holding onto a grudge way longer than I should have.
Yeah but then we wouldn't have this great memory to talk about. lol. Just goes to show that most of us never actually 'grow up', we're all pretty much the same people we were back in High School with varying levels of career success. Actually I think I might be regressing back into my second childhood now if in fact I ever did grow up.
As a "War Baby", I feel like I've personally experienced the theory of relativity. The vile transmutation into the abomination that America is now was meticulously manufactured by the Controllers who plan well in advance, often decades. Nonetheless it helps tremendously to keep a sense of humor as the ship goes down. Laughter and ridicule can be a potent force. Thanks, Don, for the trip down memory lane, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
"The vile transmutation into the abomination that America is now was meticulously manufactured by the Controllers who plan well in advance, often decades. "
I'm well aware of that. However, a blind man can see that America has been progressively transmuted into an ever increasing cesspool of crime, corruption, perversion, mongrelization, dysfunctionality, and tyranny over the years via a step by step insidious plan. I grew up in the post World War Two era and as flawed as it was, it was paradise compared to how things are now.
Class of 1975 here, Don. I went to my 30th reunion and have not / will not attend another. The ones that show up are the woke snobs that want to show off their material possessions.
In my case, Horatio, the ones that showed up weren't really popular, but were involved in activities like school floats, various committees, etc. I guess the ones that enjoyed HS, unlike many of us. Thanks!
Class of 1975 here too. I went to 15th reunion, no others and will likely not attend my 50th. Don't want to waste my money traveling to Michigan since I live in Virginia now. I was shy as a mouse then and so definitely not popular. Hated high school cliques too.
I understand, Daniel. I felt that way after my 10th reunion. I remembered why I didn't like high school. But I thought that 50 is a real milestone, that should be celebrated. Thanks.
Too funny. I was class of ‘71 and sat mine out. Didn’t even go to HS graduation. As a military brat in a small town I just didn’t belong and felt like it was a waste of time. Ended up in USN in early ‘72. Just posted something on my stack yesterday and referenced song Where Rainbows Never Die by the Steeldrivers. Check it out- lyrics.
Our graduation theme song was one of those sappy '70s hits, "We May Never Pass This Way Again" by Seals & Crofts. It was sufficiently sad enough to make me feel depressed on graduation day. Thanks, Eric.
Hey Eric, Another '71 here, skipped all re-unions as well, including med skool. I always figured there was a reason I never kept in touch with those folks. Based on the stories here, bingo.
Maybe we '71's who have never met should get together for a re-union. Like Steven Wright might say, "I like to reminisce with people I've never met."
Fellow Army brat here. We moved to small town Bowling Green, Ky in 1971, and Dad commuted home on the weekends from Ft Campbell. Talk about culture shock; I never fit in either. Class of ‘77, but graduated early in Dec ‘76; I couldn’t wait to get out of high school.
I never went to a class reunion, mainly because I never got an invite after the 10 year. I didn’t go to the 10 year because I didn’t think my peers would have changed enough in only 10 years. I was right according to a friend who went.
My class failed to have another reunion after a low turnout to the 20th. We had around 450 classmates, and maybe 25 people showed up.
A few years later, someone decided we needed one, so they put together a Fuck it, We’re 50! reunion in 2009, the year most of us would turn 50 years old. I decided to go to that one. It was fun, and about 75% of the attendees gave up only socializing with their old cliques and mingled with everyone. I was glad I went, but have no plans to attend the 50th in a few years if they have one. I still don’t fit in.
Btw, I adore the Steeldrivers and know that song well.
I grew up in a beach town on the Florida gulf coast, and I'm still here, though I rarely go to the beach anymore. I know what you mean when you talk about it being crowded. It seems that it's been taken over by "hispanics" beginning in the 80's and increasing exponentially ever since. It had a great small town vibe back in the 60s and 70s. I would've been class of 74 if I hadn't dropped out in the 11th grade. I never liked school very much. Never went to a prom or reunion. I used to think I was fat if I had the tiniest little roll over the top of my hip hugger bellbottoms. By today's standards I was skinny. I just can't believe how fat the kids are nowadays. Anyway, it was good times and we had GREAT music! Concerts were cheap back then. The good old days! So glad to have had them.
