High School Reunion Goers Reveal The Worst Change They've Seen In A Classmate
[rebelmouse-image 18350772 is_animated_gif=High school reunions have the potential to be one of the most awkward nights of our adult lives. What will all of our old classmates be like? Will we even want to go? Will they actually be able to find us? With social media keeping everyone connected, we can keep better track of what everyone is up to. But there are always the ones who slip through the cracks.
One Reddit user asked: What was the worst change in a person you saw at your High School re-union?
Aaaaaaand yeah, the responses were goooood. Maybe not "The Rock/Kevin Hart solve an international mystery and still make it to the reunion on time" kind of good... but still really good.
The Next Morning
[rebelmouse-image 18350773 is_animated_gif=I got s***faced at my 10 year reunion. I was buying people shots, accosted the DJ to play songs from our high school days, started a dance off and then enthusiastically recruited a group to keep the party going at a local bar. The best part was I was soooooo shy and withdrawn in high school no one remembered me, and no one really knew who I was.
I threw up in my dog's bed the next morning.
No Change
[rebelmouse-image 18350774 is_animated_gif=Worst change I ever saw was no change at all.
Murder Suicide
[rebelmouse-image 18350775 is_animated_gif=Well, two classmates got married, and then one murdered their toddlers and killed himself. That was a hell of an update.
The Switcheroo
[rebelmouse-image 18345175 is_animated_gif=As the evening wore on, it became apparent that the crazy fun party guy who seemed awesome at the beginning of the night was really the weepy alcoholic crying about having nothing left to live for. It was very depressing.
The Popular Girl
[rebelmouse-image 18350776 is_animated_gif=In high school, there was a girl I envied because she was the stereotypical popular girl. Blonde hair, blue eyes, full of pep. She had dreams of going to medical school and being a pediatric cardiologist. She was a star in my dance class, the lead in the plays. She could sing. She took advanced placement classes. She was nice too.
On our senior trip at the end of senior year, she told me about how she'd take speed to be up for days at a time, so she didn't have to sleep and could do so much.
She never went to college. She looks really bad. Had a few babies, one of them born addicted to drugs, I believe. She walks around town with her head down, all in black. She doesn't talk to anyone.
It's really, really sad honestly.
Swan Dive
[rebelmouse-image 18350777 is_animated_gif=Most handsome, popular, rich, quarter-back-of-the-football-team/class president guy took a swan dive off a high floor of a hotel in front of his wife and kids a couple years back. Didn't see that one coming.
Like I said, handsome, popular, rich, quarter-back-of-the-football-team/class president played college ball and married the head cheerleader. But I think that was the highlight of his life and he never relived the glory and adulation he had growing up. I heard he was working in the warehouse of his dad's business and was passed over to take over and had developed a drug problem. I think he was on his way home from rehab when it happened.
Major Depression
[rebelmouse-image 18350779 is_animated_gif=Honestly, it was me.
High school me was very animated, social and skinny. 15-years-later me was very withdrawn, sad and obese.
It's so strange. I never fantasized that I'd be the guy that people talked about having "really gone downhill." I was always such a great student, I was active, I volunteered for things, I made art. A real type-A person...someone you'd want to be around.
But I was the one people whispered about, and it really hurt.
You'd think if someone was going through major depression, they would know, right?
I didn't.
Without drawing this out, the good news is that I'm doing really great now. I'm skinny again. I'm social. I'm out there doing stuff, and I think I can count myself as someone people want to be around. It's kind of scary...having a personality...but exciting scary.
Hopefully, at the 20-year-reunion, the whispers will be different.
Selling Crap Leggings
[rebelmouse-image 18350780 is_animated_gif=Had a clique of 4 rich popular girls who ended up marrying fairly young and having kids right out of high school. They all sell Lularoe and have spent most of their husbands' money on the "business." So now they spend their days at home on facebook trying to sell crap leggings to people.
Two of them tried to sell to me and a big group of other classmates before we all just moved away from them and did our own thing. You could feel the desperation coming off of them.
Could Not Locate
[rebelmouse-image 18350781 is_animated_gif=Just had our 20th, two people we could not locate but both are known to be drug addicts and homeless. I hope they're both doing ok because they were good kids who had a hard upbringing.
A Literal Cult
[rebelmouse-image 18350782 is_animated_gif=I went to my 20 year reunion a few years back. The girl who organized the whole thing was, and is pretty, popular and intelligent. She also turned out to be a high level member of the Keith Raniere cult NXIVM which has been in the news lately. She was using the event to recruit people! The girl is the daughter of one of the founding members, who I've known since I was in Elementary school.
