Daily Mood Quote
Day 114 – August 25, 2011
“And the only thing that matters, Is climbing up that social ladder, Still care about your hair and the car you drive. Doesn't matter if you’re 16 or 35”
~Bowling for Soup,- High School Never Ends
Today I chose a song lyric from High School Never Ends as the quote of the day. Recently, I attended a back to school night at a local high school. Back to school night is a meet and greet between parents and teachers, along with a brief introduction to the administration staff. I was astounded by how many parents took it literally and dropped back into their high school roles. And in some cases acted as juvenile as their kids. I would guess the average age of the parents to be somewhere between late thirties and early forties, with a few stragglers on either side of that age range. The first thing I noticed were short skirts and muscles shirts. Okay I'm guilty of laughing. Maybe, it's me but when you see a woman in her fifties wearing a skirt so short that when she bent over, the world was greeted by both cheeks, “H-E-L-L-O” (thank you Sister Mary Patrick (Kathy Najimy) from Sister Act 2), you've got to wonder what she was thinking. It made me wonder, if I'm aging too fast, or maybe I'm just too conservative, something to think about. Maybe...
What really got to me was the little clique clusters that formed instantaneously, as they stood around and reminisced about their high school days. I heard conversations ranging from where someone got their first kiss (on the second floor, near the woman's bathroom) to where someone lost their innocence...(Eewwwww!, TMI!!!,). I quickly found another place to be. Then their was the high school jocks that stood and stared at their pictures in the trophy case. I kind of felt sorry for those guys because the looks on their faces, where one of disappointment and longing for, “a life unfulfilled” I suppose. Then we had the braggers, those who talked loud enough for everyone to hear about all of their accomplishments and recent vacations, recent purchases and even a recent conquest (since the divorce was final). And there were even the solemn wall flowers winding their way through the halls, literally blending into and sticking as close to the wall as possible, just so nobody noticed. They call that “positive thigmotaxis” I think, at least that's how I remember it from high school biology.
I found myself asking the question, “Where are the grown-ups?” To be fair, there were some and you could tell, there was a big difference between the people who “grew up,” grew up “here” and those who are transplants. The transplants acted and dressed like grown-ups and where completely ignored. The “grown ups” looked as stunned, as I'm certain I did. We even witnessed a hip-check into the hallway wall. Really???
So, “high school never ends”... and I wonder why this behavior is so evident in our culture. Is it because they ascribe deep emotional attachment, or is it that we only remember the good stuff? I think that's a question for a psychiatrist to answer, not me. In the movie The Breakfast Club, Claire Standish (played by Molly Ringwald) said, “Do you know how popular I am? I am so popular. Everybody loves me so much at this school.” there was a lot of that, even decades after they got the diploma and walked out the door. However, in the movie 17 Again, Mike O'Donnell (played by Zac Efron) said, “I had the craziest dream. I was 17. I was back in high school. It was terrible. Mmmm. Scar.” That quote feels a little more on target. Marcus Aurelius said “Our life is what our thoughts make of it.” Apparently. there are many here who think the past is better that the present. It seems as if they are stuck there. Memories are one of the greatest gifts we have, we remember them, we share them with great fondness, however we cannot and should not expect to “relive” them. Choose to look forward not back.
How will you look forward today?
Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote
Thank you for reading
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