the first day of school / backwards celebrations

I did something strange this morning: I went to the gym. I decided that I should probably start going again since I've gained back almost all the weight I lost earlier this year, but I digress.

There is a school bus stop right by my home, and I was surprised to see a bunch of adults with cameras standing out there with kids, laughing, cheering, taking pictures and the like when I got home from the gym this morning. I was confused as to why anyone would be doing this in my neighborhood, let alone any other, at 8:00 in the morning...and then it dawned on me: today was the first day of school for all the kids around here.

I don't remember there ever being a big ruckus about the first day of school when I was a kid. No cheering, no pictures being taken, no excitement. Maybe my parents hated me. Maybe people in southern California don't celebrate like people here. Maybe I've just never paid attention. I'm not quite sure. One thing is certain (at least, to me) however--we seem to celebrate scholastic accomplishments less the older a person gets in this country. I hear about kindergarten and elementary school graduation parties and the like, and it seems so odd--I mean, how difficult is it to get through either? High school is a different story, but even then, it's more widely celebrated than a person's graduation from college. Let me use my own life as a case in point:

High school graduation present from parents: a new computer and printer (approximate value: $2000). Graduation party put on by school.

College graduation present from parents: approximately $50. If there was any kind of graduation party, I wasn't aware of it.

Grad school graduation present from parents: approximately $0. No school party, but there was probably a happy hour at a bar somewhere. I celebrated by buying myself a new car and having my student loans kick in.

Now, maybe I was just imagining it, but I'm pretty sure that school got progressively harder, not progressively easier. Isn't that worth celebrating? I mean, yeah, I'm a little more able to fend for myself now than I was at the end of high school, and I wasn't expecting anything from my parents or anyone else, but still...It seems like we're celebrating the wrong thing here.