Note to anyone with a graduating family member:

[Deleted User]

If you're going to a graduation ceremony soon, please show some class and refrain from acting like an animal. When the principal and superintendant of schools asks to hold the applause and screams until the end of the ceremony, try to listen. And if you're thinking of bringing an airhorn or a whistle that you insist on blowing after every other student, do us all a favor and punch yourself in the throat. It's pathetic when the graduating students are showing more decorum than grown friggin adults.

My brother graduated Friday. There were 652 students graduating--that's a lot of names to get through, and it takes even longer when the speaker has to stop because rude parents can't keep their mouths shut or have to blow airhorns so you can't even hear the following kids' names. When we left, I made a comment to DH about how there were a lot of people in the arena with no class. A girl behind me, maybe about 18 who didn't stop screaming the entire time, heard me and the following happened:

Girl: Excuse me? Who do you think you are saying we have no class?
Me: Was I talking to you? And you're only defensive because you know I'm right.
Girl: We're excited. We have the right to cheer.
Me: it's fine to celebrate and be happy, but not at the expense of other students. You screamed right through the names of other kids and ruined that experience for the parents because they couldn't hear their kid's name.
Girl: Why do I care about them? I don't know them.
Me: Exactly. Some people have no class.

I think she was about to hit me, but DH pulled me away while my mom just stood there and laughed because she was thinking the same thing. I seriously hate people. She's just lucky she didn't scream through my brother's name.

[Deleted User]

People are asshats. I will never really understand the need to act like a complete idiot at graduations. 

Lilou902

I may just use "asshats" in my everyday conversation now!!  Love it!

Festiva

People are rude!  The sad thing is, she'll never, ever change.  She probably comes from a long line of rude and belligerent morons.  Those traits do tend to run in the family.
"azzhats"- tee hee

jlmarks83

I agree.  People are asshats.  I had some girl deck me in a bar because I asked her to stop humping my FSIL because it was bothering my FSIL and FSIL's drink kept being spilled onto me.  My exact words, "Can you please stop?  We're trying to have a conversation here."  I didn't even raise my voice or call her a b*tch or anything.  And the next thing I know, I'm being punched in the face.  Um, really?  Is that necessary?  Was it really that offensive that I politely asked you to stop humping my FSIL?

And I wasn't even drunk.  I had just gotten to the bar.  Ridiculous.

[Deleted User]

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_anyone-graduating-family-member?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:17Discussion:b12cf422-b75c-415d-ab39-ead18ee3d271Post:efc98163-0e0e-4a1a-9de4-b628f2094f36">Re: Note to anyone with a graduating family member:</a>:
[QUOTE]I agree.  People are asshats.  I had some girl deck me in a bar because I asked her to stop humping my FSIL because it was bothering my FSIL and FSIL's drink kept being spilled onto me.  My exact words, "Can you please stop?  We're trying to have a conversation here."  I didn't even raise my voice or call her a b*tch or anything.  And the next thing I know, I'm being punched in the face.  Um, really?  Is that necessary?  Was it really that offensive that I politely asked you to stop humping my FSIL? And I wasn't even drunk.  I had just gotten to the bar.  Ridiculous.
Posted by jlmarks83[/QUOTE]

Humping? What on earth was this girl's intention?

My grandfather once NICELY asked a man to stop blowing smoke in our direction (when you could still smoke in restaurants) because my brother and I have really bad asthma. The guy mouthed off and refused, so we got up to leave. The guy literally tackled my grandfather when he was walking out the door and tried to gouge out his eyes. My stepdad pulled him off and the guy tried to bite him. It was insane. And it wasn't a bar or anything, just a regular restaurant.

526SadieSadie

Ugh, the air horns drove me NUTS at my graduation. 
The only time I ever spoke up when someone was annoying the beejesus out of me was when FI and I went to see Billy Joel and Elton John at Gillette Stadium.  The guy next to me was singing so loudly, I couldn't hear the actual concert.  I turned to him and said "Hey buddy, I paid a lot of money to hear HIM sing, not you, can you zip it?"  Unfortunately for me he was too drunk from the tailgate to comprehend.  Lesson learned, no more concerts at Gillette for me!

AdeleDazeem

While I agree that airhorns, excessive screaming, and overall ridiculousness isn't nice... but, complete silence after a name is read is just as depressing for the graduate.

At one of my graduations many years ago, people were clapping nicely after each graduate's name.  The principal then asked if people could hold their applause to the end.  My name was the next one read so you could hear a pin drop.  With each successive  name, the applause came back until the principal just tolerated it.  My parents are still upset that I was the only graduate who got silence.