Never had the slightest clue about any of this until this reunion.
It Would Be Funny If
[rebelmouse-image 18350783 is_animated_gif=One guy who was a total a**hole to me apparently fathered children with several classmates in the first few years after school. Including both my ex girlfriends. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.
Party Of One
[rebelmouse-image 18350784 is_animated_gif=Well, since I was the only one to show up for my 10 year reunion, it would be me. I got fat.
I Missed Out
[rebelmouse-image 18350785 is_animated_gif=I went to my 10, 15, and 20 year reunion.
I think the worst change I saw was that quite a few still haven't changed. They were the same as they were in high school. It was almost cartoonish. Hanging on to who they were 10 or 20 years ago and still trying to be that guy or girl.
I always ended up hanging out with a four or five of the "nerds" that had become amazingly funny, interesting people. Normal people. And I look back with regret that that as a wannabe jock or wannabe tryhard cool kid.
I missed out on really knowing them.
Murder Is A Family Business
[rebelmouse-image 18350786 is_animated_gif=Star athlete, great guy had so much potential. Not even a year after we graduated he got caught in a murder case. Him and his uncle murdered a well known writer from the area. Didn't want to believe it at first or at all. He got his sentencing I think this year or somewhere last year. You never know how someone will turn out in the end.
I Wish I Could Apologize
[rebelmouse-image 18350789 is_animated_gif=I went to a small rural high school and didn't attend any of our "official" reunions, but our town has a 4th of July festival every year that served as an unofficial reunion for those of us who went away to college.
The summer before my first year of college I was hanging out at the festival with some of my friends when I heard a familiar voice call my name. I turned around, and there was "Debbie," a girl in the class a year ahead of me whom I and my friends had crushed on to varying degrees.
But the person standing before me was no longer that Debbie. High-school Debbie was slim, petite, and pretty, with long dark hair. This person was massively obese, marred by terrible acne and a nose ring that appeared to be infected, and sporting a ragged short hair cut that had been dyed an unflattering shade of brown. We conversed briefly and she mentioned that she'd joined the Peace Corps and spent a few months in Kyrgyzstan (IIRC), but otherwise offered no explanation of her changed look. There was some more small-town chitchat, and then we went our respective ways.
Maybe half an hour after running into Debbie I ran into my friend Chad, and he (who had crushed on her the hardest) asked if we'd seen her. I said that we just saw her and that she was probably still close by (it was a very small town), but he should know that she looked very different these days. I didn't elaborate further, as It was kind of depressing to see her the way she was and I didn't want to come off as mean.
We walked around a little bit more, and sure enough there was Debbie again. I pointed her out to Chad, who seemed unsure about who I might be pointing towards. But then he SAW.
Debbie saw the face, and walked away the other direction.
I came back home for the next three summers, but never saw Debbie again at any of the festivals; and even years later after Facebook became a thing and everyone started reconnecting online I never encountered her. I wish I could apologize for that moment. Lord only knows what might have caused such a dramatic change over that one year of her life.
Baby In The Bathroom
[rebelmouse-image 18350793 is_animated_gif=She brought her children. There were 12 of them. She was drunk. Really drunk! Like she turned up drunk!! She didn't leave until 11pm. She left her baby in the bathroom. She used to be president of the chastity club. (100% serious)
Confession
[rebelmouse-image 18348817 is_animated_gif=I think it was me.
I was drunk one hour in because it was so awkward so I kept drinking.
Every Racial Slur
[rebelmouse-image 18350794 is_animated_gif=I went to high school with a disorganized but well-mannered kid who was pretty well known and not unpopular. He ended up dropping out of college to travel in Asia, where he got into a bar fight, hit someone, and badly injured him. Spent the rest of his college years in an Asian (can't remember where) prison. When I saw him at our reunion, he had a massive face tattoo and was using every racial slur known to man.
Loudly.
She Looked 50
[rebelmouse-image 18350795 is_animated_gif=Meth user.
It was a 10 year reunion, but I swear to god, she looked 50 years old.
H/T: Reddit
When it comes to electing a leader, the choice is an easy one if a potential candidate shares the same values as yours.
And while a candidate is fit to lead remains to be seen, we rely on our instinct to choose someone with whom we can relate.
But sometimes, our options are limited and we inevitably go with someone who is the lesser of two evils.
