17 Question “High School Days” Challenge
Another fun look back at seventeen
Scot Butwell tagged me in the 17 question high school challenge, and I can’t help but take another opportunity to write about my high school days.
Back then, every day, every hour, every interaction seemed more impactful than it ended up being. I took almost everything way too seriously. There was only good or bad, black or white, win or lose, hope or despair, and of course, love or hate. There was no gray area, no “meh,” and no such thing as apathy, as I saw it.
Over the long haul, while life got slower and allowed more time to digest, though time moved more rapidly. Everything evened out; peaks and valleys became more of a smooth sine wave. Rather than climbing and falling, life is more of a glide down, with the positive momentum of learning being that momentum that propels us up again.
- What year did you graduate?
1982 I had my fortieth reunion last year and wrote about it.
2. Did you carpool? I rode the bus, which picked me up in front of our house, or got a ride with my dad on his way to work.
3. What kind of car did you drive?
Once I started driving at 16, my mom’s practical ’78 Dodge Aspen station wagon was my main ride. I loved it and used it like a sport utility vehicle.
4. It’s Friday night, were you there?
Often the night would start or end at Pudgie’s Pizza (2 slices and a drink $.99, and the minimum requirement to stay there.) We’d scout out where the parties were or where the fun (or mischievous trouble) was likely to be found. Often we might be at my friend Howie’s basement, which was remarkably very “That 70’s Show”-ish but R-rated.
Now that I’ve seen the original questions:
4a. It’s Friday Night Football. Were you there?
Many of the home games were Saturday afternoons, and yes, I was there playing in the marching band. It was great fun.
5. What kind of job did you have?
I had a great job working for my brother-in-law, making music tapes for him to play at the bars. He’d give me records, and I’d make mix tapes before there was such a thing. During the summer between my junior and senior years, I played in a band, made some decent money, and even became a union musician at 16. Meanwhile, my friends were dipping ice cream and delivering flowers.
6. Were you a party animal?
Not really. Things didn’t always go as planned. Despite loving the pursuit of the party and the girls, I had to make money sometimes. During my senior year, I ran sound and lights for a band some weekends.
7. Were you considered a jock?
No, I wasn’t. As a freshman, I went out for baseball (which lasted one day) and tennis. That year, all the first-year students got cut from the tennis team, so my athletic career was over.
8. Were you in the band?
Music was my primary interest in life, so I had a rock band outside of school. In school I was in the symphonic, stage, and marching bands, and spent my spare time socializing in practice rooms. I was one of the few that looked forward to every marching band practice because we made it fun (with occasional assistance from pre-practice weed.) I was a band geek before the term “band geek” was coined.
9. Were you a nerd?
My grades weren’t high enough to be considered a “nerd.” “Dork” was more often the term used.
10. Did you ever get suspended?
No, but the assistant principal once threw his wad of keys at me.
11.Can you sing the fight song?
I don’t remember having one.
12. What was your H.S. mascot?
A green hornet. Sadly, the school has combined with another, and the Green Hornets are no more. They are now the Elmira Express, the nickname of Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis.
13. If you could go back and do it all again, would you?
I’m afraid I’d make the same mistakes all over again. There would have to be some stipulations.
14. Are you still in contact with people from H.S.?
Yes, my closest friends are still those from high school even though I no longer live in that area. Since September, I’ve reunited with my high school bandmates monthly, and it’s been incredibly soul-satisfying to play with these guys after being away and living our lives for the past forty years.
15. Do you know where your high school crush is?
Which one? During the first half of my senior year, my crushes might as well have been a flavor of the week, not that it got me even a kiss. Then there was the one where I pushed all my chips to the middle of the table and lost.
I think I’ve almost finished paying off that debt. If you read attentively, she appears in some of my stories. She’s a sweet lady, and I consider her a very good friend these days, though I seldom see or hear from her. Oh, and I finally started dating another girl two weeks before graduation.
16. What was your favorite subject?
My school had an excellent music program, and I loved music theory and composition classes, which are no longer offered in most high schools. Aside from that, I did get something out of my English classes.
17. Do you still have your H.S. ring?
I never got one and didn’t have a school jacket, partly because I never earned a varsity letter to put on it.
My classmate, friend, and neighbor, Garrett Keith, has been in my thoughts while writing today. He was a man whose heart was bigger than he was, and he was a big man! He passed away last week and will be missed by the many he inspired with his positive attitude and sense of humor throughout his life.
Hindsight provides a much better and brighter focus on our past, as Scot Butwell pointed out in his high school remembrance. Unfortunately, we aren’t all able to hang on and stay around for the ride together, “but we’ll try, best that we can, to carry on.*.”
*From the Styx song “Come Sail Away,” written by Dennis DeYoung
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