Former classmates - do you blank them or bother with them?

Ross_Mahon · 09-08-2008 09:07PM

I would have a chat with them if i got in direct path of them, But i wouldn't scramble over in a panic to say hi.

AARRRGH · 09-08-2008 09:09PM

Actually, a guy I used to be in school with is now homeless.

If you live in Dublin you've probably seen him. He's the extremely aggressive guy who walks up to you and asks for money.

He doesn't look homeless, rather... mentally ill.

SoupyNorman · 09-08-2008 09:13PM

AARRRGH wrote: »

If you live in Dublin you've probably seen him. He's the extremely aggressive guy who walks up to you and asks for money.

Not really narrowing things down.

rainbow kirby · 09-08-2008 09:16PM

Tbh half the girls I did the Leaving with, I'd want to kick the **** out of them. Hated about 90% of my year, snotty bitches.

AARRRGH · 09-08-2008 09:16PM

bravestarr082 wrote: »

Not really narrowing things down.

Haha sorry.

OK, let me see.

When you give him money he says "Give us a tenner or twenty if you have it".

dave.omeara · 09-08-2008 09:18PM

I'd say hello to people who I would have actually got on with.
I still have a few friends who I would see every so often, and them there would be a few people who if I saw them on the street I might stop and have a chat with, but then there are people that I wouldn't bother with, mainly cause I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be bother talking to me either.

DenMan · 09-08-2008 09:21PM

Honestly I lost touch with a lot my old class mates. I went away and we didn't keep in touch. Being back now I sometimes bump into one or two doing a bit of a shop or in the music store. They seem to recognise me immediately (alarmingly I might add) and say hello. Again being honest most of their faces I no longer remember and it can be awkward responding. I just respond in kind. I seem to get away with it anyway, which is a very good thing.

Davidius · 09-08-2008 09:22PM

I'm still in school and I bet that I wouldn't even notice them years from now. For one, I'm not good at remembering what people look like and aging wouldn't help. Also I have never said a word to most of them. :pac:

AARRRGH · 09-08-2008 09:23PM

Actually what am I talking about, I'm meeting a former classmate for drinks tonight!

Sorry -- I don't ever bump into classmates I don't regularly meet.

Nolanger · 09-08-2008 09:40PM

A few years back met a guy from my school in Grafton Street selling the Big Issues.
He was a lot friendlier than the tossers from school with the big jobs.

Firetrap · 09-08-2008 09:44PM

Originally Posted by Firetrap
A couple of times recently when I've been in the home place, I've gone out shopping. I've seen a couple of former classmates out and about doing their shopping as well. They wouldn't be people I'd ever have been friendly with or anything, just folk who happened to be in my class. Anyway, seeing as it's 15 years since I did the Leaving Cert and I can't be arsed talking to them, I just stuck my nose in the air and kept going. Life's too short to be bothered.
Are you on the dole?

truecrippler wrote: »

Are you on the dole?

No. Why do you ask? I'm fairly sure half my classmates are. Wasters

shenanigans1982 · 09-08-2008 11:31PM

I was pretty quiet in school and have probably had longer conversations with some of my classmates since I got out of school. As with most people I talk to the ones I got on with, say hello to the ones I said hello to and ignore the ones I ignored.

Carsinian Thau · 09-08-2008 11:59PM

I try to ignore them if I can but if they corner me, I'll talk to them and be very polite throughout.

I still hate them though (and I'm sure deep down, they hate me and it's just the relentless need for gossip that forces them to talk to me).

I always thought that if I ever ran into any of them again I'd tell them exactly what I think of them (same for the teachers that happened to also be bullies), but I never do. In fact, I'm sickeningly polite.
It's probably for the best though. If I don't anger them, they'll have less reason to remember me and may forget about me faster (I long for the day when they won't recognise me).

Handsome Bob · 10-08-2008 12:00AM

dave.omeara wrote: »

I'd say hello to people who I would have actually got on with.
I still have a few friends who I would see every so often, and them there would be a few people who if I saw them on the street I might stop and have a chat with, but then there are people that I wouldn't bother with, mainly cause I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be bother talking to me either.

That's exactly how I see it too. And then the next time we are in the same place due to a somewhat mutual friend we make small talk as if we didn't just blank each other the last time we crossed paths!:rolleyes:

Jack Sheehan · 10-08-2008 12:07AM

AARRRGH wrote: »

I hardly ever see anyone who I was in class with. Maybe once every few years!

I wonder am I simply not recognising them, and do they now think I'm a rude ****...

Did anyone here go to Oatlands College in Stillorgan?!

Well I'm in Oatlands at the moment, going into 6th year.

Carsinian Thau · 10-08-2008 12:20AM

Moonbaby wrote: »

I don't get blankers, what does a bit of chit chat cost you?

Self respect.

Sometimes the only way I could cope with the fact that I didn't fit it (I could say "the fact that they were assh*les" but I now accept a small portion of the blame of what school was like for me) was to tell myself that once I'm free I never have to have anything to do with them. When I don't get to follow through on that, I feel like I've let that younger, suffering and unhappy version of myself down.

It doesn't help that I've never forgiven any one of them for the whole mess and still think that ignoring them somehow hurts them* and that it's the best revenge I can get.

*= I have no idea why I think something like this because it is so utterly ridiculous. It may have something to do with the fact that all their power over me stemmed from knowledge about me and that by depriving them of that I'm limiting their power.