Curious to hear from strangers online about a hypothetical, Redditor Cashmeresquid2309 asked:
"Americans of Reddit, would you vote for an openly Atheist presidential candidate? Why or why not?"

Redditors were quick to point out the answer was a no-brainer.
We Already Know The Answer
"Asking Reddit if they'd vote for an atheist..."
"I feel like the answer would be obvious."
– sarahmagoo
Sci-Fi Analogy
"Americans of Reddit, would you vote for a Star Wars fan who heckin loves doggos?"
– WitnessChemical
For The Atheists In The Crowd
"Atheists of atheistville, would you vote for an open atheist?"
– nixcamic
Others weighed in with a range of opinions.
About 45
"What's funny is how many of them would probably say no, even though they voted for Trump and would do so again. Say whatever else you want about him, but I seriously can't understand how anyone could genuinely believe Trump is a Christian. He's so obviously faking it and is undoubtedly the most atheistic president we've ever had or are likely to have for a long time."
"This is a guy who's never even so much as read the Bible or attended church, who told a conservative radio host his favorite Bible verse was 'an eye for an eye', who told evangelical interviewers that he's never asked God for forgiveness because he's never done anything wrong, and who routinely commits all 7 deadly sins (pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth) without remorse."
– empfindsamkeit
From A Different Perspective
"Not an american but interestingly according to this survey on 1006 people from 2007, being atheist was the worst thing you could be as a candidate (of the things asked) with only 45 % of people saying they'd vote for one."
– ilovecatfish
An atheist candidate isn't necessarily a big strike.
Double Negative
"I wouldn’t not vote for someone just because they were atheist."
– HabitualEnthusiast
Credibility First
"This is it. If they’re running on platforms I support with a history to back up those campaign promises, I don’t care if they belong to the church of the flying spaghetti monster. They could literally be a member of the satanic temple and I, an actual practicing Christian, would give less shi*s than a constipated sloth."
"Edit: yes, I realize the Satanic Temple does not actually worship satan. I used it for that purpose. The Church of Satan has some…problematic views and I probably would not vote for someone who literally holds a platform of eugenics."
– Phoenix_of_Asclepius
Some view the role of religion in politics as important.
It Depends
"Religion can be relevant: I would have strong reservations about voting for a Scientologist, even if I agreed with the policies they proposed. I would have strong reservations voting for a member of an apocalyptic cult or, possibly worse, a follower of the (highly heretical) 'prosperity gospel,' which unfortunately includes more and more so-called 'evangelicals' — I didn't vote for George W. Bush, but it's not because he was an evangelical."
"It depends on the role: I'd probably be more flexible with a legislator than an executive (mayor, governor, president), as their character is IMO more important than for a legislator and their policy stances somewhat less important relative to a legislator."
"Satanic temple — well, that's just an organized group of atheists and humanists with an intentionally inflammatory choice of name. They're generally fine people."
– alyssasaccount
A Bad Rap
"The Satanic Temple is an excellent organization that every decent person should be able to respect. A Church of Satan member, not so much."
"There's a huge difference between them!"
– StarsEatArtBooks
And Redditor boganvegan said it best.
"Better an open atheist than a fake Christian."
It all boils down to trustworthiness. Without full transparency, how could anyone put their faith in a candidate who spews nothing but lies?
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Being home alone isn't always the most tranquil thing.
No one is there to help or protect you.
And things that go "bump" in the night... sometimes they do more than bump.
Redditor ag9910 wanted to hear about the times home felt like an unsafe place to be. They asked:
"What is the scariest, strangest, most unexplainable thing that has happened to you while home alone?"
I'm always freaked out when I'm home alone. Lights on. Yeah, my electric bill is high.
Dorothy?
"I dreamed the front door blew open at the exact time the house alarm went off... I hopped up and sure enough, the front door was open. No intruder."
fatowl
I See You
"Not home alone but only one in right side of the house. Went to my mom's bathroom to wash my hands and saw a pair of feet behind the half open door. Laughed and said 'very funny Ma, I see you.' then finished up and left. Bumped into my mother in the kitchen unpacking, nobody else was in the house. I'm glad whatever was behind the door didn't peek out."
SatanWithFur
“It’s Doug!”
"One night I had forgotten to lock my apartment door and woke up in the middle of the night. My bedroom door was about 2 feet from my front door, as you walked into the apartment. First a big dog ran by, then a person. Holy crap I was so scared and I screeched 'Who is it?!?!!'"