You're like me, Annette. I live in the same county I moved to with my family when I was two years old. Reminds me of the great line from the early Simpsons episode about Homer's HS reunion, when he won as award for "the graduate who traveled the shortest distance to be here." Thanks!
1974 was a different time Donald. A different planet. Nothing is the same. It has all been transformed, literally, into a unrecognizable hellscape. At least I have something to hold onto from that time, memories and my classic 1974 "Spirit of America" Impala. Both in excellent condition, but both relics.
I know, it makes me ill. The new cars, I have one, are just spy platforms. They have wifi, cameras in the rear view mirror, microphones listening, tracking, just like cellphones. I hate driving it and regret buying it. I am literally about to take it to shop and have all of that garbage removed if I can. The whole console and dash gutted, new mirror, and my own music installed. It's just too much. The spying by car manufacturers is out of control too.
You know, your comment made me think, that is a great business opportunity for someone with the right skills and knowledge. The dealership certainly will not do what you are looking for. Nor will any shop I am aware of. But I have to think there is a substantial market for people that would like to have a new car minus the full spectrum dominance surveillance and control systems. If it isn't already, such modifications will quickly be criminalized, but it could be a good business otherwise.
Don's Custom - Late Model Deep Cleaning and Dedigitization Services
Triple D Autos for short. Has a bit of a 70's ring to it.
I'm researching now what wires to cut, what modules to disconnect, and I will do it myself. If successful, yeah that would be something, and if not the vehicle will be destroyed. Oh well.
I was in the class of '71. I guess I've always been a different kind of rebel as well as a loner. I've always thought drugs were stupid because I was blessed with a good brain and couldn't see doing anything that might mess with it. I disliked the old establishment teachers for their arrogance and I hated the new "cool" teachers with their paisleys and sideburns because they were so shallow. The only decent one in the whole school was the vice principal. He wouldn't get a job now because he knew what was going on and in my conversations with him he was not afraid to say so. I hope he lived to a very happy ripe old age. They definitely don't make many like him. I didn't go to grad as I had to work. I either worked or lost my job. It was a definite no brainer. As soon as I could afford to I left for the North and never went back. While I bear no ill will to any of my fellow students ( I never bothered keeping in touch with any of them) I'm willing to bet I have had a better life than most of them and I'm not talking monetarily. I'm probably in better shape than all of the jocks and can run most guys in their forties into the ground. I think we should all leave the past in the past otherwise you may risk ruining the good memories of the people you hung with back then. Congratulations on staying healthy and happy for this long in your life. I wish you many more good years.
If you look on a map I'm about an hour out of Dawson Creek right on the B.C. Alberta border. The few people you meet up here are mostly indigenous in this area mostly Metis.
"So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
But in this regard, that high water mark was our freedom, and it did peak somewhere in the late 70's, 'ish? As expressed in music, poetry, cinema, and the general discourse of those of us alive at the time.
I often try to figure-out "when" it ended, or "what" was the first indication that we were headed to where we are now. Certainly the first time someone said "politically correct", or maybe when they re-wickered the movie rating system to include "PG-13"?
Not that it matters much now, because it isn't like we can go back in time and prevent the current tyranny, by pulling it up by the root.
Just think, when George Carlin did his bit about "The seven words you can't say on television" ... it was funny! Now, it's more like 700 words, things, concepts, phrases, etc., that you cannot say in any form of public discourse, lest there be consequences.
I've mentioned this before, but all one need do is go back and watch some cinematic release versions of the movies from about 1970 to 1976/78, to see just how much more free we were.
And what's worse? If something doesn't change, and soon, imagine what the class of 2024 will be saying about now, in 2074!? How bad will it be then?
To quote Henry Rollins- "Memory paints the past in gold".