But, in general, people are just jerks.  You can't say anything to anyone these days without them going all ninja on you.

[Deleted User]

A little clapping is fine, I didn't have a problem with that. It was the loud airhorns and whistles that drove me nuts. People clapped nicely and you could still hear the graduates' names, but everything else drowned out the entire ceremony. My brother said he was glad it was quiet after his name was called because he didn't want to have "one of those families" that embarrased their kid.

At my stepbrother's graduation (the same year as mine), someone blew up a beachball and threw it right into the graduates' section. The person who caught it stood up and told the person to grow up or get out, then deflated it. That was the absolute worst ceremony ever, the principal had to stop at least 20 times and then started kicking people out. It was horrible.

goheels05

My mom has a theory that the people who act like that at graduations have so few family members that graduate that they have to make up for it by being extra obnoxious at the few commencements that they do attend. 

erollis

At my FI and I high school Graduation the principal sent letters home saying that if anything happened during the graduation we would not get our diploma (They were handing out fakes during the ceremony). So basically if we sneezed or triped or did anything that wasn't life threatening that called attention to ourself no diploma for us. It also said that if they heard any air horns, ect. that student would not get the real diploma. Thankfully clapping was allowed or it would have been a depressing ceremony.

526SadieSadie

I wouldn't have minded some beachballs getting tossed around at my college graduation, the speakers were awful, there were over 1000 graduates and it was hot as hell out there.
  I remember a fellow graduate kept starting the "two-thousand nine, two thousand nine" chant and it was SO annoying.  In my head, to the same beat I was screaming "shut the f*ck up! shut the f*ck up!" 

PetraStonegirl

I attended commencement at our University a few days ago, to support a friend who is walking for her MS degree. We are a rural state, so when a state local graduates, there are large groups of loud family in the audience. However, our faculty profile has been becoming younger and more technologically advanced, and bringing in great funding, so we attract many out of state and international students. They don't have the same kind of support system.

I'm glad to say that for most students, the stadium as a whole applauded for all the students politely, even for the students without family, and with the occasional rattle, horn, and hollering for family members. There was one international student, however, who had his name called, the title of the PhD dissertation read, was hooded by his advisor, and was half way across the stage before I realized that not one person had clapped or made any noise at all. So, I started clapping loudly, and the folks around me caught on. I saw him smile as we got loud enough for him to hear.

The funniest, and most appropriate noise came for the very last graduate in the procession. They were announced as the only graduate in Women's Studies that year. When HE received his diploma, he received a standing ovation with lots of laughter as he threw his arms up in the air. 

[Deleted User]

Holy crap I would not have sat through 1,000 people for a college graduation. They split mine up into 2 ceremonies between the various schools, I think mine was College of Arts & Science, Business, and maybe nursing. But college wasn't as bad, it's the high school ones that totally suck.

If the kids are standing up and telling the audience to be quiet, something's wrong. They want to get out of there as fast as possible so having to stop and wait just makes it that much longer. Luckily they kept the speeches short (can't say the same for my college graduations). One kid made a comment during his speech about playing with a hooker that had all the students laughing their asses off and the parents wondering if he actually just said that. Because I graduated from that school and program, I knew what he was talking about. It was the highlight of the cermeony for sure.

ebonyivory10

I agree that airhorns, whistles, etc are over the top but it's not likely that people will hold their applause for their loved one until the end. But yeah there's always some oddball that's obnoxious or rude about it. I know for my HS graduation they allowed a few seconds after your name was called for applause before moving on to the next person. I don't remember my college graduation really, I think there was intermittent applause and then a bunch at the end.

If you are one of the people graduating you kind of want the happy medium - you don't want your family acting like wild hogs, but you don't want to be the person that gets nothing. LOL!

jennifermarie1224

I've seen some crazy things happen at friends' graduations, including yelling, airhorns, screaming etc. A few of the schools would have security guards drag anybody out of there that was screaming, which really didn't change much because people screamed for their kid and then left.

My high school graduation wasn't too bad (751 students), the school had a rule that you clapped twice after each name to save time, so the entire graduation went like this: Marcia (clap, clap) Greg (clap, clap) Jan (clap, clap) Peter (clap, clap) etc. Because there were so many students, many parents left after their kid's name was called, or a few of the parents who had names at the end of the alphabet showed up to the ceremony about 45 minutes late. All in all though, it was pretty calm.