The teenage ritual varies by child
By Staff
Leada Gore, Editor
If you ever want to study the fundamental differences between men and women, especially those of the teenage variety, I suggest you look at the annual ritual known as prom.
And, as my contribution to this study, let’s look at two subjects, A and B, A being a 17-year-old boy, B being a 17-year old girl.
Subject A is an all-around good kid. He makes excellent grades, doesn’t get in trouble and, except for an inability to put his shoes in the closet or the milk back in the refrigerator, is a good kid. A senior, he asks a girl to the prom and makes plans accordingly. For a boy, these plans mean picking out a tuxedo and making dinner reservations. That’s pretty much it. Any attempts to get more involvement or excitement over the event are met with a shrug of the shoulders.
On prom day, Subject A tells his family he’s picking his date up at 4:30 p.m. He starts getting ready about 3:45 p.m. but only after his father tells him to get going so he won’t be late. He picks up his lovely date, takes her to eat, attends the prom and post-prom festivities and comes home. The next morning, he tells all he had a good time but doesn’t elaborate.
And that, as they say, is that.
Now let’s take a look at Subject B. She, too, is attending a prom. Her preparation started several months ago, when she and her mother spent weeks looking for the right dress. Once it was located, she turned her attention to shoes, jewelry and purse. Then she spent time searching for the correct hairdo inspiration and making appointments for nails, makeup, tanning, hair and massage, the latter of which she needed to overcome the stress of planning all the other items.
Her prom day preparations began at 8 a.m. with massage, followed by nail appointment at 10 a.m. Hair was done by 1 p.m. and makeup by 2 p.m. Then, she returned home to dress, spending at least 30 minutes debating if she had truly made the best prom dress purchase.
Her date arrived at 5 p.m. and she and her friends spent an hour comparing flowers, shoes, hair, etc. while the dates stood around looking befuddled (see info on Subject A above).
Like Subject A, she then goes to dinner – but won’t eat so she doesn’t mess up her dress – and to the dance itself. She attends a post-prom breakfast and arrives home. The next morning, she wakes up and tells her parents (OK, her mother) all about the event – what her date said, what the decorations were, what she ordered at the restaurant and how she can’t believe Friend A wore a dress so much like her own even though Friend A knew what Subject B was wearing.)
And that, as they say, is that.
Which way is right? Who’s to say? But, being a Subject B myself, I have to admit I err on the side of too much information. And I can’t believe she wore that dress either.
