Nearly 20 years have passed since I graduated from high school. Since then, I have kept in touch with a very select few, and they are about the only ones I remember. Not that I am a snob or anything; I just have a memory problem. And, frankly, high school wasn't that memorable.
Lately though, I have run into a few past classmates. I know this only because they brought it to my attention, "hey, I went to high school with you" they pronounce. "Uh, what's your name" says I. Its very uncomfortable. Usually after they reveal their name, I still can't place them.
To make an awkward situation even more awkward (did you ever notice that the spelling of the word "awkward" is awkward in and of itself?), I have been having run ins with past classmates at my job. For the average Joe, it probably wouldn't be a huge deal to run into an old acquaintance at your place of employment, but I work in a children's mental health hospital. Children and teens are admitted for things like suicidal thoughts, homicidal thoughts, or acting out behaviors. Whatever the case, its a matter of crisis.
Once a parent informs me that we were classmates, I find it odd to utter the obligatory, "how are you" since their response could very well be: "Oh, little Bobby here just microwaved our cat, then grabbed a knife and started stabbing his little brother with it while my boyfriend was passed out drunk on the couch and I was in the bedroom with the neighbor shooting up some heroin". So I am not sure what my etiquette should be in this situation.
And don't forget, I don't remember them. And they usually know it so I already come across as stuck up, and here I am in a position of potentially giving them advice on how to effectively give their own child a time out.
At least I must not have changed all that much if they still recognize me after nearly 20 years. Of course, I AM still wearing the same hairstyle........
You look fabulous Darling. If they are embarrassed it is just because you look so GOOD after 20 years....
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