But goddamned it, things really DID used to be better!
I think you have it right, Myriad- our freedom probably did peak around the late '70s. Imagine if a right-wing Carlin came out today, and produced a comedy routine around all the things you can't say now. Carlin's forbidden words were all considered profanity. Today, we have a whole lot of clean, but forbidden thought. Thought Crime. Thanks!
Our "Freedom" ended a long time ago- before any of us were born. But the enforcement in the old days was way more subtle. As SHeeple, we policed ourselves very effectively.
High school was not a pleasant experience for me either Don. Class of 71 (barely). I was always trying to fit in. Ran from one crowd to another trying to be cool. I did make a few friends but they’ve faded long ago. Those with money were getting new cars for their 16th birthday. One guy named Lars got a brand new Cougar CR7, Jet Black, red leather, console shifter, 8 track player. Being one of ten kids money was scarce. I got a job pumping gas at the Shell station around the corner from our school. Bought my first car from my older sister, 61 Chevy Biscayne beater. I loved it. I will admit I was a shit student and never applied myself. Considered myself stupid. So when all my friends were going off to big colleges, I said fuck it and enlisted in the Marine Corps.
I did go to my 20th reunion. I was recently divorced, one year sober and scared to death. I actually wore a suit and tie. Everyone knew I was sober. Word gets out you know. I also went to my 40th and reconnected with a couple that we’re friends with today. They convinced me to go to the 50th and that’s it.
There’s this core group where High School must have been the high point of their lives. Maybe it was. Good for them. It wasn’t for me but I wouldn’t change a thing. God bless you Don. Spotted you right away you handsome devil in black.
My sister, older by 15 months, and I graduated from high school together in 1974 (she repeated her sophomore year and that's how we ended up in the same grade, long story), and even though we were in the same grade, the same homeroom for God's sake with the same last name, no one knew we were sisters. For 3 years. Neither of us attended a 50th reunion, in fact I am sure there wasn't one. I often think about how much things have changed since 1974. The music, the food, the environment, the water, even the medical care was much safer back then. Nice walk down memory lane. Thanks.
That's not surprising, Lynn. Most kids are only interested in their cliques. One guy that was in my homeroom all 4 years was at the reunion. I said hello to him, and he looked at me blankly. "I recognize the name," he said. We had several conversations in HS. I guess my memory is better than some. Thanks.
You're very funny, Don. I had to laugh at some of your comments. I picked you out right away on that class reunion photo. I also loved the comparison of the skinny minis to the beached baby whales. Its most certainly true. I personally, a graduate of 1973, can relate to your reminiscing. I loved listening to the local rock station, they played good tunes on Import Night. Great stuff! I was glued to my little transistor radio. Its all we had back then. A way to mentally escape from the horrid home life and wish for better days.
Never attended any of my class reunions. I didn't feel the desire to do so as I was not treated too well in high school. In 2012, I did meet up with several of them at a restaurant and it was horrible. I never wanted to get out of a place so quickly. All I heard was a bunch braggadociousness coming from some of the most boring and narcissistic people in my entire life. No, some of them have not changed.
A couple of the cheerleaders I did not recognize. Even asked, Who are you? It was if I had slapped them. Perhaps they still had the same old high school ego. They didn't say a word to me, just gave me the evil eye, and I didn't care. There was no way they could affect my life. If they even tried, they would have gotten blasted.
There are some good people that I would like to see again. But its nearly impossible to find women without knowing their married name(s) or whatever they may have changed to. I still keep in touch with one high school friend, very off than on. She is married with kids and blah, blah, blah. We don't really have much in common. Some of the gals have passed on, sadly, and I regret I didn't stay in touch.
But as one leaves that world of high school and moves onto jobs or college, those relationships can change.
I have a couple of grade school friends, but one is very much a DemonCrap and the other one is busy with grandkids in AZ. I send Christmas cards, but other than that, its all silence. Oh well. There are far too many other people in my current life I have as friends. They have more than made up for what high school provided for me.
