Bais

Catching up with your old mate from school can be great, or an absolute nightmare. As soon as you see the advert your mind will go into overdrive. Will he be there? Will she be there? A lot of the mystery of how our old schoolmates looks has been taken away thanks to the likes of Facebook and Friends Reunited, but there will still be some elusive ones that that haven’t created accounts, or haven’t added a photo!

One thing to avoid at all costs is to greet someone with their old nicknames; this is a definite no-go area unless they mention it themselves. A 40 year old bank manager won’t be impressed if you greet him as Tommy Toothbrush. He may well have had mad sticky up hair at school, but if he’s bald now he’ll be even more offended!

Remember when you all chipped in and bought a bottle of mouthwash for the girl who always stunk of Garlic? Don’t remind her of that. That’s the kind of thing that keeps people away from these do’s, the fear of someone reminding them of a pretty unpleasant incident in their young life.

If you see your old school flame and they are overweight or have aged really badly, don’t make a comment to this effect. They will be all too aware of this fact anyway, and may well look uncomfortable enough to start with. Tact and diplomacy is the way to go at these occasions. You have all changed since then, and some will be more successful than others. If the star pupil now works in a toothpaste factory, don’t gloat. You don’t know what has happened in their lives so don’t judge.

If you can’t trust yourself to keep your mouth shut, don’t go. Your old classmates will probably be happier that you are absent!