Are school reunions just “willy waving contests” or are they worth going to?
Irish Independent columnist Tanya Sweeney recently received one to mark 30 years since she left school.
For her, the invite provoked a “bit of soul searching” as she pondered whether to accept and, although she has never been to one, Ms Sweeney said she is quite sure what to expect.
“We buff our lives up,” she told Lunchtime Live.
“We’re basically catching up with everyone and it’s like, ‘Yeah, I’ve two lovely kids and I live here and I’m so utterly happy in my marriage.’
“It is a bit of a willy waving contest - the bragging is allegedly mighty.”
Ms Sweeney said there is “no harm” in a person reflecting on their life but she does wonder whether she wants to hear about it from someone she has not spoken to in decades.
“Somebody said to me, ‘There’s a reason I haven’t spoken to some of these people in 30 years’,” she said.
“I’m not naming any names but there were some people for whom school was a very, sort of ambivalent experience.
“There are people who peaked in secondary school; found their core group of friends, had a great time, excelled academically, socially and all the ways you can.
“I think for a lot of people - and certainly for me - we really did not have a great time.”
What's the point?
Presenter Andrea Gilligan went to a 10-year school reunion but last year decided not to bother with her 20 year one.
“We met up and we just sat together for the night and had the very same conversation and night out we would have had if we’d been in Dublin or in Sligo,” she said.
“So, I thought to myself, ‘Why am I going back 20 years on? I’m only going to spend the whole night at the table with my really good friends which I would do pretty much every other weekend in Dublin.’
“Then you’re just listening to the bragging and they’re going to tell you how happy they are in this wonderful marriage - even though you’ve kind of heard rumours they’re not.”
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Main image: A school reunion group. Picture by: Alamy.com
