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Reunion Questionnaire Results and Commentary.
By Robert Plunkett
By now, its safe to say that anyone who is going to respond to the Fun Questionnaire has done so. So, lets see what we came up with.
Note that lots of people skipped lots of questions, so theres no internal statistical consistency at all.
Children:
Only four of the respondents said they had no children. The others had 36 children between them and only four grandchildren. This is a sharp contrast from the 1995 reunion when 19 people copped to being grandparents. Thats one sign that the 2000 reunion attracted a different crowd.
The kids ranged in age from 4 (David Bells Emily) to 27. Only 5 were under 10 year old. Bobby Plunkett, the youngest child of the 1995 reunion attendees was the second youngest of those who responded. Mikkel Aalands 3 year old was undoubtedly the youngest of all the attendees. Over half of the kids in the survey were over 20 years of age. The four grandkids were 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years old.
Marriages and etc.:
The majority of the people who answered the marriage question had been married only once, of whom just over half were still married. Two had never been married, one was married twice, and one was married four times and was going to marry again soon. Eight had been married in the past but were not anymore. Surprisingly, only three said that they were living with someone, (one said, yes, but dont tell my wife which I took as a no, and one said, sort of).
Escape from Livermore:
Only two said they were still living in Livermore. By far, the greatest group left in 1970, some claiming to have virtually run to the city limits when graduation was over. It sounds as if some of them never took the bus back from the Senior All Night Party. Coincidentally, one who left in 0 months, said he or she, moved back today, nice timing. With only three or four exceptions (one wasnt sure when he or she left) people either left by 1973 or never left at all. Five had escaped and got recaptured.
The maximum distance from Livermore they had ever lived ranged from 0 miles (never left), to about as far away as anybody could possibly move and stay in the earths atmosphere. These farthest places included ten places in California, 5 other states, and 5 foreign countries (if you count Canada). The farthest is Tanzania, followed by Tokyo. Obviously, several of those allegedly living abroad did not come and fill out the survey.
Old Man Time:
All but six of the people who answered the reading glasses question admitted that they needed reading glasses. These were almost exactly evenly divided between those who needed them by graduation and those who took them up only in the last 5 years. Only one respondent was outside those two groups, having taken them up at age 40. At this rate, well be glasses city by 2005. The Can you read this? addendum in small print was mostly ignored, though one person did write in, Smart ass!
The proportion that the respondents thought they were the same as they were in high school was interesting:
0%-2, 1%-1, 10%-2, 20%-1, 25%-2, 40%-2, 50%-1, 60%-1, 75%-1, 99%-1, 100%-4, 110%-1, EEK!-1.
This is a kind of reverse bell curve, with the peaks on the extremes. The 110% is hard to figure. I have real logical issues with the four who said they had not changed at all, especially the one who said she was 100% the same but also said her big change was her weight. I dont know what percentage EEK! is.
The only specific changes that were cited by more than one person were, hairline/hair and waistline/weight . These were almost always paired; those who said hair almost always said weight too. One person elaborated on the hair, hair-it has miraculously changed into a fascinating metallic color, I dont know how this happened. Though some, notably Carol Kirschbaum and Barbara Gruver, have more hair now than they did at LHS, I assume the vast majority of hair changes are baldness on men and gray on women. Nobody mentioned wrinkles, ill health, or similar complaints of age. Other changes mentioned included; memory, my attitude, every single brain cell, more self confident, and my perseverance.
Thankfully, there were no reports at the reunion of any classmate dying since 1985.
One classmate, who attends both the 1969 and 1970 reunions, said that our class has aged much less than the class of 1969 has. I will say that the people I saw at the reunion had changed less than another group I saw over the summer whose members were both younger on average and, typically, had been out of my sight for a much shorter period of time.
Famous?
Practically no one said they knew anybody famous. Here is a complete list of celebrities the respondents claimed to know: Ralph Merkle, Mikkel Aaland, Billy Zane, Lee Ritenour, Smokey Robinson, 2 Nobel Prize winners. Cary Mullis and one whose name I cant remember, Dr. Nancy Sugarman, Chief Justice (California) Chin. To this I will add several science fiction and fantasy writers, the woman with the longest hair in the world, and one Playboy Playmate.
