Hot situation livens up recent prom night

Proms are meant to be memorable experiences. Some turn out to be more memorable, perhaps, than we’d like.

Last Saturday night was senior prom night for Post Falls High School. It was a festive occasion indeed, especially for the 16 students and dates, including my daughter, Christine, who had rented a 20-passenger Hummer 2 limousine for the night.

In the late afternoon, we parents were allowed into the ritual briefly. We were on hand to take pictures of the pre-prom spectacle as the limo picked everyone up outside The Coeur d’Alene Resort.

The day had been spent in hectic, tear-inspiring frustration over the slowness of the process and, in some cases, the result of the process.

In Christine’s case, the dress that fit perfectly when she bought it didn’t fit that afternoon. According to her younger brother, “You’ve been eating too much.” Her hair had been done in Spokane, and her nails had been done in Spokane Valley that same day.

I arrived, on time, at the resort to watch the photo session. But Christine didn’t arrive for another 40 minutes or so; neither did at least half the other girls. It was quite a show.

Most of the guys initially were trying to strut in their tuxedos, but they were too stiff and uncomfortable so they ended up huddling mostly to one side.

Other guys were walking way too fast for their dates, who were trying to keep up in high heels and tight dresses – I think they were dresses.

You’d imagine that after spending hundreds of dollars on a dress, the girls would have been instructed by the clerks or the girls’ mothers on how to wear the outfits without having to hike up the tops every three minutes. But apparently they were not.

The kids were headed for some unfortunate eating establishment – and its unsuspecting waiters and regular patrons – in Spokane. Meanwhile, some Spokane couples were arriving at the resort for their pre-prom dinners.

Imagine: eight boisterous young men, eight nervously laughing young women, forgotten or tripped-over manners and small tips.

The limo left – they can’t pay that driver enough – and the onlookers dispersed.

Later, just about the time the dance was to start at the high school and just as the limo got to Seltice Avenue and state Highway 41, the kids noticed a motorcyclist in the next lane giving them a bad time. They made out something about a “tire.” Finally, they realized he was yelling “fire.”

Everyone piled out of the vehicle to find smoke pouring from the right front wheel well. The driver didn’t have a fire extinguisher, so Christine – always one to take matters into her own hands – hiked up her full-length extra-poofy prom dress and started ordering everyone around, having the guys splash all the Gatorade she could find at the source of the smoke.

As the kids hoofed it over Seltice Avenue to get out of the traffic, the driver pulled the limping Hummer into a nearby gas station – just the sort of place I’d want to take a burning vehicle for assistance.

I’m sure there was no shortage of cell phones at hand, so police and fire assistance soon was on its way.

So were parents. You think the wheel was hot.

Kids had to be ferried over to the high school and, after the dance, back into Coeur d’Alene, where they had left their cars.

Neither parents nor promgoers were happy with that arrangement. Are parents supposed to know precisely when their high-school children will leave the dance? I don’t think so.

The kids had shelled out $1,400 for the limo. Christine, known for her shrewd business sense from working in the school store, was put on the phone with the limo company manager in Spokane.

She offered $350 in compensation for the inconvenience. Christine wasn’t having it, suggesting $800 was more realistic. The driver finally had to intervene, retrieving his cell phone.

At last report, the situation remains unresolved.

When asked for details of how the fire had started, Christine said it happened while they were smoking cigars in the back of the limo and someone spilled their drink on an ashtray. Anyway, that’s the story going around school this week.

Christine could not, however, make clear how the fire got from the passenger section to the front tire, so I am a little skeptical of the explanation. Otherwise, it sounded pretty plausible.

A friend pointed out that despite the kids not having the more traditional end to a senior prom – mine was 36 years ago; what is “the more traditional end to a senior prom”? – the night definitely was a memory-maker.