In the neophyte minds of a 16, 17 and 18 year old prom sometimes means everything! The public school I started out at had it right in that all grades (9th - 12th) could attend! Most schools only had a Jr/Sr prom! But old Gadsden High School had the vision! Maybe it was the fact that all the upperclassmen girls dated us underclassmen boys! While my friends managed to show up with Seniors I was only cool enough to be asked out by a Junior! I guess dating guys who cannot yet drive or shave is bound to be the ultimate revenge of immasculation to your ex boyfriend jock senior! But whatever the reasoning it was light, fun and validating.
By the time I had moved into a Christian private school I was a sophomore which meant I could not attend unless asked out by an upperclassman. I guess private school girls must have been prudish. For me nor my friends were able to escape the lonesome bedrooms of cassette tapes (yes, I know) Vaseline, "nudey booty" magazines or memories of those upper class men girls back at the old school who did ask us out. Well, my time finally came! Junior year was a wash as I asked out a real statuesque gal one grade below due to being encouraged by my brother to do so! She was statuesque alright! Not for being majestic, beautiful and tall. But displaying the innate ability to not want to dance or talk at all.
Senior year, it finally popped! It took me awhile longer this time to find a good fit. Well, actually it was a girl that had had a crush on me (while I had a crush on an upperclassmen named Brooke- who repeatedly turned me and my friends down for dates-so high school huh) during my sophomore year but now dated a baseball player at a public school by the name of Zach (common name for males in north Alabama- who all seemed to play baseball and drive pick-em-up trucks) So, remembering she may be willing I went to Zach and asked his permission! He consented ( he had no choice, I played football) and Betsy and I had a good time! Of course friends of mine had fun trying to convince me Zach had changed his mind and wanted to beat me up!
Dustin (another common name for males in Alabama- and common names of guys who cruise town looking for girls in their pick ups with guys named Zach) asked a cute girl from Taco Bell to prom! I invited them to a pre prom dinner party at my home and they obliged! As Dustin spent most the night drinking whiskey I spent the time I was not with Betsy with his date dancing, petting and getting too darn close with someone else's date. Whatever the case it was fun and no one seemed to care. Everyone shared a quick laugh reminiscing about the time, two years prior, that Frank Ing inhaled too much helium at a prom prep function trying to be funny, only to pass out with the helium bottle falling down and hitting him sqaure on the taters. But, as the night progressed I learned that proms are not what they are made out to be. It was just a time of fun and fellowship! And as Zach and Dustin probably sat back and watched me dance with their gals they probably realized it to. The illegal beer they had must have been good. The time we all had that night, looking back on it must have been GREAT!
Dedicated To Zach & Dustin (Two Great Alabamians)
