Prom bomb.
I heard a question on the radio a few weeks ago. Has there ever been one person who has had complete satisfaction, in hindsight, with a prom? Another prom season has passed us by and I started thinking about them. I've never heard anybody rave that the prom exceeded their expectations. I think it's a night of major let-downs, including breakups.
The prom is the last big "couple's" bash before Grad Night, which is mostly a dateless-free-for-all event. Many of the kids know they'll never see those people they ended up making out with at Grad Night again...or at least for a long time.
Maybe the class king and queen of the prom have their expectations met. Nothing beats a crown and tiara for making one feel special. That means the rest of the court are losers? That's rough, hardly fair. I'm not sure it ends up as perfect as we humble high-school peons imagine it to be. Being royalty is tough.
I never went to my own high school proms. I was never invited. Big time cheerleader...no prom dates. I did fine with Homecoming. However, I did go to the enemy's senior proms. The first one was with a guy a year ahead of me. It must have been okay. We stayed friends.
The second prom...now that was whacked. Lots of creativity by the guys. Instead of going to a tux shop, these guys decided to rent attire from a Hollywood costume store. Some still chose tuxes but they were way over the top compared to what was on the rack at local stores. AND they were successful at keeping their outfits a complete secret! My date was dapper in a full tux with tails and top hat, featuring a sunshine yellow jacket with yellow satin trim lapels and pockets, and black pants. But the best costume was the guy who rented a satin Uncle Sam costume, top to bottom. It was outrageous and everybody loved it.
Mr. Uncle Sam's folks hosted a super fancy dinner party, in their super fancy house, where the beach meets super fancy Balboa Bay. And being the social folks they were, they were serving booze to the gang, and then letting the kids drive away in the huge Lincoln Town Car type vehicle. That situation always frightened me and when dope was added to the mix....it was not the recipe for putting me at ease...although everybody else was by then.
Once dinner was over it was time to get to the destination via a car wash. Unknown to their dates, the guys had hidden booze in coolers in a Follow Charlie Car Wash earlier that day. The trick was to buy the wash, drive through, and get to the coolers they'd stashed without getting lathered in soap and sprayed with water. I believe they found all but one cooler. That means Mr. Follow Charlie may have had some party time of his own.
Oh, did I mention breakup? Yes, I did. Once we got to the site of the prom it was deads-ville. My date was looking for someone else - the girl he really wanted to be with. And she was with somebody else. It seems after the prom dates were set, they discovered each other. They decided to do the honorable thing and suffer with the dates they had committed to. How thoughtful.
I didn't know who the gal's date was. But my date told me it was over (we'd been going out for a few months), and we got back into the huge car with the rest of our group and headed back to Mr. Uncle Sam's house. From there I got dropped, literally, at my house.
End of story? Not really. My date's mom called me the next morning, crying, saying how upset she was that her son had dumped me. I was so wonderful! How could he do that? Well, he did. Maybe she should be telling her son that...not me. Oh right, like that's what he wanted to hear from his mother. Not so much.
My biggest challenge in all aspects of my life, is to take away what I can from every situation. I'm not too interested in do-overs, but until I learn a lesson, there will be do-overs. And as much of a control freak I am, I need to admit I don't have control. If something doesn't work out, get over it, like The Eagles' song. Life is short and not always sweet. Lessons are long and sometimes hard. Get a grip. Just move on, Marilyn, move on..
Here's to the prom and whatever impact it may or may not have had in your life!
Live richly, marilyn
The prom is the last big "couple's" bash before Grad Night, which is mostly a dateless-free-for-all event. Many of the kids know they'll never see those people they ended up making out with at Grad Night again...or at least for a long time.
Maybe the class king and queen of the prom have their expectations met. Nothing beats a crown and tiara for making one feel special. That means the rest of the court are losers? That's rough, hardly fair. I'm not sure it ends up as perfect as we humble high-school peons imagine it to be. Being royalty is tough.
I never went to my own high school proms. I was never invited. Big time cheerleader...no prom dates. I did fine with Homecoming. However, I did go to the enemy's senior proms. The first one was with a guy a year ahead of me. It must have been okay. We stayed friends.
The second prom...now that was whacked. Lots of creativity by the guys. Instead of going to a tux shop, these guys decided to rent attire from a Hollywood costume store. Some still chose tuxes but they were way over the top compared to what was on the rack at local stores. AND they were successful at keeping their outfits a complete secret! My date was dapper in a full tux with tails and top hat, featuring a sunshine yellow jacket with yellow satin trim lapels and pockets, and black pants. But the best costume was the guy who rented a satin Uncle Sam costume, top to bottom. It was outrageous and everybody loved it.
Mr. Uncle Sam's folks hosted a super fancy dinner party, in their super fancy house, where the beach meets super fancy Balboa Bay. And being the social folks they were, they were serving booze to the gang, and then letting the kids drive away in the huge Lincoln Town Car type vehicle. That situation always frightened me and when dope was added to the mix....it was not the recipe for putting me at ease...although everybody else was by then.
Once dinner was over it was time to get to the destination via a car wash. Unknown to their dates, the guys had hidden booze in coolers in a Follow Charlie Car Wash earlier that day. The trick was to buy the wash, drive through, and get to the coolers they'd stashed without getting lathered in soap and sprayed with water. I believe they found all but one cooler. That means Mr. Follow Charlie may have had some party time of his own.
Oh, did I mention breakup? Yes, I did. Once we got to the site of the prom it was deads-ville. My date was looking for someone else - the girl he really wanted to be with. And she was with somebody else. It seems after the prom dates were set, they discovered each other. They decided to do the honorable thing and suffer with the dates they had committed to. How thoughtful.
I didn't know who the gal's date was. But my date told me it was over (we'd been going out for a few months), and we got back into the huge car with the rest of our group and headed back to Mr. Uncle Sam's house. From there I got dropped, literally, at my house.
End of story? Not really. My date's mom called me the next morning, crying, saying how upset she was that her son had dumped me. I was so wonderful! How could he do that? Well, he did. Maybe she should be telling her son that...not me. Oh right, like that's what he wanted to hear from his mother. Not so much.
My biggest challenge in all aspects of my life, is to take away what I can from every situation. I'm not too interested in do-overs, but until I learn a lesson, there will be do-overs. And as much of a control freak I am, I need to admit I don't have control. If something doesn't work out, get over it, like The Eagles' song. Life is short and not always sweet. Lessons are long and sometimes hard. Get a grip. Just move on, Marilyn, move on..
Here's to the prom and whatever impact it may or may not have had in your life!
Live richly, marilyn
well, I was dumped right BEFORE senior prom and ended up going with a friend's cousin - not too much of a memory there LOL
ReplyDeleteAt least it didn't become kissing cousins....that would be more memory than necessary!
ReplyDeleteWell I actually enjoyed my Senior prom! But..I learned a lot of lessons from my Junior Prom.
ReplyDelete1st-Don't have a casual friend set you up ( yes I was that desperate)
2nd-When you meet them and they start talking about the cost of strawberries don't go!
3rd-When your hairs still wet,your shawl shrivels, and you hate your dress-Don't go!
4th-When their is no dinner or flowers even discussed-Don't Go!!!
I tried to be kind. I was at "the prom" it was pretty and everyone looked great,except me ( So I did spend a lot of time in the bathroom ).
I learned that people are more important then events (also- have a salon do the hair and buy a dress! )
See? A learn-from-the-experienced, "Prom Guide for Dummies" could be written. But the kids wouldn't read it....they don't want to be told. But we'd have some pretty good laughs enjoying it.
ReplyDelete