Don't you love farce?
My fault I fear.
I thought that you'd want what I want.
Sorry, my dear.
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don't bother, they're here.
- excerpt from Send in the Clowns, from the Stephen Sondheim musical, A Little Night Music*
While most of our classmates began their journeys home on Sunday, a dozen of us met at El Guapo's at noon for an impromptu reunion of the Masque & Gavel...and anyone else who'd been involved in the performing arts at Memorial. Like Jaimie's concert on Thursday night, it wasn't limited to the members of the Class of '79. Chargers from the Classes of 1980 and 1981 joined us for Tulsa-style TexMex, a pitcher of Mimosas, and more aerobic exercise for our memories. Beyond the hugs and smiles, the memories and updates, I began to realize what was so special about my time in high school with these people.
To set the stage for this little epiphany, let me tell you a bit about the 17 year old me. I was too smart for my own good. What this means is that, while I had the intellect that got me into the National Honor Society at the end of 9th grade, I didn't have the maturity to handle the additional responsibilities of being in high school. I had always been smart enough to make mostly A's, along with a B or two, just from the information I absorbed in class. I almost never had to crack a book. The problem with this was that I never learned how to study. By the time I hit the second half of my Junior year, I realized I was in trouble because most of my teachers were teaching "college style"...in other words, they only provided about half of the information in class and expected the students to fill in the gaps by completing outside assignments. My last three semesters were also when Real Life slapped me in the face and I was confronted for the first time with people in power (teachers) who let personal opinion and prejudices color the grades they gave me instead of going solely by my scores on assignments and tests. By Christmas break 1978, I was looking at repeating the 12th grade as a serious possibility. I didn't know it at the time, but I've since found out that I was suffering from depression I didn't know how to handle during my Senior year.
Next time, Thank You for Being a Friend! Until then, best regards...
* A Little Night Music and Send in the Clowns © Copyright Little Night Music Ltd, 2009
© James P. Rice 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment