Prom is the quintessential high school experience…full of dread! I went to an all-girls high school and barely kept in touch with the boys from my elementary school. So, being overweight, nerdy and self-conscious made it hard to find a date, which was a requirement in order to attend the party you experience only once in your lifetime. With no Facebook and Twitter to make the process easier, I hesitantly began my search.
I eventually bumped into a male friend after school one day and after we exchanged a few phone calls, I finally asked him out. Notice. This was the first time I ever went out with a boy and I had to ask him out. I know it is somewhat backward thinking, but I always fancied the idea of a boy asking me out. Sometime after that, I managed to secure a powder blue dress that promised to hide all of my imperfections. I later informed my date of the color since “matching” started to trend at the time. And finally, I made my mom put my hair in a bun because I didn’t want to spend more money at a hair salon.
My dad picked me up in his car (Notice: I didn’t want to make my parents spend more money on a limo!) and we picked up my date from there. My date and I got to the prom site, we took our pictures, we danced, we mingled, and the night was over in a matter of hours. One thing, though. One thing nagged me throughout the duration of the prom. My date never game me a corsage. It was the first thing I noticed when he got into my dad’s car and the last thing I thought about when I went to sleep that night. All of the girls had corsages except me.
For a time I blamed Vicenzo Santorini from Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Watch this clip to understand my theory. Of course, that’s what I told myself to laugh it off.
Deep down inside, I really wanted a corsage! I know it’s a childish notion, but it’s a tradition and the symbol you see most often in movies and television when the boy and girl meet after hours of preparation. It’s the finishing touch to the whole ensemble and I never got one.
Mark my words, one day I will get my corsage (preferably it will come from a significant other) and I will surely flail with happy corsage feels. Here’s hoping there’s a corsage in the future with my name on it.
Until next time, flail on!
Top Image Credit: lehcar1477 on flickr.
I had NO idea you went to an all girls high school.
Naturally since I never went to an American high school the whole prom hype has never fully made sense to me, but what does make sense is how important it is to other people. So I am glad that you attended because I know quite a few people wh did not.
You will get your corsage Jo. You may have waited longer than some others to get it, but it will come
Yeah, it took me a little while to realize that the concept of a prom is mainly American. I wonder how it came about? This calls for a Wikipedia search! Anyway, when I look back on it, the whole thing is really just a silly dance with drama tossed…but I still want my corsage! haha!
For me, in the UK the prom was a really strange thing. We as a year group tried to take it seriously but it didn’t work. And I’d heard of corsages in American movies and shows and had no idea what they were until a few years ago, so safe to say I never got one too but then I never knew that they existed.
You will get one Jo and it will be magnificent