I find it funny how High School lives on in the rest of life. You know, “the pretty one” and “the popular one” never seem to lose that status in others eyes. “The geek” may go on to own Microsoft or very well may fade into the 80 hour workweek, but they still remain a geek to the core. I can only claim this because I am a geek in many ways. But I find it interesting how facebook sort of perpetuates this “exactly like you were in high school” image. Oh it’s not just a hate party on facebook, but I’d imagine it’s the same for any social networking site. You look up old high school buddies and therein lies the expectation that the popularity or whatever trait you attribute to them is just them and will forever be just them.

I guess the same can go for families too, especially long distance ones. So much of you assumes that the red-headed freckled kid will always be the chaotic 5 year old no matter how old and mature he may get. And the sister will always nag and pick on her older sister and revert to the silly slap-happy 2am moments at various times during the day merely because “we’re sisters.”

And I find as high school unwinds in the every day life that there are popularity clicks that also form themselves. In many ways the statuses of high school will later unfold themselves in college. Only now the geek becomes the coolest geek in his circle of friends, therefore casting aside his “old geeky self” and putting on his “new geeky self.” There are the stories of the “who would have thoughts” that seem to evolve in college and somehow work the chain of status, but many just find themselves in the same categories, marrying the same categories and finding their delight in their category. “Popularity is not important,” we may say as we strive to “fit in” in our own crowds.

I just find it so interesting how a status alone can create a feeling. Wow, “he’s a great dad” emerges from the mouth of someone of less popularitybwhen the more popular person posts messages to his kids. It begins not to matter as much what is said, but the person who said it. Inevitably a trail of comments will come from the most outlandish thoughts of a statused person, yet the most heartfelt thoughts of a lesser statused person is met with silence.

Tiger Woods for example. How many lying, multiple cheating, awful people are out there? And yet as soon as I turn on the news, Tiger is the greatest of awful people out there… for weeks and weeks. It’s how our society runs, the nastiest murderers capture “the public eye”, they rank highest in their status. Maybe that’s a poor example, but it is interesting to entertain.

Well they deserve the fame after working so hard to get it. Really? Who in high school worked so hard to get popularity? Well Ms. so and so befriended everyone. That may be true, but what about the nice people who also befriended everyone and “weren’t pretty enough” or “smart enough.” So much of popularity is attributed to us. So many of the “popular” people in my high school were popular because their older siblings were popular. Sure in each click there was a popular one, a pretty one, a smart one, a clown. But what makes one click have more status than another in the eyes of a high schooler?

I see it played out so much in the lives of the high schoolers Matt and I work with at church. There’s such a social status that even plays out in the youth group. And now it appears in this upcoming generation that the “unpopular” are trying to “rebel” against the social order and becoming popular in their own way. Only it’s the same method and the same status. They’re just being cool in their “uncool” ways. How much of a high schooler’s mind thinks high school is the living end? Spend 10 seconds with a high schooler and the answer will come to you quickly. But the question still remains, do we get stuck there?

Some college life would suggest that we do. Fame and popularity in the media would suggest that we do. The pretty receive the awards, the “willing to put it all on the line” receive the fame. But who’s determining the dedication level? Who’s to say that a popular person is any greater of a dad than the one who doesn’t post their messages for all to see?

Just some thoughts this morning…
Please feel free to comment if you’d like.