Back to Blogging and Reflecting on the Last 20 Years
Posted by Bob Barcus on June 20th, 2013
After taking a nearly month-long hiatus from blogging, I think it's time to step back up to the plate. I've been so busy lately with work that I have been neglecting this site. Well, time to start writing again.
Time is such a precious thing and we don't realize how much time really passes until it's too late. I just celebrated my 38th birthday (or 28th, depending on who I'm talking to) a few weeks ago and realized that this will also be my 20-year high school reunion. I think back at everything that has happened since 1993 and I'm not sure if I'm shocked or not.
I have been through a lot of life-altering events in the last 20 years, as I'm sure have most of my former classmates. It's strange to think, but we've spent more time apart then we did together all through school, yet I think about them often. I have a lot of fond memories of elementary and high school and some that are not-so-fond. I wasn't at all a popular kid. I mostly kept to myself, did my homework and just enjoyed the moments while they lasted.
I never went to college. My family didn't have a lot of money back then and I considered their well-being above my own. I still think about all of the experiences I probably missed by going to college, but in the end, it's just a piece of paper. I still got to do everything I wanted to do up until this point in my life. My dream job of working on the railroad never happened - I turned down a job with Norfolk Southern even after they offered it to me. I still got a little taste of the railroad by volunteering at the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson. Even though I'm a qualified conductor, I spend most of my days doing administrative work rather than actually working on the railroad.
I've had a number of employers since I left high school and I've owned several small businesses. For the last six years, I've been designing websites. I just realized earlier today that this is the longest job I've ever had in my life - most only lasting three to five years. I stayed at Arby's long enough to get my five-year watch. I loved working with all of the people at Arby's and dealing with my regular customers on a daily basis was generally a treat.
But perhaps the most rewarding job I've ever had was when I went back to work at Argos High School. First as a school bus driver, then as a substitute teacher and finally classified as a teacher's aide with my own classroom (some of my ISS students are probably still holding a grudge or two). I keep in touch with some of my former students through the wonder of the internet (also known as Facebook). I chat with them occassionally and see what they are up to now and then, even though I quit my job at the school almost twelve years ago. A lot of them have their own kids now and I hope that they are better parents than many of those which I had the "pleasure" of dealing with.
Some of my classmates now have kids that are graduating high school and I'm starting to think that we might be getting little older. I think that I'm much wiser than I used to be, but I do occassionally find myself forgetting things as well. For me, 50 is only 12 years away - that's a super-scary thought.