i've been lucky, i think. i've always had bonkers classmates.
in kindergarten there was a greek kid named george whose parents made him wear a little suit all the time. given that the school was in a rural farming community, he was mocked mercilessly (and his lack of command of english didn't help him). he had sisters who were twins and slightly older and rarely if ever spoke aloud. the family later moved away amidst some sort of scandal.

grade one brought me a classmate named ronny roe who was none too bright. a few days into summer he was hit by a cement truck that partially squished his head, rendering him even less bright. he survived but had to be put in special school soon after. he once came to a birthday party i had and rode a tricycle off a three foot wall in my basement and banged his squishy head on the cement floor. neither seemed any worse for the event.

high school brought a guy named burke who was either a bible-thumping maniac or a great prankster who never let his facade slip in emulating one. he always wore suits, too, but by his own choice. he'd rail against sin and corruption in a thundering voice in the cafeteria at lunch, alongside hockey games or in the middle of classes and command us all to repent. occasionally we'd catch him smirking like we were all just witless players in his great game -- he was by far my favourite classmate all through high school.

more banal were the usual clump of shining stars who achieved their moments of fame as 'the pregnant girl', 'the jock who ran his car off the road and died' and 'the kid who got busted selling weed'. i was in grade eleven (or thereabouts) when the first space shuttle blew up. that was a laugh riot of epic proportions, given that some classes watched it on tvs and saw the big kaboom live. my friend camilla got booted for stating she was going to florida to try and fish bits of astronauts out of the ocean (and i still have a soft spot for all the jokes about nasa from that time).

joanna, the girl who was a language genius and later did porn... my nemesis, anya, who vied with me for top latin and english lit. grades (i beat her by less than a percentage point in our final year)... the girl with the odd hereditary disease who'd also had facial burn scars and was subsequently (and cruelly) nicknamed 'yoda'... there are certainly more, but these are the ones who come to mind.
( postbear has metal knees, Sun 21 Jan 2007, 8:23, Reply)