Yup, from the 5th grade through the end of high school - I'm a home school valedictorian, whee!khaimera said:You missed out, man. Just kidding. I hated every second of high school until I found a girlfriend halfway through my senior year. Low self-esteem is a nightmare. I wish I could do high school over again though. Were you home schooled?
Also, bravo for making that controversial last sentence. I agree with your point, but some people like to take offense to things just for its own sake.
As for the inane office politics, don't get me wrong - some of the stupidest shit I hear about comes from our "big boss" on high who I'm counting my blessings I've never actually met because I'm too low on the totem pole for him to care about me, but I can at least understand where those decisions are coming from (a man so unpleasant to work for his underlings filed a harassment suit against him for creating a hostile work environment).
Compared to him, the odd culture of needless secrecy and going behind people's backs simply to go behind their backs is rather tame. Doesn't make it any less crazy and incomprehensible to the average guy mindset though.