Prom 2004

I recently went to the Chapel Hill High School Junior/Senior Prom. That's right, ladies and gentlemen. I, Stephen Rintoul, went to my prom. In case you aren't aware of the huge coup for all of geek-kind that this is, I'll enlighten you. It's a huge coup. Huge. I did the whole "rent a tux buy a corsage go to dinner take a girl dancing for hours then go to somebody's house and watch a movie before going to somebody else's house and eating a 4AM breakfast followed by going home at six and sleeping until noon" thing. This event is unprecedented. Let's revisit the last time I went to a dance. Take a trip with me into my past...

Time: 8 PM, sometime in 2000. Place: Gymnasium, McDougle Middle School.

As the car pulled up to the curb and I stepped out into the rain, I asked myself, how did they convince me to do this, again? Waving a solemn goodbye to my father, I walked deliberately toward the door, becoming increasingly aware of the thudding bass beat emanating from the cavern of darkness that my gymnasium had become. Fortunately, there was a well-lit foyer, where I was able to discern some familiar faces. Peering into the gym, I saw a mass of humanity pulsing and surging in time to the music, if it could be called music. What am I doing here? I thought to myself, and immediately recoiled back into a brightly lit, solitary corner of the foyer. I don't dance. I reflected upon the conversation which had brought me here.

"How come you never go to any of the dances, Stephen?" my father asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. Just not really my thing, Dad."
"Hmph! How would you know that unless you tried it?"

So there I was, trying it. It was as I expected, however. I wasn't enjoying myself. Whether it was out of a stubborn determination not to enjoy myself or an inherent inadaptability to the lifestyle of my peers, couldn't be known. What was clear, however, was that this would be the last dance I attended for a long time.

Back to the Future

And so it took me by surprise when I was asked to the prom and I found myself saying "Yes" in spite of myself. Not only that, but promising to dance immediately afterward when prompted. What had gotten into me? It turns out, however, that I did enjoy myself, despite an expectation not to. I enjoyed myself immensely. Dancing really isn't that bad, when you get down to it. I can think of at least a few slightly more embarassing ways to spend my time.

But maybe the best influence on me to have fun was my date, Leigha. She was really fun to dance with and we had an incredible time together. While (fortunately) there are no pictures of me dancing, there is one of the two of us together.

Aren't we cute? We went to dinner with another pair at Zorba's. It was really good food. I enjoyed it a lot. After dinner, we went ahead to the prom, which was held at the Chapel Hill Sheraton. There I danced. For hours. It was really surprising how fast the time went by. The middle school dance (my only frame of reference) went on interminably. It seemed as if it would never end. The prom, on the other hand, was positively ephemeral.

At midnight (the official end) the four of us went to change out of our formal wear and then went to Leigha's house to watch Officespace, which is one of the best movies on the planet. That lasted us until about 3 AM, after which we all slept in her living room for an hour and a half. Then we went to eat an early breakfast at Susie's house (she was the other girl) and made terrible sleepy conversation until almost six, at which point I came home and slept until noon.

And as a direct result of this, Ashwin has rescinded my geek license until further notice.