Forgive High School

I was talking to a buddy of mine today and we had a good talk. It was nice talking to him again and it had been too long honestly, but the end of the conversation bothered me because he apologized to me for being a dick in high school.

Had this been a few years ago I might had gained some sort of feeling of joy from this. High school was fun for me in some parts and not fun in others, much like many people's high school experiences, but I have to say that the apology he offered didn't bring forth any joy from me.

It just made me feel bad for him. He was a dick in high school, yes, but guess what? So was everyone else, me included. Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby make a motion that we just forgive high school; everything and everybody that went with it. Let's face it, none of us were at our best in high school.

I certainly wasn't. In high school I adopted a lot of bad things that carried over post-high school. I was the fat kid who was smart, a geek, and pretty much good for any answer to any question. Being the geeky fat kid, I got my fair share of mean spirited jokes thrown my way and I responded back with even meaner jokes, even deeper insults, and I took pride in my quick wit. If you dared engaged me in a verbal match you would likely lose.

I decided not to take things lying down anymore and I lashed out at people who previously put me through hell. I was a dick, plain and simple; I just got a pass sometimes because I was geek. Frankly, I'm not proud of myself during those high school years.

I seriously doubt anyone really is proud of themselves during those high school years. Sure, some of you may have earned good citizenship awards, a 4.0 GPA, and more, but let's face it...none of us were at our best in high school. We were teenagers, still growing physically, mentally, and emotionally. High school is hell because you don't know what you're going to get day to day; one day your friend is tight with you and the next you have a knife buried in your back.

So, I say, forgive high school and everyone in it. We all made mistakes. We all said things and did things we shouldn't have. We don't need to apologize for it; I appreciate the effort, but it could take years to apologize to everyone in high school I was a dick too. I'm sure it's the same for you.

There's no need to offer up apologizes for those years. Let's all just accept that we weren't great people then because we were young, stupid, and easy to influence. Let's just move on and enjoy the time we have now rather than apologizing for years past.

We were all dicks in high school. Let's not be dicks in life, huh?