HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL - PART 4Kids' Cliques Then and Now
1996 -2000 (cont'd)
 Skaters/Alternateens:
The advent of grunge, coupled with skating’s rise to mainstream glory, made it acceptable for the type of dudes who earlier might have been burnouts to fraternize with the popular scene—or at least try to fuck their girls. These guys preserved the weed-smoking and long hair of their forerunners—parted buttwise straight down the center—but drifted away from torn-up denim toward bowling shirts and Pac Sun-style skatewear with Etnies or DCs shoes. Thankfully by this time pants were deflating down to more sensible volumes. The majority of these kids were jamming out to middle-of-the-road third-wave ska like Goldfinger and the Suicide Machines.
Punks and Hardcore Kids:
During this era, the punks and hardcore kids pretty much had their own separate scenes with the most prominent divider being that where the hardcore kids were all straight-edge, a lot of the punks would be completely drunk by third period at school. The clothing breakdown between the two was pretty drastic too. The punks shot for a classic look, with leather jackets fucking bedazzled by safety pins and patches on top of Dickies work pants and chucks or docs. The hardcore kids kept to baggy khakis, slightly oversized band shirts, and skate shoes (although there was one piece of flair I have no clue where the hardcore kids picked up—the cut off sleeve of a t-shirt stretched out and worn as a headband).
Since outside of playing and going to shows the only thing left for them to do was eat, the hardcore kids usually hung out at diners while the punks typically congregated in the back corner of the Dunkin’ Donuts, safely tucked away from all the jocks and guidos prowling the parking lot. |
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Overweight Alternagirls:
In the same way that the skaters latched on to the cheerleaders in hopes of scoring, these pudgies followed the skaters around like pilot fish, laboring under the delusion that they’d eventually grow tired of conventional beauty and get really into girls who complain about their fathers. Their cone-like appearance didn’t do much for their chances either: Short Manic-Panic’d hair perched atop a head slightly too skinny for the rest of their body, hovering above layer after layer of aluminum bead bracelets and wooden chokers hanging over pliant, doughy breasts resting on an ill-concealed mound of belly fat, and finally fanning out into enormous pants that soaked up so much puddle-water when it rained, the damp spot would sometimes make it to the bottom of the pockets. |
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Student Government & National Honor Society:
This is where nearly all the school’s Asians were situated. They took a liberal amount of shit from the jocks (though nowhere near the level dished out to the sweatpants and goths), but between all the extracurriculars and college prep and whatnot, it probably didn’t register. The guys bore all the classic indicators of devotion to schoolwork and little to no social training: Poofy hair peppered with dandruff, visible eye crust, and necks in need of shaving. They typically wore shirts from Old Navy or whatever school orgs they were involved with over regular jeans and running shoes. The girls were similarly plain and wore basically the same shit, though were far better about hygiene and grooming—save for the odd downy sideburn.
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Sweatpants:
Marching band mostly drew its participants from this pool of saddies, though some of them managed to spread out into the math scene a little bit. Their social development had been permanently arrested at age 11. Their hair was always dirty and messed-up, none of the guys seemed to know how to shave, and they’d wear those shirts that have the front of Bugs Bunny or whoever in a backwards cap and overalls on the front and then his back on the back. The only kids who were a bigger bum-out were the “special needs” students, and at least they were kept in their own wing most of the day and away from everyone’s merciless ridicule. |
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Goths:
By this time, all the goths were in full-on spooky kid/rave mode, which was actually a little impressive. Hot Topic hadn’t hit the local malls quite yet, so all those red pleather bustiers and UFO pants and bondage crap probably took a fair amount of scrounging at some sketchy and out-of-the-way locales to come by. All of them wore kind of tatty, poor-fitting trenchcoats, which caused about three seconds of concern after Columbine. In evidence of their complete obliviousness of being at the absolute ass-end of the pecking order, most did their hair into huge neon red and blue anime swoops then strutted into school with this asshole beacon bobbing on top of their head. A few exhibited a modicum of humility and just went with growing their hair really long on top then shaving up the sides. |
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RYAN DUFFY, WEST ORANGE NEW JERSEY HIGH SCHOOL, CLASS OF 2000
DRAWINGS BY MILANO CHOW
TO BE CONTINUED:
HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Next>
See all articles by this contributor Anonymous, on Oct 27, 2009 wrote:
Is anyone seeing the underlying message? | | Anonymous, on Aug 8, 2009 wrote:
oh the fat alternagirls, the main staple of my social life in grade 9. that skater dude at the top is scary though, one fake marijuana cigarette and mall lurking pedo later and its a fucking disaster when you couple in his tendencies from the hockey change room, but once rap got big it was all immediately shoved back in the closet, about a deep as he’d try to get a dick up your ass on the down low. and the utter decadence of of early 2000’s mainstream rap only makes him feel entitled to every material thing a tv ad told him to buy, its like watching those morbidly obese people inhale food all day, but with a shit eating grin. | | Anonymous, on Apr 21, 2009 wrote:
ya’ll are forgetting this is from 2006, when you were probably 12 years old | | Anonymous, on Sep 17, 2008 wrote:
Is it just me or did a bunch of fucking annoying 15 year old kids find this article and post their oh so important thoughts on it? | | Anonymous, on Jul 25, 2008 wrote:
yoo its changed again, you better make a new article. | | |
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