同學聚會，你參加嗎？

“同學聚會”——多么令人興奮的字眼，有多少人曾經為了那個可以一敘舊情的日子高興得睡不著覺？但是，也有越來越多的人表示，離校園生活越遠，“同學聚會”也越發變味，因為聚會變得越來越像是一個炫富、曬幸福、比成就的場合，日子過得滋潤的人會積極赴約、侃侃而談，生活潦倒的則沉默寡言，甚至推辭出席。當年那純純的同學聚會，真的會變得如此世俗嗎？童鞋們，你怎么看？

When a bunch of my friends and former classmates talked about attending our college reunion months ago, everyone seemed excited, everyone was “definitely going.”

Now the reunion is a mere two weeks away and suddenly the number of attendees is 1)dwindling. It seems the event looked very 2)appealing when it was a long, long way off. Now that it is in the near future, it has lost its 3)luster.

I get it. It can be expensive. It can be a 4)hassle. My college, Hobart-William Smith, is in Geneva, New York—the middle of nowhere. I live in Los Angeles. Just thinking about the all the travel I must do for three days of fun makes me tired.

幾個月前，我的一群朋友和老同學聊到大學聚會的事兒，大家似乎都激動不已，所有人都表示“肯定會參加”。

現在距離聚會只有兩周時間了，決定要參加的人數卻突然驟減。貌似聚會遙遙無期時，總顯得十分誘人。如今聚會愈來愈近，卻失去了魅力。

我也懂，參加聚會可能開銷會很大，并且麻煩。我的大學——霍巴特—威廉·史密斯學院，坐落于紐約日內瓦這個前不著村后不著店的地方。我住在洛杉磯。為了三天的歡聚要長途跋涉，單是想想我就已經覺得很疲憊。

I also get that people use such 5)benchmarks as reunions as a time to set unrealistic goals for themselves. They want to lose twenty pounds...before the reunion. They want to have a better job...before the reunion. They want their 6)hair plugs to take root...before the reunion. When those goals arent reached, they back out of the reunion. They say theyll make it to the next reunion. Surely five years will be enough time to meet their goals, they tell themselves.

But do we ever really reach our goals? Who knows what will happen in five years? Besides, if youre balding now, youll be really bald in five years.

I think if youve lost touch with everyone from your college days, attending a reunion can be 7)daunting and not that appealing. But if youve kept in touch with some good friends, then attending a reunion isnt so overwhelming. Im going to my reunion to hang out with friends I try to see every year. The only difference this year is that well be hanging out on the turf where it all began. This year, we have permission to 8)delve into the past without feeling the least bit 9)pathetic.

我也知道許多人會以重聚作為基準點，給自己設下不現實的目標。他們想在聚會前……減掉20磅的體重。他們想在聚會前……找一份更好的工作。他們想在聚會前……植發成功。但是，當無法達到這些目標時，他們便選擇退出聚會。他們說下次聚會一定參加。他們自欺欺人地認為五年后肯定會達到自己設下的目標。

但我們是否真的達到目標了呢？誰知道五年后會發生什么事情？況且，如果你現在已經開始掉發了，五年后你就真的會謝頂了。