I was driving back to work after my lunch break when Bon Jovi's "Runaway" came on the radio. Let's hear it for Mix 96.9's all-'80s lunch hour!

Not more than an eight-count into the song, I was transported back to the end of my freshman year of high school when I tried out for the newly formed Arcadia High School junior varsity pom line.

Yes, your friendly neighborhood Web chick was a pommie in high school, and I have the pictures to prove it. (As this was the late '80s, however, said pictures are merely prints. There are no negatives -- that I know of -- and certainly no digital files. Thank goodness.)

So, I was a pom-pom girl. But it was only JV, and only for a year. That's not to say that I didn't try out for the varsity line at the end of my sophomore year. I just didn't make the cut, which is probably a good thing. I'm not sure the pom line was ever a good fit for me, though nobody could have told me that way back when. This is further evidenced by my joining an anti-sorority sorority a few years later when I headed off to college. Yes, I was a sorority girl, too.

Have I totally blown my geeky tech-girl cred? (I was the twirler for the band for four years, and the editor of both the newspaper and the yearbook for two. Does that help?)

But I digress from the déjà vu.

It's not just that I remembered trying out for the pom line. I remembered the whole damn tryout dance -- every detail. It was vaguely disturbing.

I remembered going through eight-counts over and over and over again in the grassy area in front of the band room, which I don't think exists anymore now that the school is being rebuilt. (I have a commemorative brick from "The Circle," which was demolished last year.)

On my mental big screen, I could see us going through the moves slowly at first, then faster, then finally up to speed with the music. Man, was I sick of that song by the time tryouts actually rolled around.

I remembered every turn, kick and split. Where we were supposed to do "pom hands" and where we were supposed to do "jazz hands." (Keep in mind, this is way before the movie "Bring It On," when hired-gun choreographer Sparky Pilastry taught us all the joys of "spirit fingers." "I did not sign on for spirit fingers," snapped Eliza Dushku's Missy. I so get that. "C'mon. Spirit finger are great!" replied Kirsten Dunst's Torrance. Yeah. Whatever.)

My experience on the AHS JV pom line was an interesting one, I suppose. Full of the teenage drama and intrigue you're bound to get when you throw 10 girls -- later nine girls -- together and expect them to get along. Not gonna happen. At least not all the time.

I'm not saying it was a bad experience. Just a high-school one. Something that seemed soooo important at the time. I thought I would die if I didn't make the line. Imagine my surprise when I actually survived being cut the next year. I later heard there were "reasons" for the cut. Again with the whatever. It was probably for the best.

While circumstances can and do change over the years, as they should, sometimes the feelings remain the same.

I went on a job interview in Los Angles a year ago, and while I wasn't really nervous at the time, it hit me after the fact, when I was waiting for THEM to decide if I was good enough. Kind of like pom tryouts.

Waiting's always the hard part. It doesn't matter what it is you're waiting for.

By the way, they offered me the job, but like JV pom, it wasn't really a great fit. So, I stayed put. Like not making the varsity squad, it was probably for the best.

Maybe I learned something from the high school pom line after all.

BTW, speaking of my geeky tech-girl cred, I'm launching a new personal technology column -- Cat With Mouse. I'm looking for story ideas, so if you have anything or if you see a gadget you'd like to know more about, give me a yell.