"A man said 'It’s Doug!' As I was thinking to myself, who the f**k is Doug, he said 'oh, crap.' He turned around to go back out the front door saying 'Sorry.' I asked 'Didn’t you have a dog with you?' He said 'Oh, yeah. Hey, c’mon!.' He left, his dog ran out after him and I locked my front door."
"Edit: glad you all thought this was funny, because I did too, once my heart quit trying to beat right out of my chest! The next day the girls at work thought I was crazy for not being upset, but eh, done is done. Peace!"
scarletohairy
Confused...
"My sister and I were home alone and we heard someone big running up the stairs. The stairs make lots of noise with slight pressure so when there’s someone big on them you can tell. I went out of my room to check but saw no one anywhere and my sister also came out of her room and she asked if that was me I said no and we both looked around to see if there was anyone but found no one in the whole house. We were confused and called our parents and just waited until they got back and that was that."
JtSudbury04
I See You
"I very clearly saw a guy walk into my room. But when I went after him there was nobody there. I checked in the closet, under my bed, everywhere one could hide in my room."
HighlyOffensive10
This is why home video surveillance is key.
"NO"
"My parents were on a road trip, just left, and I sat down at my desk. I thought 'Weekend alone by myself' and a voice yelled into my right ear 'NO' so loud it hurt."
Th4ab
Wild
"I managed to lock myself out of my house on my birthday during a tornado while trying to bring my cats to the basement for safety. I later found out that the tornado was approximately a couple miles or less from me at that exact time. The sky was green and it got weirdly calm and then I could hear what sounded like a train coming before I found an unlocked window to climb through. Wild times."
SilverGnarwhal
Saturday morning in the 80s...
"I wasn't home alone but I was awake by myself one Saturday morning in the 80s when I was around 7 or so. I believe my mom was the only one home because my dad went to the lake to go fishing that weekend, and I'm not sure where my older brothers were, maybe they went with him, idk."
"Anyways, my mom's sleeping in, and I'm in the living room by myself, watching Saturday morning cartoons and making a fort out of sheets and cushions. Something made me turn around and I saw my dad in his pajamas standing in the hallway entrance with his hands on his hips, looking the mess I was making and shaking his head."
"He then turned around and walked into my room, which was just off the hallway entrance. Dude. I didn't even look, I just booked it to my parents room and woke my mom up. I don't remember what happened after that, this was around 35 years ago. And yes, my dad was fine, nothing had happened to him."
smriversong
Get the Bat...
"I was at home by myself on a call with some friends when all of a sudden my dog begins to bark like crazy, which was odd since it was the middle of the night and he's usually sleep. I go downstairs to check on him and find him barking at our hall closet, terrified I grabbed my bat that I keep in my room just in case and open the door. There was nothing out of usual at first at then I look down and notice a familiar looking object at the bottom of the closet."
"It was my mom's necklace she had lost when I was 9, (i'm 15 now just to put in perspective how long it's been). I showed it to my mom at breakfast and she was just as shocked as I was. I still have no clue how it got there or how my dog knew it was in there, definitely one of the oddest occurrences of my life."
SomeRandomIdiot14
Meow
"Many years ago, I was 14 or so, my first night alone in the house when my parents were out. Lying on the living room floor reading, my cat sleeping next to me."
"Suddenly, cat wakes up, stares intently into the dark corner of the room behind me, hair on end, growls and then bolts out of the room and upstairs. I look behind me and see nothing, but follow cat upstairs and hide under the covers. Freaked me out."
LairdofWingHaven
Thank God for alarms. I hate being home alone.
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The human body is still such a mystery.
How much do we really know?
Not a lot apparently. We're learning more all the time.
And most of it is gross.
Redditor BathNo7713 wanted to discuss the ick factor of anatomy. So they asked:
"What is the most disturbing fact about the human body?"
The body freaks me out. But it's all I've got. So teach me some things.
Minutes...
"The fastest killing virus takes around 4 days to kill you. That would be Ebola. Your immune system can kill you in 15 minutes."
will477
'locked-in'
"If your brainstem (the part of the brain that mediates most motor control for all of the body) is damaged, you can get 'locked-in' syndrome. That means you're fully conscious and aware of your surroundings but unable to move or speak. The only muscles that remain unaffected in most people are the muscles that move they eyes and the eyelids."
"You're essentially trapped within your own body with your only way of communication being blinking or moving your eyes It can be caused by toxins, blockage of the basilar artery which is the main artery of the brainstem, or other brainstem damage."
