Funny Guy Friday… High school reunion... part deux...

     Funny Guy Friday is written each week by my husband Mark.  So, I married a funny guy.
     A couple of weekends ago Cheryl and I were invited to a happy hour for the thirty-year reunion of our high school Class of 1982. As you may recall, last year, Cheryl and I attended our thirty-year reunion only to find out that I used to be "kind of a big deal" way back in 1981.
     I struggled about whether or not we should go to this event because we graduated a year before these folks and I was not sure I wanted to crash their party.
     I would point out that I had no problem tagging along with my best friend at his reunion party the previous year for the Class of 1980. It was always cool to hang out with seniors. On the other hand, you didn't want to be caught dead hanging out with a bunch of sophomores.
     Cheryl asked if I knew any of the folks from this reunion class and I reminded her that I dated a few girls from that class. Despite my previous romantic history and my hesitation to hang out with underclassmen, we decided that we would go.
     Cheryl spent a little extra time getting herself duded up… I  can only assume that this was some attempt for her to justify my decision to marry her instead of some of these other young ladies. She asked if she should wear her hair curly or straight, and I responded, What difference does it make? You are a senior and they are all juniors.
     What a difference a year makes in the life of a high school kid.
     Anyway, as we made our entrance, I immediately bumped into a young lady that was good friends with a girl that I dated in high school. She greeted me with no hesitation at all. Yes, indeed, I was just as popular with these folks as I was with my own classmates.
     She asked me how I was doing, where I worked, how many kids I had. You know, all the questions that you ask when… when… when you are making small talk with someone that you don't really remember. The first sign of recognition was when I told her that I had married Cheryl.
    Oh yeah, pretty girl with long dark hair and a beautiful smile… what's your name again? 
    Ouch! My night was off to a rough start.
    No problem, this was the first person out of the gate. My night would get better… so I thought.
    As I cruised the bar area, I saw the gal that I dated for most of my senior year. Thankfully, she did remember me. She was talking to another good friend of hers that I had seen a time or two since we all graduated. She greeted me and then leaned in, for what I thought was a hello kiss on the cheek. As we neared the actual cheek kissing position, she put her lips near my ear and asked… What was your name again?  Mike, right? 
    I swear that I actually kissed and whiffed before advising her that she was close, but my name is Mark. That "air kiss" may have been the most humiliating moment of the night, but there was more to come.
    I ran into another girl that I had taken out on one date years ago. She mentioned that she had had a really good time on that date. Unfortunately, it begged the question, Why wasn't there a second date if the first one was so good? 
     In law school, they teach you never to ask a question to which you don't already know the answer. I should have relied on that bit of advice before asking.
     Apparently, I, the most insecure person that you ever would have wanted to meet back then, mentioned over dinner that night that I knew that she had a crush on me long before we ever went out. This made her feel somewhat embarrassed. It had me now thinking how in the world do you work that into the conversation?
     Excuse me, would you please be a dear and pass me the salt?… By the way, I knew you had a crush on me before I ever asked you out. Oh, the pepper too. Thanks! 
     Had I, in fact, said such a thing, it probably did have her thinking at the time that I was a conceited idiot. I, of course, deny making such a comment, and mentioned my general lack of confidence and overall insecurity at the time. Why would I say that? But she was absolutely sure.
     Cheryl assures me that she must have remembered it accurately. That is something that a girl would remember.
     Women! Half of them can't remember your name and the other half remember some stupid comment that you made on a date more than twenty-five years ago. Go figure.
     Anyway, this gal introduced Cheryl and me to her husband. He is a very nice guy, and he mentioned that he has read some of my Funny Guy Fridays.
     This made me feel a bit uneasy. I mean, I write this stuff but I am not really sure who reads it, or if they know my formula of 85% truth, 10% exaggerated and 5% made up? Does he know that I asked a check out girl at Toys-R-Us if she had double Ds? Does he know that I drove off to work, waving to neighbors, with a car seat on top of my car? Does he know that I shot my seven year old in the rear end with an air soft gun?
    Come to think of it, all those things are 100% true.
    He was very complimentary (remember I said he was a real nice guy… and smart with a great sense of what is funny and clever) and they ended up sitting with us later in the evening when we sat to eat dinner. During the course of the conversation, we asked how they met. After hearing their story, I began to tell them how Cheryl and I met. As I started, they both mentioned that they already knew that because they read it in Funny Guy Friday. Oh, okay. This put us at a distinct disadvantage. They both knew way more about us than we knew about them.
     Every time I started to tell a story, I had to ask people that I had either just met for the first time or had not seen in more than twenty years, Have you heard this one yet? 
     As it turned out, we had a great time with them, and as they got up to leave our table, I felt that I had so much more to tell them. I entertained the thought of grabbing a napkin and jotting down a few titles to more Funny Guy Fridays... you know... so they could check 'em out at a later date.
     As the night wound down, I met up with a guy that I used to play baseball with. Someone snapped our picture and advised that it was going to go on facebook. This prompted my buddy to say that he doesn't get facebook or blogging. He even went so far as to say, Why would people write about their lives? Really... who cares?
     I er, uh well… I… agree. Who does such a thing? I mean... next thing you know, people will be... you know, uh, like, uh… jotting down links to their blogs instead of having regular conversations. Stupid, right? 
     As we left the party, a few thoughts went through my mind. First of all, everything happens for a reason. You say stupid things on a date so that you wind up with the exact person you are supposed to be with. Of course, I am talking about that girl and her husband that we ate dinner with. They were perfect for each other.
     Okay, okay, okay... I guess I was also meant to be with Cheryl, too.
     Second, the girls in the class of 1982 have terrible memories. Seriously, how could they forget a guy as popular as "Mike."
     Finally, we had a great time with the class of '82 but… THE CLASS OF 1981 ROCKS!