Um… not in my universe. I hated high school and could not wait to get out of there. Like I may have mentioned once or ten thousand times, I went to four high schools, so I had ample opportunity to sample a few different types of High School Experiences. I was able to go to a rural school where I had known all 80 kids in my class since kindergarten (gotta love never living down the time you fell off the swings and your dress got hauled up over your head in grade one for the rest of your damn life), a HUGE five story school on the edge of the Big City, a rich suburban school and a school for wayward youth.
The best one was the alternative school where all of us were more or less equals in dorkdom and I was allowed to do independent study as long as it had something vaguely to do with the subject matter. I did spend a year hiatus getting some valuable life experience (during which time I realized that going to ANY high school was better than working like a dog at some crappy low paying job and living in some roach infested apartment with bars on the windows. Although I understand dropping out works very well for some people, for me, not so much), which was fun and all but not really for me either. College was a lot of fun though, and I really enjoyed it.
Anyhow, now I live in an area where high school football is King, baby. Like crazy big. And all I can think of is all these young Al Bundys running around doomed to a life straight out of a bad Bruce Springsteen song (you know, the one where they sit around at the local bar talking about the good times back in high school?). I said something to that effect to my co-volunteer at the soccer field concession stand tonight.
“Imagine,” I said “these poor kids think that this is the apex of their existence and everything else is down hill from 18″. She looked completely aghast that I would think that is a bad thing.
“I loved high school” she said, ” I was the cat’s meow back then” (I swear, she did say “cat’s meow”. I am pretty sure she’s not much older than I am… and while I was never even close to what anyone would call “cool”, I sure as hell never heard anyone who didn’t live through the 1950′s say cat’s meow. Maybe it was reserved for all the ultra cool kids who would never deign to acknowledge my presence.)
You’re the king baby, you’re the king!
Wow. Well, I for one think life has gotten WAY better since I was 18. If it had gotten worse I would be in a mental institution or something. I am grateful that I can look forward to my life and not sit around thinking about how I used to be so awesome and now am not. (Not that I suddenly transformed from a dorky duckling into a cool swan in college either… more like I just accepted my lot as the dorky duckling that grew into a dorkier duck that is now no longer picked on all the damn time about the stupid dress/swing thing. Not that I’m bitter about that.) It’s a long way from 18 to death for most of us, after all, and there’s a lot of really neat-o stuff that is just the cat’s meow to look ahead to. That’s all I’m sayin’.
High school sucked most of the time. Life is better now, dorkiness and all.