Thanks for the memories! I am glad I was not so alone of what my thoughts were back then, or are today!
I appreciate the kind words, Fran. It's sad that the cheerleaders acted like that to you. I guess that was their peak. All downhill from there. I can only surmise that our cheerleaders really didn't hold their looks. Thanks!
You can't go home again, you can't step in the same river, and high school reunions fail if you're not Marty McFly. Kierkegaard said you must live life forward, but can only see it looking back. That quote was on a card in the drawer of a drafting table in the dusty back room of a hundred-year-old factory I worked in post-college, after a Boston bank whose president told us--before Shaft and Superfly--that due to his karate training he took "no s--- from nobody, walkin' or ridin', slippin' or slidin'". You will recall '74 was Helms' victory over Nixon, dealers in the desert laughed, though they might die by violence or land in detox--Lesson: Never succumb to schadenfreud. Church looked into murkiness no current member of government, media, or academe dares. Wokeness is Orwellian mind control--free speech is hate speech. dissent from dogma is disinformation. Perhaps the pendulum will swing back. It will rely on our mutual recognition that we may not see eye to eye, but it's no justification for burning down cities or Beria-ing mean tweeters. High school is best enjoyed in the rear-view mirror of the current ride which we've kept going with barnyard fixes and shade tree satori. A political opponent in my highs school signed my yearbook, "You will die unmourned in a rat-infested garret." My view: We're all on the same team--Marx to the contrary notwithstanding.
I did not go to my 50th reunion. With the exception of a very small handful of people (most of which I am not in contact with, nor even know how to contact), I care not at all what any of my classmates have been up to. Coincidentally, I also worked in a hospital when I was a teenager, and I don't remember leaving early from my shifts. I do agree that life was better, simpler, and less constrained in the early 70s than now.
Class of "72 here...........yes.....unfortunately, we now live in a police state that "ate our lunch".........I keep thinking about all the supposed medical advances that were supposed to extend our lives.......or the quality thereof.....
apparently only for the "wealthy elite"......you know.........them.......they...........the one's with the fake money........who rule the world...............
so by the time these become available for us ................we most probably will be long dead............just a tad depressing...........I think...........
or just maybe we will rise up and demand our medical rights...........you know............"that's my genetic code there buddy".............hang tough.........."live long and prosper.......No. 1............."
Since graduating in 1968 I have been to zero class reunions. I figure those in attendance would be pretty much of the same clique that I was never a part of. Ya know, the "incrowd", the cool people. My popularity was in the bottom 5% anyway. I mean, how do you catch up on 50 years of stuff? Ridiculous.
Good points, Crixcyon. I guess we expect people to grow up eventually. Some never do. Thanks.
The trick is growing up without growing old.
Casey Stengel
haha, I was just about to write your first line word for word. And what followed echos my situation and sentiments perfectly.
I imagine Class Reunions are just a continuation of the same pecking order pre-graduation. I also imagine the washouts never attend.
I was going to let them have it, for all the stuff I endured in high school. I listened to the Doors on the way there, after having drunk about 3 glasses of wine. I was going to take the microphone from the band, and give them the "Jim Morrison rant" (look it up). After I got there, a guy gave me another glass of wine, and I literally passed out. Such was my fiftieth.
That's quite a story, James. Many of us have had our best laid plans foiled by alcohol. Thanks!
In this case, I was actually glad. They were not the same people, and were concerned for me. I was "convicted" of holding onto a grudge way longer than I should have.
Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.
Ambrose Bierce
Staying Home in Bed would have saved you some gas money.
Yeah but then we wouldn't have this great memory to talk about. lol. Just goes to show that most of us never actually 'grow up', we're all pretty much the same people we were back in High School with varying levels of career success. Actually I think I might be regressing back into my second childhood now if in fact I ever did grow up.