Will · 10-08-2008 12:23AM

Seen one or two about, I just nodded and went on my way. I wasn't treated the best in school so I'm a wee bit bitter over it all :pac:

JerryHandbag · 10-08-2008 12:35AM

School classmates, couldnt be bothered with most of em, nothin in common with em...
College classmates, occasional drinks meet ups are very good nights indeed.

I would say college, not school days are the best days of your lives....but then maybe the people who say school was the best days of your life never went to college!:D

tribulus · 10-08-2008 12:40AM

JerryHandbag wrote: »

School classmates, couldnt be bothered with most of em, nothin in common with em...
College classmates, occasional drinks meet ups are very good nights indeed.

I would say college, not school days are the best days of your lives....but then maybe the people who say school was the best days of your life never went to college!:D

I actually found school days by far the best in terms of camaraderie for want of a better word but college the best for chilling out and doing your own thing.

Although given the choice I think I'd take college purely for the fact that you didn't need a note to skip class lol.

oscas · 10-08-2008 01:35AM

I had a great time in school and in college, I keep in touch with the ones I keep in touch with and have no real interest in any of the others bar one or two.

Come to think of it, I pretty much ignore everyone I see on the street whether I remember them from school or from a party last Saturday night. Unless there's a proper connection there (even if it's only havin a buzz) then I'm not going to put me (or them) through crappy small talk about the weather/weekend/the old days/planned holidays/did ya hear about so and so/how's such and such/blah blah what a load of b*llix.

I know it sounds harsh but if I've nothin to say then what's the point in pretending?

:):);)

Dord · 10-08-2008 02:03AM

I'll say hello to them if I walk past and maybe have a quick chat. But I pretty much lost touch/drifted away from my school friends once school finished. Still in touch with a few friends from college though.

mrsdewinter · 10-08-2008 04:43AM

I've no deep need to ingratiate myself with people who didn't bother making an effort with me 15 or 20 years ago. However, if I can't avoid it, I'll make small talk. On the whole, though, I think most people are so thrilled to meet somebody - anybody - they know that any contact with any sort of acquaintance of long standing kinda makes their day.
So, OP, try flashing them a big smile and saying hello the next time you meet old school mates. Leave them thinking you have loads to be smug about

entropi · 10-08-2008 04:59AM

Mairt wrote: »

Honestly, I wouldn't remember one of them. Not one.

i'm exactly the same yet only left school around 12 years ago.

watna · 10-08-2008 05:07AM

Hmm, it's very interesting how much other posters seemed to have had a hard time in school. I loved every minute of it and sobbed on my last day because I didn't want to leave! I like to think I got on fairly well with most people - I tried to be nice to everyone anyway. I'd say hi if I saw any of them about. There were a few nasty people that I wouldn't be rushing to have a conversation with but even saying hi to them is no skin off my nose.

My school friends are still my best mates so I guess that makes things a little different too.

spurious · 10-08-2008 05:12AM

Left school almost 30 years ago and still regularly meet for lunch with one friend from school. Others I see occasionally - mainly in supermarkets/shopping centres.

College people are much more spread around the country, so I'm less likely to run into them. Other than some I run into through work, I don't see many of them.

Would never intentionally blank someone I was at school/college with, though after 30 years it gets harder to recognise people and I may have missed some of them.

melekalikimaka · 10-08-2008 06:56AM

6 years out of school and still best mates with 90% of my year, other ten id still chat if i met, your schools seem wack

Dizzyblabla · 10-08-2008 08:41AM

connundrum wrote: »

I ran into a few former class mates in a short space of time recently, and by the end of it I was sick of stopping for the same fuckin chat..

Him: So what ya up to these days
Me: Ah just workin away you know, and yourself?
Him: Ah sure much the same, when you down again? We should go on the beer.
Me: Sure next time I'm down I'll give you a buzz and we'll sort it!
Him: Sound chat ya later.

Fastforward 6 months, repeat. Fastforward 6 months, repeat. etc

That is so true! It kinda reminds me of the rabodirect ad, where one girl tries to avoid a 'friend' on the street...

The school 'friends' that i had in school are still my friends today. The others are in facebook and bebo so we can pretend that we give a flying monkeys what's going on in each others lives.

Saint_Mel · 10-08-2008 08:41AM

13 years out of secondary school now and I'm still best mates with some of the lads I used to hang around with in school. After the LC we all went our seperate ways for a while but then a chance bumping into one Summer lead to an inpromptu session and it was like we never had went away at all.

There was a few other lads then that I played sports with that I'd usually see around town if I was out for the night so although there wouldnt have been much contact since school we would have known each other well enough to always greet each other in the steet.

I'm back living in my hometown now and there are still a few I occasionally meet that I wouldnt have seen in 10+ years but I'd still say Hi or nod to them if I recognised them. Its nice to be nice

Ishmael · 10-08-2008 12:05PM

I'd say hi to any of them i recognize, even the ar*eholes. No harm in it so i don't see why not.

trowelled · 10-08-2008 02:57PM

I'm still best friends with one of the girls from school, been 12 years now and another I became good friends when we ended p going to the same college! I'd say a polite hello to most of them. Bumped into a couple of them last christmas eve in the pub, made small talk with them but there was never gonna be any deep meaningful conversations. I've changed so much since school and I don't think a lot of the others have. Have yet to bump into my tormentor from primary school though!!

Former classmates - do you blank them or bother with them?

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