thank goodness facebook didn't exist...

...when i was in high school.

seriously.  have you thought about how many photos you would have to untag of yourself?  of how many emotionally charged and embarrassing comments you would have pushed out to the world for commentary and permanent internet searcheable storage? 

i have.  recently.  and i am so damn thankful that the lure of facebook sharing wasn't made available until i hit college.

aside from the fact that the above statements are absolutely true and "sigh of relief" worthy, you may be wondering how this thought popped into amy's silly brain.

it all started with cleaning out "the office" - one of the boyfriend and my joint new years resolutions.  we have "the room", as i'm sure many of you do as well, which has been deemed the hideaway for all items which we (a) don't want to have to look at every day, (b) refuse to admit we own, and (c) don't know where it ought to go.  period.  many of these things honestly belong in the trash can.  or the recycling bin.  or, as many of our items ended up: goodwill donations box.  i have no doubt that someone will appreciate the random assortment of dated gadgets, branded pharma give-aways, clothing and bedding which we never should have allowed into our home in the first place.

but then there's the rest.  the sentimental (crap) items that, while they have no functional purpose in our lives, we just can't get rid of.  like the boyfriend's childhood pillow.  and his old toys.  and the school books i can't bear parting with as they are evidence of the blood, sweat, tears and beer that were shed so that i could get through college.  my intellectual "trophies". 

and then, there were the pictures.  the most memorable was definitely the high school prom photos saved by the boyfriend.  i assume he had yet to hit his growth spurt, and can't hold the choice of dress against his high school girlfriend...i didn't do annny better.

somehow, i managed to dispose of most if not all high school photos.  i'm not too misty-eyed about that.

and that's what got me thinking.  i am so effing thankful that my high school years weren't documented on facebook.  anyone willing to go to the effort of old-school scanning 'em in is certainly asking for an "untag" and a slap-in-the-face(book). 

i remember those days well.  the exposed belly.  the tennis shoes with jeans.  before the days of the hair straightener.  the days i thought abercrombie and hollister were cool.  the nights i spent tearing my heart out while waiting for "the boy" to respond to me on america online instant messenger.  you know you remember "aim".  i was pixi4me (clearly, such a definition of who i am).  who were you?

i remember the terrible rock-hard ringlets i chose for prom.  the shimmering cheap fabric of my dresses.  the fake rub-on tan that rubbed off on my date's snazzy white tuxedo.

i thought i was pretty cool.  super current.  we all did.  check us out:

that'd be me.  bottom right.  with my high school group of lady friends in our annual custom t-shirts.

i'm still friends with some of these ladies.  others i haven't seen since high school.  it's the same group with whom i shared experiences that make me continually thankful for non-digital cameras and lack of easy internet uploading capabilities.

experiences like the birthday camping trip and photo debacle.

as a birthday celebration for one of my lady friends (with whom i am still very close), we were invited to go to the mountains for a camping and hiking adventure.  a sleepover on crack.  an opportunity to let loose in a faraway place.  we took the opportunity for all it was worth.

while hiking one day (in our bikinis, naturally) we encountered a beautiful, freezing cold waterfall.  our first reaction: let's get wet!  our second reaction: let's get wet, take our tops off and take photos of it with our waterproof camera!  how risque!  and so we did.  8 or so girls, huddled together beside a waterfall, minus our bikini tops in high-school-style seductive photographs.  two or three photographs out of the entire roll, if i remember correctly.  never fear - we were sure to carefully cover ourselves with hands and arms to ensure no nipple was exposed. 

upon returning to school after the weekend trip, one of our girlfriends decided to make copies of the photos, a copy for each camper, and she decided to distribute these photos to us at school.

mistake number one.  mistake number two?  letting the high school boys know what she was carrying in her backpack.  which of course prompted one of the boys to snag a copy.  and then to make copies.  and distribute around school. 

by the time the photos ended their travels, they had made it to local high schools, our teachers, and some of our parents.  it wasn't pretty.  rumors started, and soon enough the word was "fully nude photos of (blank) high school girls!".  i don't remember how it ended, but i remember the feeling of pure mortification.

again - thank goodness facebook didn't exist when i was in high school.

i'm not saying that i suddenly became wiser in college.  evidence: the photo below, me in the center, midriff-baring on a freshman trip to cali.


but at least the delay helped me to avoid even greater catastrophe. 

you know you're thankful, too.  what high school debacles are you thankful to have no facebook evidence of?