And now I’m back on schedule! Woot!
I was fifteen and a freshman the first time I went to prom. I can hear it now: “How the…What the…Huh? Aren’t those for upperclassmen?”
My freshman year, I befriended an upperclassman who asked me to go to prom with him. I, of course, was flattered beyond belief and quickly said yes. Since he waited till the last minute to ask me, I scored a great dress for a nominal price. A couple of older girls took me dress shopping since I didn’t have a car and even offered to do my make-up for me. Dressed to the nines, I was all set to enjoy my night, despite the fact that we were being chauffeured by his parents because my date couldn’t drive.
Friends and fun – what could be better?
Photo by Kay Kauffman
The Walk-In, as it’s known, is a community event where I’m from, complete with an announcer who names the entrants as they enter the building where prom is held. We arrived too late to participate in the cruise around the block that so many people participate in before hand, but that was okay with me. It’s not like we had an awesome muscle car or a limo or something, just an unassuming powder blue Ford Taurus that was past its prime.
The decorating committee really outdid themselves, as the Amvets Hall looked amazing. The catered meal was delicious (sadly, the woman who catered it is no longer in business, or at least she wasn’t when I was looking for a wedding caterer) and the punch? Well, it made me chuckle. It was also delicious, but it tasted suspiciously like something alcoholic I’d had a sip of (yes, only a sip – goody two-shoes alert!) with some friends who stopped by prior to my leaving.
The dance afterward was a blast. One of the funniest moments of the night came when the DJ played “I’m Too Sexy” and when a catwalk formed, one of the seniors started down it and stripped down to his undershirt. I laughed particularly hard when his shirt landed on my English teacher.
I only went to one dance during my middle school years, embarrassed by my lack of skills in that area, and I didn’t attend many more during high school. I think I went to a grand total of six dances during my school years – four proms and two homecoming dances. Looking back, I wish I had attended more because I missed out on a lot of fun – story of my life. I hope my kids will be more active in the school social scene than I was when they get older so that they will have more of those kind of memories, but I hope they won’t be so involved that their grades suffer as a result.
On the other hand, I was plenty involved in band. You haven’t lived till you’ve hung out with the band geeks. 😀
(c) 2012. All rights reserved.
Suddenly they all died. The end. 
Very cool. How exciting this must have been for you! I got to go in grade Eleven – one year early, with a senior guy, as well as to my own prom the next year.
Jane Ann
http://www.janeannmclachlan.com
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I was crazy excited! I went to prom escorted by Mr. Junior the next two years after this as well, for his senior prom and my junior prom. But I think I’ll save the junior prom story for tomorrow’s post. It’s a real lulu.
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I liked dances in high school and often went in a horde of mixed-gender kids so we didn’t have to do the awkward pairing off bit and could just enjoy dancing.
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I feared dances. I’m overly self-conscious by nature and in groups of people, I always feel (whether rightly or wrongly) like people are staring at me. I have an incredible fear of looking stupid in front of people. Lord (or rather, Lady) of the Dance I am not, so I stayed home from most dances because I felt embarrassed about my perceived lack of dance skills.
I adored the movie George of the Jungle as a teenager, for a variety of reasons (namely, Brendan Fraser), and the scene where he’s trying to get her to dance with him in the jungle and she tells him she’s embarrassed always stuck with me. I love how he tells her, “No one here to look stupid for. Just George.” And then she gets up and dances. I wish sometimes that I could be like that, but alas, I’d have still been sitting there, watching him prance around the fire.
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