Been here for 3 months, no one has asked me where I went to high school yet! (Cincinnati: for sale, neighborhood)

[progmac]

Hey Det2011B -- I was wondering, where did you go to high school?

[ram2]

Originally Posted by goyguy

So when somebody finds out I grew up in Wyoming and graduated from its high school, I can assert that I'm not "from money" and that I'm not Jewish "as if that should matter." The third assumption isn't as easily shaken at first, though.

When I lived in Cincinnati in the 80s, the only Jewish area that was known was Roselawn.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by Chemistry_Guy

A lot of people are missing the point. Attending certain high schools makes you part of a "club" of sorts where people prefer to socialize with others in that group. When I meet someone new, the reason I ask what high school they went to is that I don't want to waste my time interacting with someone who I can never be friends with because they didn't go to the shortlist of schools.

It might not be fair to everyone, but it maintains the social order. Without this attitude, Cincinnati would descend into chaos, with public school graduates going to the same happy hours as GCL graduates. Heck, you would probably have eastsiders going bowling and westsiders going to sushi restaurants. None of us want that, so it is safer to stay in the comfort zone of our high school social circles.

I used to live in Anderson and I went bowling.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by ram2

I used to live in Anderson and I went bowling.

And yes, where did you bowl? I grew up and lived on the east side for many years. The bowling alleys I know have either closed or are operating at a barely meet the overhead level.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by det2011sb

Title's self explanatory

I don't think I've had anyone ever ask where I went to HS, unless they are very familiar with the area.

[motorman]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

I don't think I've had anyone ever ask where I went to HS, unless they are very familiar with the area.

And, the same for me, except eons ago when I myself, was a Cincinnati Public HS student and the rivalry between Cincy's public HS's was intense.

In that distant era (if memory serves me correctly), today's parochial FB powerhouses were either non-existent or just-emerging, and their athletic achievements seemed so separate from Cincinnati's public HS's. Yet only a decade later or so, the rivalry between "Gerry Faust's Moeller" and "Pat Mancuso's Princeton" (yes, I realize, a suburban Sharonville HS) became paramount and dominated local HS FB headlines.

What am I trying to say? It's only this--very few people in our present-day 2.2 million metro really care where you went to HS except for a very few individuals who still live in and revel in their youthful pasts. As for myself, in my last 50-yrs., I've never been asked even once where I went to HS. Maybe it's me ; maybe it's the people I hung out with--but if there was ever a "non-issue" in this metro, this is one of 'em.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

And yes, where did you bowl? I grew up and lived on the east side for many years. The bowling alleys I know have either closed or are operating at a barely meet the overhead level.

Asbury and Beechmont mostly, forgot the name of the bowling alley. A few times at the smaller alley at Beechmont/Salem road.

[mike1003]

High school was a rite of passage that I am happy to forget about

[maxmodder]

Originally Posted by Chemistry_Guy

A lot of people are missing the point. Attending certain high schools makes you part of a "club" of sorts where people prefer to socialize with others in that group. When I meet someone new, the reason I ask what high school they went to is that I don't want to waste my time interacting with someone who I can never be friends with because they didn't go to the shortlist of schools.

It might not be fair to everyone, but it maintains the social order. Without this attitude, Cincinnati would descend into chaos, with public school graduates going to the same happy hours as GCL graduates. Heck, you would probably have eastsiders going bowling and westsiders going to sushi restaurants. None of us want that, so it is safer to stay in the comfort zone of our high school social circles.

^
Lol nice!

[Briolat21]

I don't think anyone has ever said this is a ground-breaking issue. I assume the thread was started partly in jest, in response to those of who've experienced this weird behavior and have publically (perhaps 3 or 5 years ago) asked "what's up with the fixation on high school?".

That said, while likely it does not happen among certain social groups, or social classes, or socio-economic climes ... it does still happen among others, suggesting it doesn't is at this point, quite premature. For those of us who are transplants to the area, and are college educated, being asked "What school did you go to?" and then realizing - they don't mean college, is a little odd. It makes the area seem a bit parochial.

and that's one of my issues - its almost always phrased "What SCHOOL did you go to?" (not what high school), yet high school is clearly what's being asked about (because if you answer with a college - they stare at you blankly) - which seems to at least imply a local fixation with high school to the exclusion of further (much more important) education.

the locals' take that this is a shorthand for socioeconomic class, and a number of other markers seems reasonable (and what we assumed upon being asked the question multiple times) - however it makes it no less depressing to some of us who left such things behind in childhood in other metropolitan cities. And no, "what church do you belong to?" is not any more acceptable.

Example. My hometown - everyone asked (in the '70s) "Who does your dad work for?". The expected (correct) answer was one of the Big 3. Families then could be ranked/assorted based on who their dad worked for and who yours worked for. Someone who's dad was an architect or Dr. or librarian was clearly an exception. We were also KIDS. Interest in this sort of question and ranking one another based on such idiotic criteria peaked about 2nd / 3rd grade and by HS no one cared (we cared then about important things like who had a driver's license and a cool car). Also, from friends who have children - that doesn't seem to happen now, likely because the workforce in the area has diversified so much and people instruct their children that its rude.