News location:

Canberra Today 24°/26° | Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Coleman / Remember the daze of the old schoolyard?

“SCHOOL. Where you make the friends you’ll have for the rest of your life.” Ever hear that line? Or use it yourself?

Chris Coleman
Chris Coleman.

How true is it? A quick survey around my workplace exposed it as a lie. The highest was “a dozen at best” but the most common response was a low, single-figure number. Even in these days where the definition of friend has changed courtesy of Facebook, the uniformly small number surprised me. For me, it would be four at best.

So what do you do when school-reunion time rolls around? In a couple of weeks, my high-school class of 1987 will gather in Canberra to remember the days of the old schoolyard. I know it’ll be a good time; the reunion 10 years back was great fun. It was well-organised; we had dinner, had a few drinks, all said “we must keep in touch” and then went our separate ways. For a decade.

This time there’s been a lot of talk about getting together. A date was reached – several months ago – by consensus on social media, but since then nobody’s actually done anything and, with just a couple of weeks to go, it’s time to act. I’m one of a seeming handful of the guys who are in Canberra at present, so it seems logical that those still in town should do the legwork. But how much legwork is the right amount?

I’m torn. As I said, the 20-year event was a great night. It was put together by a group with a long lead time and it worked well. Now? Well the clock is ticking. Is it enough to pick a venue, get a rough idea of numbers and say: “See you there”?

And how do you handle the people you didn’t get on with 30 years ago? The ones you have genuinely avoided for those three decades? It may sound harsh, but be honest, in any group of more than a hundred people put together by nothing more than birth dates, there are going to be some people you don’t like.

Ten years ago it was a fairly easy matter. It was a big gathering and there wasn’t enough time to speak to everyone. This time it’ll be a much smaller group. I guess it’ll make working the room more interesting.

Regardless, I’m sure it’ll be an interesting night. I’m in a good place in my life at the moment. I’m one of the few who’s (still) doing what he wanted to for a living, indeed to tweak the Billy Joel song “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant”:

Things are okay with me these days. Got a good job. Got a good office. Got a good wife. Got a good life. And the family’s fine.

I really do hope it’s the same for the rest of the class. Or at least those who are still with us, because that’s the other certainty; sadly, some of our classmates have left the room far too soon.

 

Who can be trusted?

In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.

If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.

Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.

Become a supporter

Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

Chris Coleman

Chris Coleman

Share this

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

Opinion

Cartoon / Dose of Dorin

As the US teeters on a TikTok ban, the Australian government is having none of it. But cartoonist PAUL DORIN still wonders if anyone's watching...

Opinion

Heroin’s a big hit in Canberra’s wastewater

"Canberra is described as the exception regarding heroin use. The report shows a significant increase between July and September. In this period, on a per capita basis, Canberrans had the highest use in Australia," writes MICHAEL MOORE. 

Follow us on Instagram @canberracitynews