High school reunions

My friend Cynthia Galindo sent me this material that got me roaring with laughter.

Cynthia says this material is from a lady called Archana.

“My name is Archana. I was sitting in the waiting room for my first appointment with a new dentist. I noticed his BDS degree on the wall, which bore his full name.

Suddenly, I remembered a tall, handsome, dark-haired boy with the same name had been in my high school class some 25-odd years ago.

Could he be the same guy that I had a secret crush on, way back then?

Upon seeing him, however, I quickly discarded any such thought. This balding, gray-haired man with the deeply lined face was way too old to have been my classmate.

After he examined my teeth, I asked him if he had attended St. Xavier’s high school.

“Yes. Yes, I did.” he gleamed with pride.

“When did you graduate?” I asked.

He answered, “In 1987. Why do you ask?”

“You were in my class!,” I exclaimed.

He looked at me closely.

Then, that ugly, old, bald, wrinkled faced, gray-haired, decrepit, idiot, asked,

“What subject did you teach?”

I was invited to give the keynote address in our high school homecoming a couple of years ago, and I had a great time. I met guys I have not seen for many years and then was reminded of a poem from an anonymous source that talks about class reunions.

10th Homecoming

Every 10 years, as summertime nears, an announcement arrives in the mail,

A reunion is planned; it’ll be really grand;

Make plans to attend without fail.

I’ll never forget the first time we met;

We tried so hard to impress.

We drove fancy cars, smoked big cigars,

And wore our most elegant dress.

It was quite an affair;

the whole class was there.

It was held at a fancy hotel.

We wined, and we dined, and we acted refined,

And everyone thought it was swell.

The men all conversed about who had been first.

To achieve great fortune and fame.

Meanwhile, their spouses described their fine houses

And how beautiful their children became.

20th Homecoming

The homecoming queen, who once had been lean,

Now weighed in at 196.

The jocks who were there had all lost their hair,

And the cheerleaders could no longer do kicks.

No one had heard about the class nerd…

Who’d guided a spacecraft to the moon;

Or poor little Jane, who’s always been plain;

She married a shipping tycoon.

The boy we’d decreed “most apt to succeed”

Was serving 10 years in the pen,

While the one voted “least” now was a priest;

Just shows you can be wrong now and then.

They awarded a prize to one of the guys

Who seemed to have aged the least.

Another was given to the grad who had driven

The farthest to attend the feast.

They took a class picture, a curious mixture

Of beehives, crew cuts and wide ties.

Tall, short, or skinny, the style was the mini;

You never saw so many thighs.

30th Homecoming

At our next get-together,

no one cared whether

they impressed their classmates or not.

The mood was informal,

a whole lot more normal;

By this time, we’d all gone to pot.

It was held out-of-doors,

at the lake shores;

We ate hamburgers, coleslaw, and beans.

Then most of us lay around in the shade,

In our comfortable T-shirts and jeans.

By the fortieth year,

it was abundantly clear,

We were definitely over the hill.

Those who weren’t dead had to crawl out of bed,

And be home in time for their pill.

And now I can’t wait as they’ve set the date;

Our sixtieth is coming, I’m told.

It should be a ball, they’ve rented a hall

At the Shady Rest Home for the old.

Repairs have been made on my old hearing aid;

My pacemaker’s been turned up on high.

My wheelchair is oiled, and my teeth have been boiled;

And I’ve bought a new wig and glass eye.

I’m feeling quite hearty;

I’m ready to party, I’ll dance until dawn’s early light.

It’ll be lots of fun;

and I hope at least one

Other person can make it that night.

Do you know what I learned from all of these? It would be that friends are important.

Life is not a contest as to who made more money or who is more successful. Those friends of yours were your friends long before you have added all those zeroes in your income statement. Reunions are not occasions for comparing accomplishments, or the size of one’s wallet. It’s all about renewing and refreshing friendships.

Those who have been blessed with material abundance, be sensitive and don’t show off. The rest should not despair and feel inferior. Attend your class reunions. Studies have shown that those who were initially hesitant about attending their reunions, discover it was the event that they wouldn’t have missed!

At the end of the day, it’s now what you possess but who you still have as friends that matters.

(Culture of Personal Excellence is a one-day 10AM-5PM program that will happen on July 28, 2018 at Ybizz Incubator – a new co-working space located at the 27th floor of PBCom Tower in Makati. Limited seats available. For further inquiries contact April at +63928-559-1798 or register online at www.successoptionsinc/cpe)