When I was in high school, Nada Surf's song "Popularity" from their debut album High/Low came out, and it was perfection. Since junior high, the dynamics of friendships had changed drastically, and this song became my own personal anthem expressing my sadness and anger and frustration. Girls I had been friends with all through elementary school suddenly were too good to hang out with me.
I wasn't the only one this happened to, and luckily around the time this happened I began hanging out with an entire new group of friends who I'm still close with to this day. They also were ditched by "the popular" people, which we nicknamed the preps, and we ended up forming strong friendships that have lasted nearly twenty years. Much longer than those superficial people's friendships I bet, haha!
Things only became worse in high school, and the only way we were able to cope was that we had each other. We were all called names and threatened to have the crap beaten out of us, etc. One time, one of the girls who bullied us locked us in the bathroon during lunch. :P
So yeah, this song with all of its sarcasm and witty charm became my personal anthem, my big "Eff you!" complete with middle finger up to all those catty girls who wouldn't leave us alone. And it still is. :)
Awesome post! School was hell for me growing up. I didn't have a personal anthem, but I joined the basketball team and we sucked so bad, but I loved my girls. Here's my Think Out Loud.
ReplyDeleteSchool was like a vortex I didn't think I was ever going to get out of. It was hell for me for many reasons. Glad it's over for sure.
DeleteI tried to join the basketball team, but I was too short, lol.
Too short? That is so funny. There was no such thing in my school. I'm 5'5 and I was a foward. Like I said we sucked. I think it's amazing that you found a much better group of people.
DeleteI love this song too! I was tortured throughout Elementary. Red hair, glasses, chubby, smart, all = torture included. Then came high school. I got taller, filled out, got contacts and all the popular people still hated me, but I didn't care. I was nice to all the "losers" because they were individuals. They all were way more interesting than any of the "preps". Plus, they were the majority of the population! Once I figured that out, high school was much easier... but not much. Bleh. High school. So glad it is waaaaay over.
ReplyDeleteThe popular people can go suck it, lol. I hate admitting it, but the name calling and the general "I'm gonna kick your ass" really bothered me. I shudder just thinking about those days. The thing is, I thought once you graduate high school, you leave all that infantile crap behind. But then at every job I've had, I realized that same crap from high school is there. You wouldn't believe the gossiping and backstabbing that went on at my last job. I'm so glad to be a full-time parent, it's not even funny.
DeleteI completely agree and I'm so glad we all had each other to get through it all. It amazes me still how things change over time. I love hearing certain songs, seeing pictures of the Katie Coaster, lol, or watching Rocky Horror, and it reminds me the goofy, fun and sad times we had! Some people might not have understood or liked us, but we had each other and that's all that mattered!
ReplyDeleteKatis, I could not have said it better myself. <3 You and I were the start of one part of the group - we've been friends since at least 1st grade! I love all of our memories throughout the years, too. I wouldn't have made it through without you guys!! <3 <3 <3
Delete"We had a time a time, didn't we Angela?"
"Yeah. We had a time."
~ My So-Called Life <3