1) Getting dressed mattered more. The best way I can explain this is by saying that clothes are one of my favorite things. They are my tattoos. They are my extra piercings. They are how I give off the vibe of funky/artsy/cute/elfin/demure/chic/fairylike/ future novelist. Which, in case I am unclear, is what I am
2) Activities. I want to take a free art class, be in a choir, play an instrument for which I take free lessons, be in a band for that instrument, and go see games where I actually feel loyalty for a team. (A short aside on why this would be significant: I am a terrible sports fan. Not only do I not understand or care what is happening, but when I do make an effort to understand and care, I always look at the TV at the wrong time. Like when the quarterback is tying his shoe or or the manager is squinting aggressively into the sun for five minutes while the analysts analyze what he might be thinking about. This is a chronic problem for me. High school was so much easier; you go, you play "La Bamba" on the flute, you have a band geek explain what "Fourth Down" means, and you are very very proud of the men in green and white. Because you, too, are wearing green and white. On your pep band windbreaker.)
3) Theatre people. I did a lot of theatre in high school. School plays, community plays, plays that were kind of like camp/classes that your parents paid for. I miss running around the Civic Center in a leotard. I miss singing all the time with people. I miss dressing rooms! Oh my God, no wonder I don't have any fun putting on my makeup anymore. I am just now realizing that it's not fun unless there are seven other girls squished into a mirror meant for three, your retinas are being burnt by forty light bulbs, and you're inadvertently in the background of another cast member's sixteen turned-around camera pictures. (Which are a lot easier these days with smartphones--just in time for them to no longer be age appropriate unless I'm drinking alcohol. Shame.) So really, I guess this one is theatre people/makeup. But mainly theatre people--they were the BEST. I'm sure they still are, I'm just no longer sure where to find them or how to fit them into my schedule when it's not "Rehearsal 9th period" anymore.
4) Buses. I actually love school buses. I'm not saying this to be cute or ironic. I'm aware that it's weird. I also got my license really late in life (this past July at the age of 22) and I'm sure this is something like Stockholm syndrome--I embraced my big yellow prison on wheels because I really had no control over my method of transportation, being afraid of operating any motor vehicle larger than a golf cart. But whatever the reasoning, I sincerely loved (and still probably would love) riding a school bus.
For one thing, my high school bus driver was insanely awesome. His name was Randy, he would wait for me at my stop, (yeah, before you judge me for not being outside at my stop on time, which I am defensive about even if you weren't gonna be judgmental about it, know this: I was the first stop in the morning. I was picked up at 6:50 am. Boom.) he had highlights and wore a leather jacket, was insanely skinny, smoked like a chimney, and had OCD. We talked about his kids and his need to get up at, like, 4 in the morning to vacuum every day. My mom made him brownies for Christmas. He was great. I wish I had his contact info, actually. We were real buddies by the end of my senior year.
Other than my everyday bus, I just loved buses in general. There's a very specific camaraderie that comes with using public transportation that is free and full of other people whose ages are within three years of yours. Where some people riding are actually friends, and you all know each other. And you all know where each other lives, but not in a creepy way. Where else does that happen?
5) (I always feel like I need at least five things in a list before it's legit.) I miss feeling well-known. Not that I had an inflated sense of self-importance in high school (or at least not any more than any other 14-18 year old) but that everyone kind of knew where I stood, and I kind of knew where everyone else stood. I was idealistic and smart and artsy and kind of a smart ass and I sucked at gym. And all of those things were assumed to a certain extent--people knew stuff about me. And I knew stuff about them. And as the Cheers theme song says...
Now, I would like to point out that any of these things could easily also be a reason why I don't miss high school at all. I love not feeling stressed out about not owning Hollister jeans, I love having my independence, and I am glad that not everybody I meet knows that I'm an unathletic Christian band geek who is completely afraid of boys. (Although on some level, I'm pretty sure I still manage to give out that vibe. If anyone knows any way to stop this, please let me know.) And as much as I miss the activities and the theatre, these are the most re-creatable things in this list--I could easily take an art class (though it wouldn't be free) and if I looked, I might be able to find a place to perform again. But I will probably never again be able to take free French Horn lessons with a borrowed instrument and play the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean in a band. And I am not entirely over this.
I love this.
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