Does anyone actually go to their high school reunion?

WOW! I've read all of these replies, and I'm pretty amazed by the responses. I was relatively popular in high school (my 20 year reunion is next month) and that popularity, plus $1.09 will get me a large soft drink at McDonald's today. I went to my 10 year reunion (10 years ago obviously) and I think everyone had a good time. Of course, I'm from a small town in the south and graduated from a small high school (I think our class had 83 people) so that probably has a lot to do with it too. But I notice a lot of people keep using the word "cliques" like it's a bad thing. Cliques are the different groups of friends that exist in high school, in college, and in the workplace. Any organization with more than about 5 people has cliques. There are some people you'd rather hang around with than others. That isn't wrong, it's normal human behavior. Sure, some groups of people look down their noses at others, but it's up to you as to whether or not you let it bother you. Like I said, I was somewhat popular, but there were still people who thought they were better than me. It never bothered me because I had plenty of self-confidence, a behavior I learned as a child. I know the teenage years are hard, and some people get picked-on ruthlessly. That's a shame, and I understand why some people are so hostile at even the mention of their high school reunion. But I went to my 10 year reunion not sure of what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised. I had grown up a lot, and so had a lot of the others. No, ours wasn't a big affair, it was at the local country club, and nobody really dressed-up any more than khaki pants and button-down shirts (for the guys). Maybe at bigger schools in more affluent parts of the country a high school reunion is a huge deal, but I think, since the majority of Americans (about 75%) come from cities and towns of less than 100,000 people, they're probably well-grounded enough to not look at a high school reunion as a chance to relive their glory days. It's nice to see old friends again, and it's nice to talk to people you weren't necessarily close to in high school. I left my 10 year reunion closer to some people I wasn't friends with in high school, and being shocked by how little I now had in common with some of my closest friends from high school. Life's funny that way.

If high school unions are actually like what was shown in the film, there would be many reasons for people to decide not to go. Look, these people couldn't restrain themselves from flaunting their wealth (like Sandy arriving in a helicopter and staying for something like ten minutes just to dance with Michele before hurrying off again) or making nasty remarks to one another even during the reunion, then why bother to come at all? Why should anyone take the trouble to travel many miles to meet people he hasn't seen for years, just to insult them or to get even? I believe most high school reunions are not like that - at least not to such a degree. This film is funny at times, but the characters are incredibly shallow.

i went to my 10year in 2001.it was a blast. i have gained a considerable amount of weight since then & i am in the process of losing it for my 20 year reunion in 2011.

We didn’t have a 5 year reunion but someone decided to organize one for our 6-year and it was called the 5 + 1. I also went to my 10 and 15 for some reason. They were semi formal affairs with hor dourves and dancing- which isn’t my idea of fun. It was just as phony as high school; it really is amazing how little things change. To be honest, I haven’t heard much bragging from my former classmates. I actually had a few people admitting to struggling financially and finding it difficult to afford a home. But I guess that’s more a sign of the times. For the most part, the same cliques exist. A few of the people who ignored me in high school said hi to me. A few of the people who I was friendly with were there. But most of the people I had an interest in seeing didn’t go. My 20th is next year and I really don’t think I want to go to that one. My Dad, on the other hand, has been part of the reunion planning team since he graduated in 1961 and is currently planning his 50th. He loves that *beep*

I went to my 5 year reunion in 2001 and had a blast. Drinking, dancing, laughing. I am still close with most of the people I was friends with in high school and even those who I wasn't close to - it was nice to see them.

My 10 year reunion was in 2006 and it definitely wasn't as fun. I think less people came and it didn't help that I had just gotten back together with an ex who didn't go to the school but he came with me. I felt I had to entertain him.

If my class has a 20 year I will definitely go. I have friends who just went to their 20 year last night. This is the time of year when our reunions happen.

I don't think people PREPARE like Romy & Michele because honestly, no one gets awards or gets written up to say what they are doing now.


NO MORE HORROR REMAKES!

I graduated in 2004. My high school was located in a newly commercialized farm town with next to no culture. The kids there were clique-y, preppy, pretty, and kind of bland. Not many of them were outright snobby, but the popular kids made no attempt to chat with anyone outside of their groups. Most of the teachers were parents of the popular kids, and they played favorites with their kids friends.

I had friends from different groups, I wasn't popular but not a "loser" either. I was kind of goth, so I had my goth friends, but I also played sports and was a good athlete, so I had my sporty friends too.


A lot of the kids in my graduating class are now married to other people from high school and have children of their own. Many of them still live in the same small town.

I moved out of state and have a nice career and am a lot happier now.

There was a five year reunion that only four people attended. I didn't go, but a friend has a pic on her facebook of the desolate reunion with the words FAIL printed at the top. I might go to my ten year, but I don't know if I see the need because most of these people have friended me on face book, although we rarely talk on there either.

To original poster: Some do and some don't. I know, thanks in part to FB, that a lot of my schoolmates were really wanting to go to our last reunion. I've had the luck to be out of the country during the first one and 3,000 miles away during the second.

I still keep in contact with my close friends from high school. I don't feel like I need to one-up people from my school. I don't have a fantasy crush or anything that went unrequited. I don't have some nemesis from my school I have to size up.

But I know a lot of people do. That they want to show people how good they are, how much money they've made, how many kids they have, etc. It's very foreign to me. A lot of people in America (I can only speak for Americans here) tend to think of high school as their "glory days" in they didn't go to college. The people who went to college enjoyed both high school and college, but then moved on to adulthood. You tend to have to go to a bigger city and move if you want to go to college, at least where I lived, so very few of us that went stayed in the high school mentality.

Yet, I know people who are still in the high school mentality. Same cliques, they all work together, have kids the same age, like a little village. Which is fine for them. They tend, however, to act mentally like 16 year olds even if they are 30+ years old and have good jobs. They still gossip, tan and act like idiots. I don't get living like that and if we tried to explain each others' lifestyles to each other, we'd probably come in an impasse. But they wouldn't know what the word impasse means, because they spent high school drinking and partying, while I studied. I think the world is a place where you expand your knowledge and experience, not just come home from work and drink, while phoning up the same people you've know since the age of 16 and limiting yourself to that.

It also would be expensive to fly across the country just to see people I'd be halfhearted to see in the first place. It also seemed very family orientated and I don't have any kids yet. It's weird that people my age I went to high school with have kids that are almost out of high school themselves, so they must have started very early. I spent time in college and post graduate work, so family wasn't my main goal and maybe it will never be. But it is funny because if I showed up without kids to it, the people there would probably act like the pregnant clique in Romy and Michelle and act like I was the wrong one for not having kids. Our small town was very big into the whole Christian "be fruitful and multiply" thing and I remember some people in a psychology class I had told me I was selfish if I didn't want kids. When I thought having kids, due to overpopulation, would be more logically selfish. See, going there is probably a bad idea. I wouldn't see too much eye to eye with anyone.

Someone here commented their reunion didn't have rewards. I think mine did because someone got a furthest away from the high school award or something like that. I guess the big prize in our school was to see who could move the farthest away from the place! :) That really does say something about my high school!

My year at school had one about 2 years ago which was organized via facebook by a few of the popular girls. I didn't go as my cousions 21st was the same night, but apprently out of everyone who was invited only 10 people turned up (I went to a small all girls school so only about 100 people max would've been invited).

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Gemma x