As a "War Baby", I feel like I've personally experienced the theory of relativity. The vile transmutation into the abomination that America is now was meticulously manufactured by the Controllers who plan well in advance, often decades. Nonetheless it helps tremendously to keep a sense of humor as the ship goes down. Laughter and ridicule can be a potent force. Thanks, Don, for the trip down memory lane, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
We have to laugh at it, Hereticdrummer. Thanks!
You're welcome, Don, and thanks again. If they cut off our arms, we'll kick them to death.
"The vile transmutation into the abomination that America is now was meticulously manufactured by the Controllers who plan well in advance, often decades. "
Couldn't have said it better.
Thank you, Wilson.
What do you mean "transmutation"? America was created for its role from the beginning.
I'm well aware of that. However, a blind man can see that America has been progressively transmuted into an ever increasing cesspool of crime, corruption, perversion, mongrelization, dysfunctionality, and tyranny over the years via a step by step insidious plan. I grew up in the post World War Two era and as flawed as it was, it was paradise compared to how things are now.
Class of 1975 here, Don. I went to my 30th reunion and have not / will not attend another. The ones that show up are the woke snobs that want to show off their material possessions.
In my case, Horatio, the ones that showed up weren't really popular, but were involved in activities like school floats, various committees, etc. I guess the ones that enjoyed HS, unlike many of us. Thanks!
Class of 1975 here too. I went to 15th reunion, no others and will likely not attend my 50th. Don't want to waste my money traveling to Michigan since I live in Virginia now. I was shy as a mouse then and so definitely not popular. Hated high school cliques too.
I couldn't stand the cliques either, was pretty much a loner with just couple really good friends. We ignored the rest of them.
That works through the 20th reunion. As you get older the Toys do not really matter.
One would think, but not this crowd.
I went to my 50th, but I learned what I had forgotten about people and I don't need to go again, I will remember this time...
I understand, Daniel. I felt that way after my 10th reunion. I remembered why I didn't like high school. But I thought that 50 is a real milestone, that should be celebrated. Thanks.
Too funny. I was class of ‘71 and sat mine out. Didn’t even go to HS graduation. As a military brat in a small town I just didn’t belong and felt like it was a waste of time. Ended up in USN in early ‘72. Just posted something on my stack yesterday and referenced song Where Rainbows Never Die by the Steeldrivers. Check it out- lyrics.
Our graduation theme song was one of those sappy '70s hits, "We May Never Pass This Way Again" by Seals & Crofts. It was sufficiently sad enough to make me feel depressed on graduation day. Thanks, Eric.
Thank God Seals and Crofts never passed that way again. The Instrumentals for their songs were Classic Elevator Music.
Hey Eric, Another '71 here, skipped all re-unions as well, including med skool. I always figured there was a reason I never kept in touch with those folks. Based on the stories here, bingo.
Maybe we '71's who have never met should get together for a re-union. Like Steven Wright might say, "I like to reminisce with people I've never met."
I'll check out the song,
~~ j ~~
Fellow Army brat here. We moved to small town Bowling Green, Ky in 1971, and Dad commuted home on the weekends from Ft Campbell. Talk about culture shock; I never fit in either. Class of ‘77, but graduated early in Dec ‘76; I couldn’t wait to get out of high school.
I never went to a class reunion, mainly because I never got an invite after the 10 year. I didn’t go to the 10 year because I didn’t think my peers would have changed enough in only 10 years. I was right according to a friend who went.
My class failed to have another reunion after a low turnout to the 20th. We had around 450 classmates, and maybe 25 people showed up.
A few years later, someone decided we needed one, so they put together a Fuck it, We’re 50! reunion in 2009, the year most of us would turn 50 years old. I decided to go to that one. It was fun, and about 75% of the attendees gave up only socializing with their old cliques and mingled with everyone. I was glad I went, but have no plans to attend the 50th in a few years if they have one. I still don’t fit in.
Btw, I adore the Steeldrivers and know that song well.
Thanks for sharing that, Tracie!
If Bowling Green Kentucky is anything like Bowling Green Illinois or Bowling Green Ohio, you might want to consider moving to Mt Cresson.
Nice tune!