Only two respondents claimed to be famous themselves, one claimed to have invented Liquid Paper. Im skeptical, if Michael Nesmiths mother had graduated with us, I think I would have remembered. The other one (no name was given) was famous only in the world of health care.
The Best Things:
Heres a sampling of the Opinion responses:
The best things that have happened to the world since graduation:, The end of the Cold War (fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of Communism in Europe, etc.) , traveling the world, Moon landing, Mars Orbiter, I got to live in the tropics, getting a Masters degree, the internet, ease of communication worldwide, the Human Genome Project, snowboarding, marriage, tolerance for diversity, great music, great technology, advancements in medicine, call anywhere cell phones with no long distance charges, a revolution in ways people waste their time.
The best things that have happened to the respondents since graduation: Children, size , having kids, making it through college, becoming a football coach, I lived through it, having a wonderful family, my son came into my life, Marrying Rich and laughing together on a daily basis, becoming my own boss, I started snowboarding, moving to Colorado, my wife and kids.
Changes and Events:
Most important change: The way (he views) the past, worse traffic, my talents, my career doing photography, personal computers/information revolution/fancy typewriters, Russian Collapse, Internet, E-mail, opening China, Software Industry, autos run by microchips.
Unexpected personal events: Becoming a teacher, becoming a house father, leaving Livermore, running out of hair, success, remaining single, changing careers, becoming a stay-at-home mom, getting as fat as I am, living in Davis (one company town, but nobody calls it that or seems to realize it), to travel all over the world and land a career in healthcare, to have a son.
Why Come?
Why people came to the reunion: To see friends (buddies) , to see if we all are really this old, to see the people I went through the crazy teenage years with, its my first time, (name) needed a date and I hadnt expected to be around anymore, to see fat and old people, I wanted to see what people looked like and what they were doing, because these are the people who really know where I came from, to see if I still had the worst handwriting, to see the people I grew up with, I live close and feel sentimental as I grew up with most of these folks, I found our high school had a lot of nice, funny and interesting people. I like to hear what they are up to. It really is interesting.
People We Like and Wanted:
People we wanted to date: Elvis Presley, a guy named Michael, Mary Duffy, SOMEONE!, Sally Schroeder, Gloria Fox, Bob McGregor (never knew I was alive), the boy across the tracks, I did, myself, but I was already committed to someone.
People someone really hoped would come: Heather Olgivie, Sharon Holmes, Daphne Hatch, Mikkel Aaland, Bob Peterson, Bj, Leslie Higgins, Mark Wade, Mike Reynolds, Kurt Humphrey, Art Bernicil, Forest Frick, Paul Stroud, Steve Hawthorne, Loretta Maddux, Ralph Merkle, Karen Haygood, Sharon Davis, Robert Redford, Mary Finders, Steve Bloxham, Paul Rosengren, everyone else who was a discipline problem at L.H.S. I always was curious to see if these at risk people ever straightened out.
Old Expectations:
We thought the year 2000 would be more: Calm, futuristic, of a problem for computers, mellow, exciting, chewy with a hint of peaches, I dont know, never thought about it, healing and about to retire.
People most expected that by the year 2000, they would be: Older, richer, totally old and decrepit as my parents were and are, close to 50, more established, hating rock-but I dont-I still love it, dead, living in France ½ the year and practicing medicine in 3rd world countries, never imagined it, Automated, where is the machine that is supposed to clean the house, drive the car, do the dishes, raise my kids and do my thinking for me?,
By now, we expected to be: Married with children, economically secure (affluent), Living on Central Park in NYC, have made 2 or 3 world-altering contributions to the technical sciences, and have 3 wives and 8 children or was it going to be 18 children, rich and/or famous.
Messages:
Im sorry I didnt get to know more of my classmates better during high school.
Mikkel (Aaland) I have the 5 bucks I borrowed from you in Europe.
Please register on the website and keep in touch
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