Forty years ago, I went to my senior prom. Unlike today, it was only socially acceptable to go to prom if you had a date. My date was a boy who I had gone out with for a while, but I knew I didn’t want to continue dating. When I broke up with him, I told him it was okay if he didn’t want to go to prom, but we still liked each other as friends, so he wanted to go.
That was the point I ceased to have any romantic expectations, and I was not nervous about the night. I decided the dress I had gotten for my cousin’s wedding was good enough. The night quickly became a comedy of errors, and it didn’t take long to know it was good that my expectations were low.
It started when he picked me up wearing a powder-blue tuxedo; shiny, white shoes; and a ruffled shirt. It was a bit much, even for that era. It was not what I would have chosen for him to wear, but I didn’t complain. The dance was held outside of our small town, and we weren’t sure how to get there. We passed the entrance. That wouldn’t have been a big deal except when we pulled into a parking lot a little further on to turn around, someone rear-ended us on our way back out to the street. So, I, in my heels, and he, in his slick, white shoes, got out to check the car. No real damage was done, and we were fine, so to the prom we went.
We spoke with a few people and then went out to dance. Our bad luck continued when he twisted his knee on our first attempt. This was unfortunate because we weren’t bad dancers. We had been practicing our disco moves in my basement. (It was the 70’s, after all.) We sat down and talked for a bit and decided if we couldn’t dance, we could get our picture taken.
As things went, this took longer than we thought, and by the time we were done, we couldn’t make it back to our small town for our dinner reservation. Half joking, I suggested we drive through McDonald’s and take the food back to my house to eat. I think we made the worker’s night. How many customers did he get driving up wearing a powder-blue tuxedo? Somewhere there is a picture of me sitting at my kitchen table all dressed up taking my first bite of a quarter-pounder. After that, we kissed each other good night and goodbye.
My senior prom may not be one of the best experiences of my life, but it is still one of my most memorable. We can become so disappointed when an experience doesn’t live up to our expectations that we don’t enjoy the experience for what it turns out to be. I’m still thankful that that boy and I saw the humor and took it all as it came.