People everywhere, new hairstyles...

I was in a store one day last week. I turned the corner into an aisle and immediate saw a kid of about 13 or so pushing a cart, with his mom and dad right behind him. I took a cursory glance at all three of them and said to myself, "There's not doubt that boy is that man's son, they look exactly alike." And then I looked away.

Seconds later, I heard the man say, "Polt?" And I looked back to him. It took me a second to realize it was a guy I had gone to school with, Jeff V. And not just any guy, back in Junior High School we were best friends. I was one of the tallest guys in our class, and even though I wasn't as fat as I am now, I was a big guy. Jeff was one of the smaller guys, petite. I remember catching a glimpse of him in 8th grade gym class, he hadn't hit puberty yet.

We were both kinda picked on, him for being small and scrawny, me for being big and 'fat'. Just can't win in Junior High, i guess. Anyway, that's partially what brought us together. Also, we were both HUGE Star Trek geeks. In 7th grade, we could both name all 70-some episodes of the orginial series (that's all the Star Trek there was, then), most of them in order. We had read all the same Star Trek novels. And in addition, we were both in the gifted program at the school. There were about 15-20 of us in the program, and all of us had several classes together.

Once we reached high school, Jeff and I kinda drifted apart a bit. I mean we were still friends, but we weren't best friends anymore. That status changed, as happens in school.

At any rate, when i saw him last week, I didn't even recognize him. he was a bit heavier (which is understandable, he's almost 40), but by no means fat. And as we talked (for less than 10 minutes), i wondered how I could NOT have noticed him right away. He was wearing, I think, the same style glasses as he did in school, and I KNOW he was combing his hair exactly the same: parted high on the left side, and combed straight over and straight down, kinda almost exactly like Senator Tim Johnson.

And while it's bad enough Jeff hasn't changed his hair in 20 years, what was worse was that his son had his hair exactly the same way!!! Hopefully as he gets a bit more older, into adolescence, he'll become a bit more trendy with his hair.

Jeff and I didn't speak long, because our conversation seemed...strained. I mean, we hadn't really talked in 20 years, and I'm certain we'd have very little in common. We both said we were doing well. We said where we were working (he's doing IT work for a local company, which does not surprise me at all. In high school, he was seriously into computers, like our own local Bill Gates). And then i said he looked good, healthy, and such. he said the same, even though I'm probably 70 lbs heavier then the last time i saw him. And then we shook hands, wished each other luck and parted.

25 years ago, I could not have imagined NOT having anything to say to Jeff. Funny how time flies. Funny how naive we are when we're young.

POLT

I have a hard time with morals. All I know is what feels right, what's more important to me is being honest about who you are. Morals I get a little hung up on. - Brad Pitt