Not so Long Ago in a Building Not so Far Away

The silence has been broken, Chase Robertson has posted to his blog last night for the first time since February 28 of this year. It has been almost four months and a decent amount has happened in that time period. This post, Things I Hate (That Everyone Else Seems to Love), sounds like something I would pen myself. George Carlin said it best, "I don't have pet peeves, I have major psychotic f**kin' hatreds." But no, I am not going off on a rant, rather I found it interesting that Chase brought up high school in this post as something he didn't find very enjoyable. I don't blame him for that because let's be serious, high school was rather stupid when you look back on it. There were some things I liked about high school, but there were also things I didn't like. I'm not sure if I feel this way just because of where I went to high school, but I'm sure there have to be similarities about high school life no matter where you go to school in the U.S.

The first thing that comes to mind about high school is how clownish the teachers are. Sometime this past April I found out that my former English teacher from high school was arrested for possessing large amounts of cocaine with the intent to distribute. Apparently she told the police they couldn't arrest her because she is a school teacher. I'm sure if that was the case a lot more people would get into teaching. I also had this guy for geometry who was only at the school for one year and I was lucky enough to experience his class. Two of my friends were given detentions by this guy almost daily, but after going to the first one they never went to another one. But the guy continued to serve them detentions day after day and didn't do anything, at least not to my knowledge because it certainly didn't seem like he was, about them not showing up.

By far the most entertaining class I had was an economics class senior year with D-Chucks. This guy was the epitome of a clown teacher. He just didn't care what anyone did, maybe because he was retiring once the year was finished, but the stuff that went down in that class was like nothing I've seen before. My same friend who would get detentions daily in geometry would sit there and say "hey, D-Chucks, f**k you," while he was teaching and he wouldn't do a thing. He would continue to read from the book at the front of the class like nothing happened. I still can't bring myself to believe that he was that oblivious. D-Chucks would also make these really strange noises in lieu of saying actual words. So many great memories from that class, it should have been called comic relief.

So in my experience most high school teachers are quite clownish. There were a couple good ones, but they were definitely in the vast minority. The long days of high school are something I'm glad I'll never go back to. Spending practically all day inside classrooms getting taught by the suspect teachers made each day feel like an eternity. One thing about high school that I completely agree with Chase on is school spirit. I could care less and I didn't have any in high school. I would go to the football games, but I would go to see friends, not watch the game. In fact I wouldn't even pay sometimes and chose to hop the fence to get in because I didn't want to support the football team. I don't get the big deal with being a senior either. Senior status is something that's going to happen unless you drop out of school. Senior year was my favorite year of high school by far, but it was not because I was a senior, it was merely because it was a good year.

I think my lack of school spirit has something to do with the town I went to high school in. The town I live in is one of those places where it seems like everyone knows everyone else. And if someone doesn't know who someone is in particular, then they know someone who's related to them. Honestly, I think it's kind of strange and I don't really like it. Of course I like having friends and acquaintances and seeing people I know, but at the same time it's nice to have some anonymity. The emphasis that the people in my town put on high school sports is sickening, too. I don't have anything against high school sports, I participated in them, too. What annoyed me is that some people's high school sport prowess was like the highlight of their life. Playing in the Thanksgiving day football game was the best it got for some people. I just think that's sad, but if it helps them sleep at night, then keep believing that.

 Unfortunately I do remember that people in my class were not completely academically honest. You would have to be extremely naive to think that people weren't cheating, even the "smart" people. I think that sucks because it does hurt other peoples' class rank. The cheaters and all the people that dropped out, too. I remember going to check my class rank while I was in the process of applying to colleges. Each time I went my percentile rank in the class was usually different even if my spot didn't change because people kept dropping out. That was something that I made a light situation of because at least I did know that I was going to graduate. As for those other people ranking high in the class due to cheating, well, that's an annoying thing that I'll just have to live with. I guess in the end it didn't make much difference anyway, I still went to a good college.


I wasn't one of the popular people in school either, I just did my own thing. That's just my style, I was basically the same way in college, too. I would go to school, do the required work, go to practice, and go home. Nothing out of the ordinary. I didn't go to prom, I wasn't really interested in that whole thing. I can't say that prom sucks because I don't know, but that type of thing just wasn't my bag. Sure most of my friends went, but I took that night easy, as I do many nights. I got enough entertainment from the stories afterword.


In my estimation, high school was a place to bide your time before leaving for college. Once you get into college all your accomplishments from high school don't really matter anymore. The same can be said of college, once you get your first job and don't screw it up, what you accomplished in college is of lesser value. I don't really know what to make of high school, some of it was fun, a lot of it was lame, like busy work and really long and boring days. Interestingly enough, I find that my closest friends are the ones I had during my time in high school, though. Maybe that's because we went through that crap together and spent many fun filled nights in the basement of wonder and many nice days playing frisbee. At some point I came to the realization that a Bruce Springsteen song fits high school very well, at least in my case. Maybe you can relate, too.

I tend to remember particular people and experiences I had with them in high school as opposed to high school in general. This doesn't surprise me because of how bland high school actually is and I often remember a great deal about people I have interaction with. I've found that I can often remember what people said to me in certain situations and what body language they use. People fascinate me so that's probably why.


Basically (to me) high school was a place full of clowns "teaching" the youth for far too many hours each day with many optional activities that add to or subtract from each individuals' popularity. On another note, I'm glad that my good blogging buddy, Chase Robertson, posted some new material. I hope he continues to do so because it is so much more interesting to read a blog post than a status update or tweet. The elaboration of blogs make them my favorite type of social media.


On second thought, high school was a silly place and I'm glad I do not have to go back there.