Ten years from now gaganapin ang high school reunion namin. HIGH SCHOOL REUNION. Hindi ba tumatayo ang balahibo mo pag naririnig mo ang mga salitang yan?
“Pare, ` musta na?”
(hindi ka pa nakakasagot magkukuwento na s’ya….)
“Ako, eto, General Manager ng blah ba-bablah blah bah blahhh…”
(Nag monolugue na s’ya salita nang salita na parang buhay na Curriculum Vitae. Iisa lang naman ang naririnig mo. ” Magaling ako… Walang hiya, ang yaman ko na… Ang ganda kong lalake.. Amoy Central Bank ang kotse ko.. Anak ng bubuyog, baka ma-kidnap ako hindi na’ko makakapag-golf 3x a week… Magkano ka nga pla?”
Parang “Time’s up!” ang reunion. “Pass your papers finished or not!” Oras na para husgahan kung naging sino ka… o kung naging magkano ka. Sino ang naging successful? Sino ang naging pinakasuccessful?
…Bakit nga ba nauuwi ang kwentuhan sa payabangan ‘pag nagkikita ulit ang mga magkakaklase pagkaraan ng ilang taong paghihiwalay?…Madaling isipin kung ano ang gamit ng pera, pero hindi ko maintindihan kung bakit kailangan ito ang maging sukatan ng tagumpay ng tao…Nakalimutan na ng tao ang kabanalan n’ya, na mas marami pa s’yang alam kesa sa nakasulat sa Transcript of Records n’ya, mas marami pa s’yang kayang gawin kesa sa nakalista sa resume n’ya at mas mataas ang halaga n’ya kesa sa presyong nakasulat sa payslip n’ya tuwing sweldo…
– From Bob Ong’s ABNKKBSNPLK?
The other day I received a friend request from one classmate in my high school batch (which batch that is, I am not revealing anytime soon) on Facebook. Having a semi-turbulent brush with high school, I was reluctant at first but clicked “accept friend request” eventually. I immediately discovered the purpose behind such request with this tagline on its profile page : (School’s Name Here) Batch ___ Ten Years After (a.k.a the much dreaded high school reunion).
Freshman and sophomore year was more than enjoyable for me, until my parents opted to transfer me to an exclusive school in junior high. I was the new kid and with my multiple earrings and crazy undercut hair, the popular kids saw me as a “threat” (huh?) . So I went to school day in and day out, being shoved to one corner, discriminated by a bunch of bimbos with high powered dads and being called mean adjectives in front of the class (squa-squa, maangas, kadiri, feeling pero panget naman) and threatened with a knife (okay, that last bit, I just made up for fun). Yes, boys and girls. I was one of those bullied kids. Being a threat was a fact I basically didn’t understand. I was odd (I think I still am till now), I was never cool (although I gained friends instantly).
But much as I struggled with anonymity I also knew who I wanted to be. I knew I never wanted to be popular or be lusted after by hormonal kids who are undergoing an identity crisis in an all-girls school run by dry-spell nuns. I just wanted to be the normal teenager who went out on Fridays with friends. But at the same time I also liked being different, finding my niche in the world and to not be afraid of discovering what it is and who I am, even if what I am is against the norm.
But I digress.
The thought of a high school reunion creeps me out more than Sadako does. I am not the least bit excited about that gala of horror. Why in the world would I pay such a measly amount of money to attend an event flocked by people I don’t like in the first place? They say that being friends with people you don’t like is a sign of maturity, not ka-plastikan. I concur. It’s not even stupidity. It’s stupidity and hypocrisy combined.
I don’t think high school reunions have any other purpose but for people to gloat of who’s got the most impressive job to date, who has the most handsome husband or boyfriend, and to gossip over unplanned pregnancies and lame lives. Which are all just pretty much pointless for me because:
1) I find that gossips are of no essence when you’re out of cash and you need to get the groceries
2) Over the years, I’ve learned it’s wisest to refrain from meddling in another person’s life, unless that person happened to be a patient, a friend or family because we all have our own lives to worry about and poking your nose into someone else’s business only adds up to the list of worries
3) I don’t fancy unfair competitions nor do I believe in tangible achievements and material possesions as a way to measure a person’s capacity for being.
All these – the job, the guy we spend our whole lives shopping for, the perfect body and teeth, the bank account – are all but limiting dictates of the word’s obliterated standards. They may, to some extent, measure one’s hunger for ambition, but not the real capacity for unconditional sacrifice. As far as I know, nobody’s obliged to impress anybody but himself. I don’t need an award whose criteria is based on a collective notion of what a person should have and who he should become after ten years. That’s not an achievement to be acquired. It’s a virus.
So I suppose you know what my answer to that invitation was.
And nope, I’m not buying that lame reunion-is-for-reconnecting-with-old-friends crap, too. If I want to reconnect with a friend, there’s always Facebook. Or Friendster. Or Twitter. Or text. Whichever seems least obsolete. Or I could simply have fishball and quek-quek with them, anyway I’m left with the high school friends that stuck with me from my worst bad hair days in high school till now. If I’d be interested to know anything, I’ll let you know.
i've learned a lot on this blog! tamag tama ako eh.hehe. waiting too early on your next lessons.hehe.
Thank you Rose! 🙂 Bakit tamang tama? Hehe. Thank you for following. Do you have a blog, so I can follow you too? Di ko kasi makita when I click your profile. Hope you visit again!
hi! I find your blog very interesting especially this post. My HS batch mate are also planning to have our reunion next year and got the exact interpretation of what reunion is…
Right? Right? I mean, really, what other purpose do HS reunions have anyway than to serve as an ego booster? Thanks for the kind words and the visit, Ginalee. Have a good one 🙂