By Russell Omo
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I recall my first experience with prom in my junior year. It was nearly the end of the school year and all of us hadn’t a care in the world other than this illustrious night that had been hyped up since our freshman year and honestly, I was as well. Then the music came on. Then this vision of a night of high life dissipated and I reminded myself of Nick Carraway at the end of The Great Gatsby as everyone bounced and bumbled to the sweet sounds of derogatory and extremely erotic music as I wallowed in my sorrow of being out 50 dollars.
It was at that point in time I understood why some, if not many, choose not to go to prom. It simply was not for them and most definitely was not for me. I romanticized the belief that prom would be just like in those 80s movies, an adventure with friends; a traditional, almost hackneyed get together where I can spend time with my dearest “bros” and “gal pals” and treasure a moment with them and, you know, have fun.
That isn’t to say that junior prom wasn’t a memorable thing. But that isn’t to say that prom was one of my fondest memories, although enjoyable for the parts that I could bear. The point of prom, like all other events in high school, is to give students fond memories of the meandering and ever-limited times we have in youth. However, that memory, for everyone who partakes in prom, is of dressing up in intricate outfits to only later sweat in them, a short meal, arranged seating and, like I have mentioned before, a mosh pit of people dancing to the words, “To the window, to the wall, to the sweat drop down my–.” But I’ll just stop right there and let yourself fill in the blank.
Tradition is long gone. Slow dancing has been replaced with overly sexual moves that are the exact reason there are so many chaperones. Live music is slowly dying off, to be replaced by DJs who encourage this provocative behavior with homogeneous song choices. In fact, what has ever happened to the intimacy with asking someone out to prom? I suppose that instead of saying things to someone face to face doesn’t have the same effect as holding a sign making you choose either “yes” or “maybe”. Because that’s exactly how I wanted to be asked to prom, with a multiple choice quiz.
People place such a high priority on prom, as though it is some sort of spectacular spectacular when in actuality, that is simply their opinion. Not everyone is able to enjoy the splendors of prom as others are able to and when people ask the questions, “Oh, why aren’t you going to prom?” or, “Why sit down here when everyone is dancing?” they well know the answer to that. It’s like asking someone who’s allergic to dogs why they don’t have one as a pet.
Now, there is nothing wrong with enjoying prom, because frankly, there are many that do. But those who choose not to go, don’t need to worry about their decision and others don’t need to worry about it either; there are other events that one can participate in to create memories. Prom is but a single instance in saga of your life and you aren’t missing much.
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