In the few times I've heard Prom mentioned in passing before my senior year and in class this year, I didn't think much on it. I never looked forward to it, only cringed at the thought that I might have to actually buy some 'special' dress to wear on what I heard adults often refer to as what's supposed to be "the best night" of my life. Entering high school, I found this idea to be immensely disappointing. I've never liked parties, loud music, or being around most people in my grade and not to mention, I'm still in high school. If that's when the best night of my life if supposed to happen, then what's the point to any life outside of high school? What would be the point of college or even getting a job if we're supposed to be forever immortalized at a moment in our youth, dressed to the nines, grasping tightly to the hands of our date or friend as we await Prom King and Queen to be announced?
I'll be honest, compared to the rest of my peers, I probably don't know nearly as much as they do when it comes to what may or may not happen on a Prom night. I don't read magazines, especially not ones where pages are devoted to anything about Prom and I rarely watch movies that even mention prom. Off the top of my head, the only ones I can think of with a Prom Scene or focus are Back to the Future, Grease, the Virgin Suicides, Mean Girls, Prom Night (a horror film), and when I took my cousin to see Twilight for her birthday. All I really got out of those was that you needed a date, a nice dress, you'd probably get drunk and you'd either get made fun of for wearing a 'bad' dress or everyone would be annoying you with comments about how they didn't think or know you could look good. Of course, sitting on the 'bleachers' is an option but I don't see the point of even going if someone knew they were going to be one of these people. With these preconceived notions in mind and the fact that college is just around the corner, bringing with it oodles of loans and debt that are still hard to conceptualize, I would never be able to justify the price of a prom ticket costing more than $50. Even though my grandfather offered to pay for the complete cost of my ticket and any dress I wanted, that seems like a lot of money, too much money really. Add the fact that it's expected of girls to buy at least a new dress and that cost just higher.
A new dress and heels is something I can justify even less - what's wrong with clothes we might have hanging in our closets? I know even if I was going to prom, I have a black gothic looking dress with a high collar that I got for Christmas that I would wear. I think of the night in terms of cost per wear, Prom as a rule is a complete and total waste, especially for kids our age. I highly doubt any girl would ever wear her dress ever again, unless she dies young in which case, our last unit's reading informed me that people will often have their daughter buried in her dress with her hair and makeup done the same night as her Prom as it will be on her corpse. Maybe for a guy, the investment of a suit is worth it because they can wear it in future interviews but since they cost so much money, I would expect them to either borrow the suit or rent it. But all of this I think has to do with the fact that "this is the best night of our lives" - so why would any of us look at a price tag and think past the moment of that one night?
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