Does it Live Up to the Hype?
The Prom
By Nathan Johnson
Sometimes, it’s impossible to gauge the effectiveness of hype until years later. This month, we use the 20/20 vision of hindsight to reflect back on one of the most hyped events in anyone’s life – prom.
Rather than give you a single perspective on prom, we decided to give you several of our individual impressions of this event. So here, in all their beautiful/brutal glory, are our prom stories:
Mike:
I wore a two-tone blue tuxedo with a ruffled shirt. I remember fondly driving my date to prom in my ‘64 four-door Falcon, which I had purchased for $100. Of course, as a result of the fantastic purchase price, I carried a case of oil in my trunk at all times. The prom was at a local hotel and afterward we went out to dinner at a dinner club where Tiny Tim (tiptoe through the tulips in the garden...) was playing with his ukulele.
Jim:
My junior year, I was asked by a senior, but I didn’t have any money to get a tux, pay for dinner, etc., so she ended up paying for everything, including my sweet teal cummerbund and clip-on bowtie. We rented an RV and took it to prom with some friends and then drove to the beach for the weekend, which was part of tradition.
Karen:
My senior prom was really disappointing and absolutely ridiculous. I guess we somehow upset the juniors enough that for our “prom” they decided dinner at the Hilton and a ventriloquist was good enough. There was no dance. It was bad dinner theatre … at best, and it was definitely a waste of a great dress.
Shannon:
In my school in Canada, the full weekend consisted of a pre-dinner cocktail party/reception for everyone. Then there was an event at a hotel with a sit-down dinner, band, dancing and an after-party at someone’s house (aka: complete booze-fest). My evening consisted of a giant Coke Slurpee mixed with Long Island Ice Tea Mix, which led to a small joy ride on the hood of a limo, massive illness (read: puking over the balcony of the house) and a killer hangover.
Kathy:
What we thought would be the best part was the permission to stay out late, past our normal curfew, but we didn’t really have anything to do or anywhere to go. When it came down to it, the biggest thrill was when someone decided to enter the Dairy Queen drive-thru backwards while waving at the staff.
Hillary:
The actual prom was lame. Also, I hosted the after-party at a Resident’s Inn and was so stressed out about getting caught that it gave me really bad heartburn. Oh, and my boyfriend fell asleep on the couch.
Ciri:
Getting ready for my first prom was pretty stressful – as my Mom was putting on my makeup, I had a panic attack and fainted. The rest of the night turned out pretty well, though.
Todd:
Regarding prom, I was quoted in the high school yearbook saying something like, “It’s special because I’m going with someone who’s more than just a date!” Because of that yearbook, my hype lives on, far longer than my enjoyment of that night. And my relationship with April Ladd, the girl who was purportedly “more than just a date?” That lasted another five months … turns out she wasn’t worth the hype either.
Amanda:
My date and I started our evening at a friend's house where we took lots of pictures, then we all piled into a stretch limo to head to dinner before arriving at the prom. We danced and partied the night away, moving from the actual prom to the after-party at Hard Rock then to another friend’s house where we stayed up until the break of dawn.
Kevin:
I was fortunate enough to go to two proms in one year. For the first prom, we rode in a limo. It was awesome for 5 minutes! My buddy who coordinated the $300+ ride didn’t think to plan a drive time before the prom. For the second prom, I drove alone and got lost in downtown St. Louis. Then, out of nowhere, I saw my date chasing me down the street. She had seen me pass the prom and came after me. I stopped and picked her up curbside, and we finally made it to the dance.
Nathan:
Instead of having a good time at prom with my friends, I had to go to prom in the town of my girlfriend. To make matters worse, I had to watch her senior class’ crappy “remember all the good times we had” video, which had been made by a guy who was friends with my girlfriend but wished he could be “more than friends” with her. Uncomfortable.
Phillip:
Rather than going the traditional tuxedo route, I opted for a no-tie tuxedo that I thought was “in” at the time. You got to wear a nice black button in place of a neck tie. My wife pokes fun at me when she sees the pictures. Apparently, I looked more like some kind of a restaurant waiter than a prom date.
Crystal:
I could have had a date to my senior prom, but the guy I wanted to go with was 21, and I was only 17, so my parents didn’t allow it. They thought the boys would be lining up to ask me out, but, when no one else asked, I had to end up taking my brother.
Rosalinda:
For me, it lived up to the hype. Who doesn’t love up-dos, baby’s breath and poofy dresses?! Although, for my senior prom, even though dinner is supposed to be a big part of it, we didn’t make reservations anywhere, so we ended up eating at Sbarro.
So, for some of us, prom definitely lived up to the hype, but for others, it’s a day we’d rather forget. How about your prom?
E-mail the author: Nathan Johnson
