Just a friendly reminder to my High School Seniors
Not that I think anyone that young is looking at this but just hear me out.
So I was looking at something on Quora ( think Reddit for people that don't know how to post to Reddit) and a lady asked a question saying that her daughter was in her room crying hysterically because no one had asked her to prom.
I know it's been about a hundred thousand years since I had to deal with prom pressures and I don't envy anyone having to deal with that, especially with the advent of the "prom-posal", but seriously, it's not that serious.
And I know what you're thinking, but Aa-Chan, how would you know?! Uh, because I went to my prom and seriously, I'm telling you it's not that Hardcore.
But like you said, it's been one hundred thousand years since you went to your prom. Proms back then weren't that big a deal!
Uh yeah they were, so again having been to one, I'm saying, it's really not that serious.
Yeah, but it's different now than it was back then. Everyone is going to have a date and it's going to be the greatest night ever!
Yeah, no... Same lackluster event space dressed up in its finest Party City decor. Same lackluster food. Same 2nd rate DJ and the same awful people you see everyday in class, except this time they've showered and applied themselves esthetically. I'm pretty confident that is all prom continues to be.
Why are you saying this when prom is really important?
Lived experience my dears. So with that said, let me tell you the story of my prom.
Yeah so in May of 96 I attended Martin Luther King Senior prom. I can't remember if I had a boyfriend at the time or not. I want to say I did, but he didn't want to go with me to my prom. Oddly enough I was good with that because I always had plans to go with my middle school best friend, Damon. Or as my brother referred to him as, the prom prostitute (he literally went on like 10 people's prom between 9th grade and up to 2 years after graduating from high school).
But I went with Damon. He had a driver's license so he drove to the hotel (we didn't do limos for prom, they were considered passe) the prom was in and when we got there I learned my friend Kendra's date stood her up and she got a last minute replacement date (I don't remember who he was though), then 2 other girls I knew boyfriends stood them up/ broke up with them the night of the prom. Then, the cake topper moment came when another girl I knew, who she had been dating her boyfriend since 9th grade and she even had his name tattooed on her, he dumped her the night of the prom.
I very vividly remember her storming into the bathroom with her friends, saying something about how she was going to get his name covered up. I remember thinking, well damn, that's fucked up. And note to self, never get some dude's name tattooed on myself.
Damon and I stayed until the end of the prom, then we went to IHOP, then I went back home. I did a little dancing. Hungout with friends, but the most eye opening part was how everyone got either stood up or dumped the night of prom.
So when I say prom isn't that serious, I'm for real when I say it's literally not that serious. With any luck, you'll attend far better social gatherings than prom.
But that's not to say if you want to go I don't think you should. If you want to go, go! If you don’t want to go, don't go! It's your decision to make, but it's not the end all be all party that movies, TV, or even the internet make it out to be.
As for the sad young lady on Quora, don't be sad over not being asked to prom. After seeing the emotional turmoil from my prom I've always thought about how lucky I was to have gone with a platonic friend then someone I was in a stupid teen relationship with. If you want to attend your prom then go with friends and have a kick-ass time!
And as my prom program said, "Don't have sex!"
Yeah, seriously, my prom program actually said "Don't have sex!" Not don't drink and drive. Not don't do drugs, but Don't have sex." Oh MLK, you truly were an urban hellscape.
So I was looking at something on Quora ( think Reddit for people that don't know how to post to Reddit) and a lady asked a question saying that her daughter was in her room crying hysterically because no one had asked her to prom.
I know it's been about a hundred thousand years since I had to deal with prom pressures and I don't envy anyone having to deal with that, especially with the advent of the "prom-posal", but seriously, it's not that serious.
And I know what you're thinking, but Aa-Chan, how would you know?! Uh, because I went to my prom and seriously, I'm telling you it's not that Hardcore.
But like you said, it's been one hundred thousand years since you went to your prom. Proms back then weren't that big a deal!
Uh yeah they were, so again having been to one, I'm saying, it's really not that serious.
Yeah, but it's different now than it was back then. Everyone is going to have a date and it's going to be the greatest night ever!
Yeah, no... Same lackluster event space dressed up in its finest Party City decor. Same lackluster food. Same 2nd rate DJ and the same awful people you see everyday in class, except this time they've showered and applied themselves esthetically. I'm pretty confident that is all prom continues to be.
Why are you saying this when prom is really important?
Lived experience my dears. So with that said, let me tell you the story of my prom.
Yeah so in May of 96 I attended Martin Luther King Senior prom. I can't remember if I had a boyfriend at the time or not. I want to say I did, but he didn't want to go with me to my prom. Oddly enough I was good with that because I always had plans to go with my middle school best friend, Damon. Or as my brother referred to him as, the prom prostitute (he literally went on like 10 people's prom between 9th grade and up to 2 years after graduating from high school).
But I went with Damon. He had a driver's license so he drove to the hotel (we didn't do limos for prom, they were considered passe) the prom was in and when we got there I learned my friend Kendra's date stood her up and she got a last minute replacement date (I don't remember who he was though), then 2 other girls I knew boyfriends stood them up/ broke up with them the night of the prom. Then, the cake topper moment came when another girl I knew, who she had been dating her boyfriend since 9th grade and she even had his name tattooed on her, he dumped her the night of the prom.
I very vividly remember her storming into the bathroom with her friends, saying something about how she was going to get his name covered up. I remember thinking, well damn, that's fucked up. And note to self, never get some dude's name tattooed on myself.
Damon and I stayed until the end of the prom, then we went to IHOP, then I went back home. I did a little dancing. Hungout with friends, but the most eye opening part was how everyone got either stood up or dumped the night of prom.
So when I say prom isn't that serious, I'm for real when I say it's literally not that serious. With any luck, you'll attend far better social gatherings than prom.
But that's not to say if you want to go I don't think you should. If you want to go, go! If you don’t want to go, don't go! It's your decision to make, but it's not the end all be all party that movies, TV, or even the internet make it out to be.
As for the sad young lady on Quora, don't be sad over not being asked to prom. After seeing the emotional turmoil from my prom I've always thought about how lucky I was to have gone with a platonic friend then someone I was in a stupid teen relationship with. If you want to attend your prom then go with friends and have a kick-ass time!
And as my prom program said, "Don't have sex!"
Yeah, seriously, my prom program actually said "Don't have sex!" Not don't drink and drive. Not don't do drugs, but Don't have sex." Oh MLK, you truly were an urban hellscape.