I grew up in a beach town on the Florida gulf coast, and I'm still here, though I rarely go to the beach anymore. I know what you mean when you talk about it being crowded. It seems that it's been taken over by "hispanics" beginning in the 80's and increasing exponentially ever since. It had a great small town vibe back in the 60s and 70s. I would've been class of 74 if I hadn't dropped out in the 11th grade. I never liked school very much. Never went to a prom or reunion. I used to think I was fat if I had the tiniest little roll over the top of my hip hugger bellbottoms. By today's standards I was skinny. I just can't believe how fat the kids are nowadays. Anyway, it was good times and we had GREAT music! Concerts were cheap back then. The good old days! So glad to have had them.
You're like me, Annette. I live in the same county I moved to with my family when I was two years old. Reminds me of the great line from the early Simpsons episode about Homer's HS reunion, when he won as award for "the graduate who traveled the shortest distance to be here." Thanks!
which can be a long way for the fattest / sorry.
I went to the Prom as a Junior and it was one of the worst nights of my life. I left after just an hour. My meal was a takeout.
1974 was a different time Donald. A different planet. Nothing is the same. It has all been transformed, literally, into a unrecognizable hellscape. At least I have something to hold onto from that time, memories and my classic 1974 "Spirit of America" Impala. Both in excellent condition, but both relics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlp0xLLznZc
Nice, Jean-Baptiste. It's amazing the kind of products those factories filled with "unskilled" laborers once produced. Thanks!
I know, it makes me ill. The new cars, I have one, are just spy platforms. They have wifi, cameras in the rear view mirror, microphones listening, tracking, just like cellphones. I hate driving it and regret buying it. I am literally about to take it to shop and have all of that garbage removed if I can. The whole console and dash gutted, new mirror, and my own music installed. It's just too much. The spying by car manufacturers is out of control too.
You know, your comment made me think, that is a great business opportunity for someone with the right skills and knowledge. The dealership certainly will not do what you are looking for. Nor will any shop I am aware of. But I have to think there is a substantial market for people that would like to have a new car minus the full spectrum dominance surveillance and control systems. If it isn't already, such modifications will quickly be criminalized, but it could be a good business otherwise.
Don's Custom - Late Model Deep Cleaning and Dedigitization Services
Triple D Autos for short. Has a bit of a 70's ring to it.
I'm researching now what wires to cut, what modules to disconnect, and I will do it myself. If successful, yeah that would be something, and if not the vehicle will be destroyed. Oh well.
1974 was actually not a different time in the sense that from 1962 you could see everything coming, especially after Vatican II opened.
I was in the class of '71. I guess I've always been a different kind of rebel as well as a loner. I've always thought drugs were stupid because I was blessed with a good brain and couldn't see doing anything that might mess with it. I disliked the old establishment teachers for their arrogance and I hated the new "cool" teachers with their paisleys and sideburns because they were so shallow. The only decent one in the whole school was the vice principal. He wouldn't get a job now because he knew what was going on and in my conversations with him he was not afraid to say so. I hope he lived to a very happy ripe old age. They definitely don't make many like him. I didn't go to grad as I had to work. I either worked or lost my job. It was a definite no brainer. As soon as I could afford to I left for the North and never went back. While I bear no ill will to any of my fellow students ( I never bothered keeping in touch with any of them) I'm willing to bet I have had a better life than most of them and I'm not talking monetarily. I'm probably in better shape than all of the jocks and can run most guys in their forties into the ground. I think we should all leave the past in the past otherwise you may risk ruining the good memories of the people you hung with back then. Congratulations on staying healthy and happy for this long in your life. I wish you many more good years.
Sounds like you came out ahead, Peter. Thanks!
I definitely have no regrets.
Living right is scads better than living rich. So, how far North did you go? Can you hear the White Wolves howl? Give them my regards.
I'm making a run for the other border.
If you look on a map I'm about an hour out of Dawson Creek right on the B.C. Alberta border. The few people you meet up here are mostly indigenous in this area mostly Metis.
