Walking Across That Stage Praying Not To Trip

Last night a member of my family walked across the stage for his high school diploma.  This was a typical graduation ceremony with the reading aloud of many, many names. This class was over 600. By the time they got to the V names I think people were clapping because we were coming to the end of the alphabet.  This class had a lot of last names like Vang and Xiong so we had a long long way to go. One of the graduating class had tragically been killed the night before in a motorcycle accident so this ceremony was shaded by grief.  The kid's nickname was Duck so quite a few mortar boards had rubber ducks attached.  His seat was decorated with his cap and his gown and several rubber ducks.  One graduate made a big show of holding up a rubber duck and placing it on a pedestal on the stage.  The father of this graduate mentioned he graduated 30 years ago in this very same auditorium.  If that is true, that means my own graduation was 45 years ago?  Could I truly be so old to have been graduated for 45 years?  My ceremony was not in this room.My ceremony was in a football field.  Our mortar boards were not decorated. We had to return our square hats or lose our deposit. We bounced beach balls around during the speeches.  I was nervous that I would trip on the stage.  I got that way after I saw a girl trip on the stage.  I think her last name started with a C. So by the time they called my name, in the late S's, I was worked up into a nervous lather. Breathing shallow breaths I walked across the stage and down the steps. I didn't trip though.  Later, diploma in hand and nervousness fading, I noticed some graduates had bottles under their sleeves and were imbibing alcohol.  I was shocked and disappointed.  Shocked because they had the nerve to do that.  Disappointed that I wasn't offered any. I doubt I would have accepted any but I would have really liked the opportunity to turn it down.  What do kids think about during their graduation ceremony?  And how does that differ from attending one 45 years later? The clapping made it difficult to hear last night.  One young mentions she is going to major in finance. My sibling whispers, "Did she say she is going to major in violence?"  I can't answer right away because that struck me extremely funny.  Later I think I hear a speaker talk about twitter and dildo.  I ask my sibling if she said dildo.  "YOLO," she tells me, "You only live once." That answers my question.  There is a difference in thoughts between a new high school graduate and a graduate with more life experience.