I'm not going to my 10-year class reunion

There, I said it. If anyone from my former high school class is reading this, then you're probably one of the first to know. I'm not going to go to my 10-year high school class reunion.

Good ol' ECCHS. (Photo from their website.)

Don't get me wrong - I WANT to go. Badly actually. I had major regret for not attending the 5 year and now that both D and I are working, finances are no longer the major issue that they used to be (5 years ago I balked at the idea of spending $50 on dinner for the two of us at the reunion. These days we go out to eat at least 2 or 3 nights a week and we typically spent $50 each time anyway.)

Through social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, I have "friended" a lot of the people that I went to high school but wasn't necessarily friends with at the time. With the peer pressures and stresses of high school gone, I feel like I have a stronger connection with some of the individuals now, and can relate to them more, even if we're not "stay in touch regularly" kind of friends. I admit that I could totally be making this up, but I do feel a connection nonetheless and feel like I have more in common with people now that I did ten years ago.

There are a couple of reasons why I've decided not to attend the reunion this time around. The first, and most profound reason, is the date. It's scheduled for August 15th, and as an employee at an institution of higher education, August is our "busy" month, meaning that we can't take time off and we often have to work late nights or weekends. August 15th, in particular, is the day before our campus and residence halls open to new incoming first-year students, which means that we have historically had to work the day before, even though it's a weekend.

If I chose to attend the reunion, I would have to be here during the day (and the hours are still TBD) and then drive the 2 and a half hour drive to St. Marys straight from work. Ideally, this would mean that I would arrive around 4 or 5 p.m., which would give me some time to get ready before going to the reunion.

But I also have to work at 7 a.m. the next morning, August 16th. Which means that I either drive back to Pittsburgh on Saturday night following the reunion (and probably leaving early to do so), or at the butt-crack of dawn on Sunday morning, probably leaving around 4 a.m. at the latest (since I need to be showered and ready at work at 7 a.m.) The whole thing just sounds like a nightmare to me, which is the primary reason I have decided to forgo the reunion.

But the second reason is my friends. There are only a few people from high school that I have kept in touch with other than through Facebook or their blogs, and those people have decided not to attend. Even though they are the people that I already keep in touch with, they're the ones that I want to see the most. Some of them will be in my hometown that particular weekend and while it would be great to see them, I still have that nostalgia that I discussed above in paragraph two to see some people that I DON'T stay in touch with. If my friends were going, I'm pretty sure I would decide to go to the reunion in a heartbeat. Having them there AND getting to satisfy my craving for nostalgia would be win-win.

I've gone back and forth on this a million times, before finally decided not to attend. I know that I will probably experience regret once again, but this time at least I can blame it on work (and not my penny-pinching ways.)

If anyone else from my graduating class is reading this, are you planning on going to the reunion?