Great piece, and it reminded me of a quote-
"So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
But in this regard, that high water mark was our freedom, and it did peak somewhere in the late 70's, 'ish? As expressed in music, poetry, cinema, and the general discourse of those of us alive at the time.
I often try to figure-out "when" it ended, or "what" was the first indication that we were headed to where we are now. Certainly the first time someone said "politically correct", or maybe when they re-wickered the movie rating system to include "PG-13"?
Not that it matters much now, because it isn't like we can go back in time and prevent the current tyranny, by pulling it up by the root.
Just think, when George Carlin did his bit about "The seven words you can't say on television" ... it was funny! Now, it's more like 700 words, things, concepts, phrases, etc., that you cannot say in any form of public discourse, lest there be consequences.
I've mentioned this before, but all one need do is go back and watch some cinematic release versions of the movies from about 1970 to 1976/78, to see just how much more free we were.
And what's worse? If something doesn't change, and soon, imagine what the class of 2024 will be saying about now, in 2074!? How bad will it be then?
To quote Henry Rollins- "Memory paints the past in gold".
But goddamned it, things really DID used to be better!
I think you have it right, Myriad- our freedom probably did peak around the late '70s. Imagine if a right-wing Carlin came out today, and produced a comedy routine around all the things you can't say now. Carlin's forbidden words were all considered profanity. Today, we have a whole lot of clean, but forbidden thought. Thought Crime. Thanks!
Our "Freedom" ended a long time ago- before any of us were born. But the enforcement in the old days was way more subtle. As SHeeple, we policed ourselves very effectively.
I am a tad nostalgic about any movies before 911. I know I am wrong though they seem more innocent. Even though they were not.
High school was not a pleasant experience for me either Don. Class of 71 (barely). I was always trying to fit in. Ran from one crowd to another trying to be cool. I did make a few friends but they’ve faded long ago. Those with money were getting new cars for their 16th birthday. One guy named Lars got a brand new Cougar CR7, Jet Black, red leather, console shifter, 8 track player. Being one of ten kids money was scarce. I got a job pumping gas at the Shell station around the corner from our school. Bought my first car from my older sister, 61 Chevy Biscayne beater. I loved it. I will admit I was a shit student and never applied myself. Considered myself stupid. So when all my friends were going off to big colleges, I said fuck it and enlisted in the Marine Corps.
I did go to my 20th reunion. I was recently divorced, one year sober and scared to death. I actually wore a suit and tie. Everyone knew I was sober. Word gets out you know. I also went to my 40th and reconnected with a couple that we’re friends with today. They convinced me to go to the 50th and that’s it.
There’s this core group where High School must have been the high point of their lives. Maybe it was. Good for them. It wasn’t for me but I wouldn’t change a thing. God bless you Don. Spotted you right away you handsome devil in black.
I appreciate you sharing that, Dennis. Thanks!
My sister, older by 15 months, and I graduated from high school together in 1974 (she repeated her sophomore year and that's how we ended up in the same grade, long story), and even though we were in the same grade, the same homeroom for God's sake with the same last name, no one knew we were sisters. For 3 years. Neither of us attended a 50th reunion, in fact I am sure there wasn't one. I often think about how much things have changed since 1974. The music, the food, the environment, the water, even the medical care was much safer back then. Nice walk down memory lane. Thanks.
That's not surprising, Lynn. Most kids are only interested in their cliques. One guy that was in my homeroom all 4 years was at the reunion. I said hello to him, and he looked at me blankly. "I recognize the name," he said. We had several conversations in HS. I guess my memory is better than some. Thanks.
You're very funny, Don. I had to laugh at some of your comments. I picked you out right away on that class reunion photo. I also loved the comparison of the skinny minis to the beached baby whales. Its most certainly true. I personally, a graduate of 1973, can relate to your reminiscing. I loved listening to the local rock station, they played good tunes on Import Night. Great stuff! I was glued to my little transistor radio. Its all we had back then. A way to mentally escape from the horrid home life and wish for better days.
