Jeremy's Graduation

Jeremy just graduated from Springbrook yesterday, so I took off work to go to the ceremony at D.A.R. Constitution Hall. Once we got there and sat down, the Ralphs sat down next to my family. My sister was good friends with Colleen, and they also have a daughter older than my sister, Bridget (my age), and one my brothers age, Emily, who walked in the procession next to my brother... coincidence? I think so. The ceremony was typical for a highschool graduation. Uninspiring speeches by people who will soon probably be flipping burgers at Taco Bell [sic]. At seemingly random points throughout the event people from the crowd would yell their friends names, and sometimes someone on stage would do a little dance or pimp walk or something. Also, people would clap during a musical performance, rather than after, which is typically expected. So people don't know how to act in public: no news here, and nothing changed from 4, 5, or 7 years ago, when I attended other highschool graduations. One thing I thought was funny was that my dad and sister would comment on how rude people were being, and then when they were reading out the names and the graduates were walking across the stage my dad tried to go to sleep. Now, being disrespectful like that is nowhere near the kind of inconsiderate hooting and hollering while whoever's talking/performing on stage that other people were doing, I still found it ironic that he would do it after being so critical of everybody else. Ah well, that's my snobby hypocritical family for you. After the ceremony we went out to dinner at a French bistro, "Mon Ami Gabi" in Bethesda, and not only did I work on a group project in my U.S. government class a year or two ago with the hostess, but I also knew our waiter from a few years back; I used to get high with him. It was kindof awkward being waited on by a guy I'm used to thinking of as a friend (or at least a friendly acquaintance, since we typically only saw each other through mutual friends.) At least he hung out by the table every now and then so we could catch up, and not about the specials they had that day. I was just worried that my parents would make a scene and I would have to wind up apologizing for them at some random party in the future. They behaved. Now I just hope they tipped well.