ORIGINALLY WRITTEN SCOTT NUSS
Today is April 2. Ten days from now is a day that many high school upperclassmen, particularly those of the female variety, have looked forward to for probably most of the year.
If you’re not in the high school on a regular basis, you probably aren’t aware of it, unless you have a son or daughter between the ages of 16 and 18, but April 12 is the long awaited-and sometimes feared- prom.
In my opinion, prom is one of the things in life that is blown the most out of proportion. I’ll agree that it’s nice to have a little change in pace from the normal post-game dances, but I’m not sure a lot of things dealing with prom are necessary.
I’m not sure that having a date needs to be made into a priority. From what I’ve observed, the emphasis on the false idea that “You have to have a date to go to prom” leads to nothing good.
I mean, if one person has a special somebody that they’d like to bring to prom, more power to them. But when people start “dating” other people so they will have the best-looking date to take to prom-it’s just not right, especially when, in some cases, it’s painfully obvious that a relationship won’t be anywhere near as strong after prom night.
Perhaps one of the more humorous things about prom season is sitting in any given class, where undoubtedly any down time will be spent with the girls discussing prom-whether it’s what to drive, which dress to wear, comments (positive or negative) on the menu, how they’re going to do their hair, you name it. Everything seems to revolve about prom.
One class on my schedule at HHS is rather small. Exactly half of the students are girls, all juniors or seniors. I remember at one point wondering if I had not enrolled in a prom-planning class, instead of what I had intended to enroll in. Conversations shifted constantly from who was going with whom, to conversations between Girl A and Girl B concerning good and bad about hair styles from fashion magazines.
After the class, I remember commenting to one of my male counterparts in the class about how obvious it was that nobody seemed to care about the enormous task we faced in that class, and that none of the girls would probably care until after April 12. Imagine that.
The prom meal always comes under scrutiny with the students involved. Some don’t like chicken, some don’t like steak, others don’t like the pasta.
By now it’s too late, but to the planners of proms to come, may I suggest a buffet for prom? Have some of our local food establishments donate a little something to it, but at the same time offer some ham, steak, or chicken, along with a choice of pasta, french fries, baked potatoes, or other side dishes along that line.
At the end of the buffet, have a beverage table with the traditional sparkling grape juice and water in the offerings.
The buffet would make things much more simple. After making the grand entrance through the promenade, walk in, have your picture taken, and proceed to the buffet. It’d be like a normal school meal! Those who show up first will theoretically be rewarded with being able to take more time eating, while those who keep wasting gas on the cruise route won’t have quite as much time.
This is an idea which should be pursued.
As for clothing, prom makes no sense. Why is it that girls have to go out and buy dresses that cost half a fortune (in my terms)? A lot of these dresses end up being worn once, and then hung up for years to come.
This isn’t supposed to be a marketing column, but might I suggest eBay as a way for you to get some money back?
At the same time, why do guys have to go pay a minimum of $100 to wear a tuxedo for one night? It makes very little sense. Luckily, male members of Spirit-N-Celebration and the HHS Band have their tuxedos covered.
For me, this is particularly good because from my recent shopping trip through several clothing establishments in search of one measly pair of slacks, I became convinced that nobody makes any pants in my size. I even became convinced that a custom tailor couldn’t make anything in my size.
Oh well.
On a final note, this may seem ironic, but if you have an extra moment on the evening of April 12, I would invite you to come to the promenade. It’s great to have people supporting students in anything they do.