Never attended any of my class reunions. I didn't feel the desire to do so as I was not treated too well in high school. In 2012, I did meet up with several of them at a restaurant and it was horrible. I never wanted to get out of a place so quickly. All I heard was a bunch braggadociousness coming from some of the most boring and narcissistic people in my entire life. No, some of them have not changed.
A couple of the cheerleaders I did not recognize. Even asked, Who are you? It was if I had slapped them. Perhaps they still had the same old high school ego. They didn't say a word to me, just gave me the evil eye, and I didn't care. There was no way they could affect my life. If they even tried, they would have gotten blasted.
There are some good people that I would like to see again. But its nearly impossible to find women without knowing their married name(s) or whatever they may have changed to. I still keep in touch with one high school friend, very off than on. She is married with kids and blah, blah, blah. We don't really have much in common. Some of the gals have passed on, sadly, and I regret I didn't stay in touch.
But as one leaves that world of high school and moves onto jobs or college, those relationships can change.
I have a couple of grade school friends, but one is very much a DemonCrap and the other one is busy with grandkids in AZ. I send Christmas cards, but other than that, its all silence. Oh well. There are far too many other people in my current life I have as friends. They have more than made up for what high school provided for me.
Thanks for the memories! I am glad I was not so alone of what my thoughts were back then, or are today!
I appreciate the kind words, Fran. It's sad that the cheerleaders acted like that to you. I guess that was their peak. All downhill from there. I can only surmise that our cheerleaders really didn't hold their looks. Thanks!
The ones I saw did not. Karma is a bitch.
My best memories were with the steakhouse, not High School. In High School I was a Library Aide and otherwise a Nobody.
You can't go home again, you can't step in the same river, and high school reunions fail if you're not Marty McFly. Kierkegaard said you must live life forward, but can only see it looking back. That quote was on a card in the drawer of a drafting table in the dusty back room of a hundred-year-old factory I worked in post-college, after a Boston bank whose president told us--before Shaft and Superfly--that due to his karate training he took "no s--- from nobody, walkin' or ridin', slippin' or slidin'". You will recall '74 was Helms' victory over Nixon, dealers in the desert laughed, though they might die by violence or land in detox--Lesson: Never succumb to schadenfreud. Church looked into murkiness no current member of government, media, or academe dares. Wokeness is Orwellian mind control--free speech is hate speech. dissent from dogma is disinformation. Perhaps the pendulum will swing back. It will rely on our mutual recognition that we may not see eye to eye, but it's no justification for burning down cities or Beria-ing mean tweeters. High school is best enjoyed in the rear-view mirror of the current ride which we've kept going with barnyard fixes and shade tree satori. A political opponent in my highs school signed my yearbook, "You will die unmourned in a rat-infested garret." My view: We're all on the same team--Marx to the contrary notwithstanding.
Beautifully expressed, Phil. Thanks!
Damn right we're all on the same team. Too bad the best almost never get in the game.
I did not go to my 50th reunion. With the exception of a very small handful of people (most of which I am not in contact with, nor even know how to contact), I care not at all what any of my classmates have been up to. Coincidentally, I also worked in a hospital when I was a teenager, and I don't remember leaving early from my shifts. I do agree that life was better, simpler, and less constrained in the early 70s than now.
Maybe I was just lucky, Michael, and assumed it was standard for all shift workers then. Thanks.
Class of "72 here...........yes.....unfortunately, we now live in a police state that "ate our lunch".........I keep thinking about all the supposed medical advances that were supposed to extend our lives.......or the quality thereof.....
apparently only for the "wealthy elite"......you know.........them.......they...........the one's with the fake money........who rule the world...............
so by the time these become available for us ................we most probably will be long dead............just a tad depressing...........I think...........
or just maybe we will rise up and demand our medical rights...........you know............"that's my genetic code there buddy".............hang tough.........."live long and prosper.......No. 1............."
We can only hope, Robert. Thanks.