Ever Memorable Or Perhaps Not

The older couple was eating dinner in a nice restaurant when they noticed the young couple, all dressed up for the prom, eating at a table nearby.

Perhaps the couple remembered back into time. Remembered being teens, how nervous they felt on dates, how it was always slightly embarrassing to eat a fancy dinner in front of each other, how it felt to be so young, their entire lives waiting to be filled in with experience.

The young couple finished the meal and asked for the bill. Oh, the waiter said, it’s already been taken care of. By then, the older couple was gone. Their thanks? The memories the younger couple generated.

It’s prom season. Monday, in the newspaper’s Our Generation section, readers learned that proms have become quite pricey. A “budget” prom - thrift-shop dress, dinner at home - costs about $100. A bar-no-expenses prom can cost almost $800. There is surely some lesson in all that money being spent on just one night, but let’s focus on different lessons.

Although proms are rather shallow on the surface, they do offer some interesting perspectives on life. Call it prom as metaphor.

First, the expectations. All the preparation, all the money, all the hype raises hopes that prom night will be one to remember always. But sometimes, the evening disappoints. Your date is a dud. You hate your dress. You spill salad dressing on your tux jacket. The dance itself is kind of boring and your old girlfriend, the one you still pine for, is there with a new guy and she looks so happy. And by the way, your curfew is 1 a.m., while your friends have permission to stay out all night.

The long-lasting lesson? The magic moments in life can often not be prepared for. They just happen, sometimes on mundane days in the course of mundane doings.

And then there is the lesson learned when you lack a date for the prom. What the years reveal is that it’s OK sometimes to not be part of the crowd, not buy into a trend, not participate in a must-attend event. Life goes on and creativity can often be found in occupying yourself while everyone else is otherwise occupied.

In addition to the lessons of prom season, some realities exist, too. Young people need to be careful these weekend nights, driving and partying. And adults, with memories of prom nights long ago, must be attentive, too.

Take pictures of the smiling prom couples and then give the usual warnings: Don’t drink. Drive carefully. Be kind to your date. Show some manners. And have some fun. You’ll remember the night forever, but the memories might be quite different than you can imagine now.