Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Will you go to prom with me?

Yesterday's post I was all like "oh, I'm old.  Oh so old."  Well, today's post is somewhat similar.  It's amazing what things have changed with high school.  Seriously.  Here's a case in point:  did you know that the asking of the prom is apparently this huge deal?  In fact, one of my employees who has a daughter in high school was telling me about the extravagant measures her daughter's boyfriend went to in order to ask her to prom.  And apparently this isn't exactly a random occurrence.  One boy, she told me, put up signs along a highway leading up to "Will you go to prom with me?"  I mean, really? 
 
These are called promposals.  John Stewart on The Daily Show was actually making fun of this practice just the other day.  It is sweet, don't get me wrong, but these boys (and girls, too) are going to such huge measures you would think they were asking someone to marry them.  Isn't the whole prom thing supposed to be the bigger deal?
 
Apparently the promposal isn't just for someone asking a date who they aren't officially in a relationship with, too.  Boys and girls who are so-called "boyfriend and girlfriend" are expected to do this, too.  I'm sure if you were a guy, and you didn't do some grand gesture of asking someone to go to a high school dance with you, you would be considered lazy or I don't know, a bad guy? 
 
I hate that I sound like one of those "Back in my day...." old person.  BUT...back in my day, if you were in a relationship with someone in high school the whole prom thing was a given.  And if you asked someone to go to a dance, well...you just asked them.  That whole process in and of itself is intimidating.  Now you have to come up with some creative and huge idea to do this?  Isn't the dance the bigger part of the whole "fun" experience? 
 
I don't know...it just seems kind of weird to me.  I'm always asking my 16 year-old nephew about what the "young people" are doing these days, and it blows my mind.  1) Because I was 16 when he was born, and here I am asking him what high school students do; 2) he has a girlfriend?  When did he get old enough for this? and 3) Why are things like this such a big deal? 
 
I don't know.  I'm coming upon 13 years out of high school, 10 years out of college.  My senior prom was in 1999.  It was a lot of fun and a wonderful experience with my boyfriend at the time, but did he need to write out "will you go to prom with me" in balloons outside my bedroom window so that it was the first thing I saw that morning?"  No...a simple "Hey, want to go to prom?" really was all I needed.  Actually it was more like "I'm purchasing tickets to prom, do you want to purchase the tickets to the next day after-prom thing?"  But what would I know...I'm old.  Hell, I learned to type on a typewriter, after all!
 
Want to see me going to senior prom?  Here you go!  Don't I look so youthful and vibrant? 
 
 
 
 
 

3 comments:

  1. First off that photo is precious!! Secondly I think it's so ridiculous how crazy proposals are. I mean I thought the question on a giant heart shaped cookie was extravagant! Lol on this radio show I listen to-the kaneshow, they had the guys on the show do this to the girls and it was funny and awesome but high school kids shouldn't be doing this. I mean what are these poor guys going to have to come up with to ask a woman to marry him if this is the high school standard?! Yikes! I, with you!

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  2. You look Mahvelous! Our crowd ( for lack of a better word) weren't much into the prom thing. We were a country school and who wants to dress in a tux to go dance with a buncha jerks and snobs? (Besides, I couldn't have gotten a date with a million bucks and a shotgun.)

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  3. I find these things hilarious, but kind of awesome too. I don't know... maybe I'm just a romantic at heart, but... I kind of like the idea of boys learning the value of big gestures early. ;)

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