What the Fuck Happened to People From High School?

I'm a MySpace addict. I'll admit that one of my new favorite things to do is to search for people that I went to high school with and see how they ended up. I'm utterly suprised at every new re-friend I make.

High School is a funny situation. It's almost like living inside of a comic book. "What will he do next!" It'd be really funny if Steve Irwin was narrating our comic book of Tumwater High School. "Crikey, she's a bitch!" Better yet, Lewis Black.

We all grew up with the understanding of certain stereotypes. Thankfully, our school didn't really follow it. At least not as precisely as other schools may have. We had our jocks, our popular kids, and our nerds. The idiots, the drama freaks, the band geeks. But there was so much intermingling between the groups that the lines were consistently blurred. Maybe that's why the things that I'm seeing aren't as suprising as they probably should be.

It seems like some of the people realized the harsh realities of growing up. Kharmic justice has reared it's surly head. What I want to know is HOW it happened. What was the catalyst in these people's lives that jolted them into existence?

How did the smartest girl in school end up going to the Community College when she had a full ride to a state university? How did the die hard Christian have a 3 yr old son with a 2 yr old marriage? How did the most popular jock around end up selling auto parts for a dollar over minimum wage? How did the geekiest people around end up married with a kid and/or kids on the way? I certainly didn't expect these things to happen. Did anyone?

There is a flip side, however. The girl with infinite possibility is actually reaching her potential. The guy that said "I'm going to study nothing but Math and be the best around" is actually studying Math and being the best around. They're like Hallmark movies gone terribly right.

The way I think about people from high school is simple: They're a little bit taller and about 4 years older. There are some that I've kept in touch with - for whom I'm eternally grateful. There were a few that I had an idea about. I kind of knew one had moved to California; I remember someone telling me something about a few kids joining the service and being deployed. A friend had a neighbor that dated this girl that I went to elementary school with that told me about where she worked. Little blips of information - nothing solid.

I want to know if people think about me the way that I think about them.

Did anyone from high school expect me to be in a situation similar to the one I'm in now? Working in the industry I am now... with the marital and reproductive status that I'm currently at? Did they expect this to be a) what I wanted and/or b) what I'm happy with and/or c) what life dished out to me?

What do you think of the people that are asking the same questions of you? Do you think you fucked up after high school or that you hit it big? Do you think high school was an accurate measure of the person you've become and/or the person you aspire to be?

If only MySpace came with a video history of everyone. I'd definitely be editing parts of mine for general audiences :) You?