4oodler
Explosions
"Some people suffer from Exploding Head Syndrome, which causes them to hear a loud bang when they wake up."
ToraMix19
"When I was younger I believe I experienced this a few times. Sounds I heard were: about a million people talking and laughing all at once, a train that irl would've been about a foot away from me based on the volume of the sound, and a door slamming loudly."
aliaisacreature
Pain
"Not sure if this is by design, but I totaled my car once, almost completely uninjured somehow. Then I looked down to my right hand which I remember jabbing into my dashboard at 55mph. Luckily (unluckily?) only my pinky took the blow. But instead of a floppy-udder full of bone-sand, my pinky was 0.5 inches long."
"Broke no bones, but instead perfectly stacked my phalanges, or finger bones, INTO my hand. This is fixed by a muscular Russian murse grabbing your pinky with both hands and pulling very hard. God I wish they gave me more lidocaine."
TelevisionOlympics
Functions
"If you have a surgery where they need to move your organs around they might not function for a day as the body assumes that they are dead."
tonythebutcher13
Move things around? You mean that's not fake when it happens on "Grey's Anatomy?"
"The only reason you are not aware of it is because the ambient noise kind of drowns it out because your ears focus on it. If you go to one of those super-silent rooms that absorb all sorts of sounds, it is a really weird way to reacquaint yourself with your body."
Black_Handkerchief
The Mouth
"Idk about the most disturbing but how bad human teeth are. We’d think it’s our sugary and processed diets these days that cause it, but even Otzi the iceman discovered in Italy was found to have terrible teeth, mouth diseases and cavities. It’s odd that even with the most basic of diets our teeth are so bad."
Dorianisconfused
In the bowels...
"I noticed this after my abdominal surgery. When I turned over in bed my guts seemed to fall from one side to the other. Mentioned to my doc and she confirmed it was my bowels rearranging themselves."
squatter_
"Apparently the doctor just throws your intestines back in there higgeldy-piggeldy because there isn't a correct way to pack them neatly."
LostDesigner9
A Quick Burst
"There are a vast number of ways that your body can malfunction and kill you with little or no warning. An aneurysm can go undetected until it bursts and kills you. Getting hit in the chest just the right way can stop your heart. You can encounter an allergen that never previously provoked an immune response that freaks out your body so badly that you die. You literally just never know if your body will just... die."
Unsolicited_Spiders
The body is such a conundrum. Sexy and gross all at once.
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Being overweight comes with numerous challenges.
And not only challenge's to one's health.
Unfortunately, overweight people are far too often a target for judgment and ridicule, often owing to misconceptions.
Even worse, sometimes simply being bigger than other people leads others to assume that they must also be less than or inadequate in general.
Redditor Rude_Guarantee_1479 was curious to hear what people felt is the worst part, or most common misconception about being overweight, leading them to ask:
"What is the worst part about being a fat person?"
Since I'm fat, I must also be stupid.
"For some reason people always assumed I was simple minded/stupid when I was obese."
"Now that I've lost weight people just talk to me like I'm a regular person."- batyablueberry.
No comfort to be had.
"Feeling uncomfortable all the time."- Keithninety.
Not being seen and always being noticed.
"I have a fear that nobody is ever going to fall in love with me because I don't feel visible and I am fat
Also, going to the pool or beach and you have to put on a swimsuit. I feel like a seal stranded on the beach.- mango_0111.
Inadequate clothes.
"My belt trying to stab me in my belly when I sit down."- jimjohn2017.
"Nothing seems to fit nicely or still look nice in your size."- OutlandishnessNo1950.
"The amount of pants you go through."- Cmonredditalready.
"Putting on a shirt, walking into the backroom, seeing how it makes me look, and then never pulling out my favorite shirt ever again."- YeaItsaThrowaway112.
Never feeling good about yourself.
"Feeling guilty while eating your favorite foods, not looking good in photos/clothes."- pissed_at_everything.
Mobility challenges.
"My thighs rubbing and chaffing."
"I'm so raw right now."- HeavyBreathin.
Unwanted nicknames.
"Not the worst part, but the most constantly sh*tty part is constantly being called 'big guy' by every kind of person other than other 'big guys'."- Professor-ish.
As the old saying goes, true beauty comes from within.
And the way someone looks should never be one's first impression.
Nor does anyone need to go through the day facing unwanted judgment when simply walking down the street.
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