#1
And say what you want but he likes his job, keeps it cleaner than it was when I went there, and loves joking with the students and talking with parents.
We might not realize it when we're teenagers but being popular isn't always the girl she thinks she is. In other words, there is a downside to being the cool kid and there's research to back this up.
A group of 180 teens was observed over a 10-year period for a study that was later published in the journal Child Development. During that time, the researchers interviewed the teens, their parents and friends.
They found that by age 22, the "cool" group had a 45% higher rate of problems related to alcohol and substance use than their less-popular peers. They were also more likely to have engaged in criminal activity.
#2
He went into sales and did well. By our 10th reunion, he was balding and had a small gut. He passed suddenly and unexpectedly, of his first heart attack, in his mid-50s. That was almost 20 years ago, and people still talk about what a great guy he was, and how much they miss him.
EDIT: I used the term “first heart attack” as an oblique reference to the fact that a first heart attack is how a lot of people find out that they have cardiac issues. His widow said that he hadn’t had any known heart problems prior to that day.
#3
When he was 28, he intervened in a bar fight between his girlfriend and some other girl. Some guy said "let's take it outside" and he went. The other guy pulled a weapon and ended his life.
RIP Miguel.
“It appears that while so-called ‘cool’ teens’ behavior might have been linked to early popularity, over time, these teens needed more and more extreme behaviors to try to appear cool, at least to a subgroup of other teens," said Professor Joseph P. Allen, the lead author of the study. "These previously cool teens appeared less competent – socially and otherwise – than their less-cool peers by the time they reached young adulthood.”
Allen and his team coined the phrase "the high school reunion effect," to describe how "The student who was popular and was running with the fast crowd isn't doing as great later on."
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The researchers say that certain movies and other media are adding fuel to the fire by glamorizing "fast life" in high school, and making it seem appealing to teens. It sets up an expectation that teens should be acting older, they cautioned.
Allen says teens need to be made aware of the downside of chasing popularity and being part of the "cool" crowd. Focusing too heavily on appearance and social hierarchies can be unhealthy, he says. The expert advises parents to encourage their children to focus on long-term fulfillment over short-term popularity.
According to Allen, "The quiet, not-so-cool kids do well in the long term."
#7
The rest of us didn’t give a darn about them.
#8
Currently not in jail and still farting unapologetically.
#9
That's not to say that being popular is all bad, and here's why...
Separate research has found that there are two different types of popularity: Perceived and sociometric.
Perceived popularity is the extent to which one’s peers view a child as having high social status. While sociometric popularity is based on the extent to which one is liked or disliked by one’s peers.
"In other words, one type of popularity is about having power and the other type is about being well-liked," explains Waypoint Wellness Center's website. "And it turns out that it’s very possible, even likely, for kids with high perceived popularity to be low in the other type."
#10
Makes every one of those insults, punches, mocking, ridicule and shame levied on me a little more sweet.
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#12
Has a psychiatrist and takes meds. It's been a couple of years now, he is steadily decreasing them. I know because i used to hang out with him. He got a gf, lives with her and i haven't seen him in more than a year. Pretty cool and kind dude actually.
#13
#14
He had his ups and downs after HS, originally sent to a prestigious university but didn't keep his academics up and dropped out, but did go back to a state school to finish his degree. Got married, then divorced, no kids, and bounced around for a while. He passed away a few years back, his family wouldn't say how, but the rumors are an OD. He was a good guy overall, just partied too hard for his own good.
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#19
Nice guy. Never talked to him much but he was chill with everyone.
#20
