The BIG Night

Recently, I've been reminiscing about a little thing called Prom. Do you remember your prom night? Dressing up in overpriced duds, driving to the florist to pick up the lovely corsage/buttoner, doing your hair and make up over and over again in front of the mirror as you moan and complain about the brand new zit that just appeared.

Posing with your date while your parents/their parents take thousands of pictures. Driving to the prom, tense with anticipation. The arrival, the gushing over friend’s appearances. The obligatory photo op, pasted grins while posing in front of plastic palms. Sweaty palms as you dance to the newest saccharine love song.

Drinking tropical punch out of plastic cocktail glasses. Playing with the candle wax because you are bored out of your mind, and your date is seriously annoying you. Rolling your eyes as the girls leave like a flock of hens to "powder their noises". The endless gossip in the bathrooms as the girls chat about who is hooking up with whom.

I went to a formal once, I don’t remember if it was the prom or not, with my boyfriend. He annoyed me so much; I broke up with him the next day. My good friend was dating my boyfriends’ twin brother, and the twins took us to a cruddy burger joint called Hot and Now before the big dance. Imagine being all dressed up in fancy clothes and going to a drive through that sold .33-cent hamburgers. They didn’t even have a dining room, and the guys wouldn’t let us eat our budget burgers in the car. They insisted we drive back to my friend’s house, where we dined in style on our cold meal. They only reason we ended up going through the drive through is because they had forgotten to make reservations at the appropriate restaurant.

I actually had a good senior prom. The year was 1994. I went with a dear friend, who I had a massive crush on at the time. We both worked together at Burger King. Mostly on cash, but sometimes in the back. I remember making burgers together. Many high jinks insued.

I asked him to the dance. I did that a lot in high school. I didn't have the patience to wait for the boys to untie their tongues and pop the question. We would talk for hours and hours at work, joke around, and hang out. We would talk for hours on the phone almost every night. He loved Mariah Carey, and I loved the Beatles.

Anyway, the night of the prom, he gave me a dozen roses instead of a crappy corsage. I thought it was the sweetest thing. We went over to his dad's house, and his dad make creepy comments while snapping pictures. His dad was an interesting ex-army guy who at that time was an army recruiter.

We had a great time, and although we never actually dated, we still remain the best of friends. I was talking to him just last night, and he asked me if I remembered the vest he wore to the dance. He thought it was ugly, I thought it matched my dress perfectly. I'll let you decide.

I wanted my friend Eric to be the "maid of honor" at my wedding, but I chickened out, as my husband and I were married in a Catholic church, and I didn't have the balls to ask the priest if it would be okay. Somehow, I didn't think the Priest would go for it. .

Also, I have a picture of my best friends and I at another formal. They will probably kill me for posting this, but I couldn't resist. Besides, doesn't everyone have big hair and dresses on prom day? Remember this is circa 1992-1993. Let me know some memories about your prom!