It’s definitely hard to miss all the people where I live pulling out of driveways in dresses and people taking pictures across all the public areas, it really lets you know it’s prom time.
What’s your experience with prom (or multiple proms if you went to others too)? How did everyone look? How was it celebrated? Was it good?
As a socially anxious loner, I didn’t go to prom. Didn’t end up feeling much like I was missing out either. I had been to a few school dances in the past and they always made me very uncomfortable and I didn’t find them fun. I didn’t like how much of a big deal they were made out to be. The one time I had fun around a school dance was when I was hanging out with some people either beforehand or afterwards (can’t remember which) and that part of it was fun. The dance itself wasn’t.
In a way, you weren’t missing out. Where I live, children (myself included when I was younger) have an odd tradition of going to everyone’s proms except sometimes our own (or including our own). They vary a lot but it’s like you have to really look to find the fun ones. And I’m guessing very few people enjoy the dance part because only a quarter of the people (does not include me) actually know how to dance. A common joke during the dance part is to say “I forgot to study for this”.
Mine when I was in school was entirely forgettable. But! I married a teacher, and until the pandemic we chaperoned prom almost every year. And that was reliably awesome. We may get back to it eventually. The kids are always proud of their outfits, and it’s a small, rural school, so even though there are cliques, it’s still mostly an everybody-in-it-together atmosphere. We’ve never really been party types, but getting to dance with my wife at prom every year is something I miss.
I didn’t go, I didn’t see the point in it. People always ask if I regret not going: not even a little bit. I don’t like dancing and thought the entire idea of it dumb to begin with. Also, I’d rather not go broke over one night like that. I did have a few friends go and they said they had fun, good for them. It’s just not my thing.
Eh, less fun than a regular dance. Too much money and time spent on pageantry.
Did the prom itself cost money, or do you mean the preparations? I’ve heard mixed stories about the proms themselves costing lots of money to attend.
The tickets were $75 each, and this was two decades ago.
Then getting the clothes, the flowers, some people rent transportation.