Some things never change

It's funny when you live in an area you grew up in. You occasionally run into the people you use to know. And it's always funny to see whether or not they remember you.

My youth is full of people like this. Though, and unfortunately these are people I don't want to see again.

I never liked school or the people that went there, both teachers and students. I didn't go to my year 12 formal, instead I went to a night club in the city and hung around Gothic chicks. The company was much more entertaining than what was on offer at school.

And todays encounter confirmed that same feeling.

I saw an old school mate in a pizza shop this afternoon on the way to rehearsals. I stopped there for a quick bite to eat and get going. While waiting for my pizza I heard a very familiar voice. I only had to look up to confirm who it was I pictured in my head.

The same look, the same voice, the same manner, just 30 kilos heavier.

The thing that annoyed me the most was this person, much like most of the kids in my class were all sheep. They all followed the trend, and perhaps this is okay. But I've always been the one going against the grain, against the flow. I am status quo's worst nightmare.

Sadly, nothing had changed. This person was still the same kid I knew in school. The same vulgar twit that made school more annoying than it already was.

As a Buddhist in the making, I sat there eating my pizza thinking about why I felt this way, thinking about why I let it affect me. But the stupidity, the vocabulary and the mannerisms were too much for me to stay sane. So I scoffed down my food, paid my bill and left, thinking to myself, why is it that I feel I've grown up a little while others appear to have stayed 18?

I can act like a child too. And despite my wife's testimonial that I'm like a 15 year old boy when someone says the words "tits" or "legs", I am usually mature about most things. However, this bugged me. Seeing this old "friend" really made me realise that he was exactly the type of person I have avoided since just before leaving school. I have always tried to surround myself with people I want to have around me. He isn't one of them, a lot of people aren't one of them.

I suppose, when I think back, nothing does change. I'm still the same person who hates school and still giggles when someone says "ASSignment"

It's 1am here, I'm starting to ramble and not think straight, which means it's bed time.