Reunions.

Oh college reunions, the one time a year we pretend we're still at school. The definition of a reunion is: a party of former associates who have come together again. I call it speed dating (with or without the awkward hug at the end). It's funny... We graduate from 4 years of college. We build our "lifelong" friendships and leave it all behind to start our careers. Then every year we're invited back to socialize with old friends, drink, watch a football game, drink some more, socialize and then socialize some more. We won't go alone for fear we may be looked down upon. We have to show up in packs just to prove we're still "cool" and leave drunk just to prove we've still got it. We can still "hang". I love it. I'm fascinated by the interactions between people. I love the social awkwardness of the whole situation. We stand around a parking lot scanning the crowd for familiar faces, decide whether they are worth walking up to, make quick judgments on how much they have/ haven't changed and ask the same three questions "How are you?"; "Where are you at now?" and since this recession began "Are you working now?". So generic... but honestly what else can you say? Do we need a synopsis on everyone's lives to date? What if it's been years since you've seen them? Then there's the constant distractions. 'Oh no, the ex is approaching'... 'Yay! There's my group of girlfriends!'... Each person gets three to five minutes with you and it's over. You've been pulled into another conversation. It's just like speed dating. You've either been interested in what they've said and have decided to contact them on one of the various social networking sites you barely use or you've decided that those five minutes have been ample enough and you'll see them in a few years... or never again.