Bob CollinsWe have noted in this space the increasing scourge of wedding proposals. It’s too late to stop it.
But prom proposals? There’s still time to save the planet.
NPR’s Monkey See blog “investigates” the latest trend of kids making big productions out of asking a girl to the prom.
Furthermore, high school guys, it must be said, have enough pressure on them already (despite the influence of feminism, I think many of them would tell you they are expected to do the asking, even more at 17 or 18 than later on). Enough of them are sitting around trying to figure out how to do the simple, “Hey, would you like to go to the prom?” kind of proposal. I don’t want to set them up to feel like they have to have a panic attack about how to involve props, games, fireworks, dogs, cats, parents, school assemblies, the football team, or a flash mob. Believe it or not, when I was in school, getting a limo for prom was considered kind of a show-offy thing to do. Now? Pfft. You’d better bring it more than that, buddy.
I’m not sure it’s great for the girls, either. The road of confusing the size/expense/extravagance of a gesture with the sentiment behind it is a long, awful, heartbreaking path to follow. This is how you wind up with ladies shrieking “MY DAY! MY DAY!” on Bridezillas and thinking they’re just sticking up for their dignity.
