In the spotlight

For those of you who don't know me very well I will now let you in on a secret.

I don't like being in the spotlight very much.

I would much rather be stage crew or the equivalent most of the time.

When I was in school I went out of my way to never attract attention to myself. I am not quite sure then how I wound up dating a young man who did things just to get reactions out of other people. His name was Randy and he was quite fun. He dressed as a goth and was quite well known at our school.

So we went to prom together. We showed up late to skip the big ostentatious parade of peers entering.

There was another young lady that we went to school with who fashion-wise and counter culture-wise was much more in line with Randy. Her name was Angela. She wore a spiked collar necklace, had dyed hair and extreme make up. She and Randy were a far more logical pair if you looked at it from a style perspective.

To this day I do not understand the point of home coming court or prom court or any other ridiculous popularity contests. However, despite my indifference, the school did have a prom court. So when it came time to present the popular kids, the court lined up to march onto the stage. There the local paper and school year book staff would take pictures.

I will also admit to you, that I find prom to be a very over rated dance. Seriously, it is just another dance. Much as I love dances, I don't see the big deal here. But that is why you go with someone like Randy who makes it far more memorable.

The court members happened to line up next to where we had been standing. Suddenly Randy and Angela came up with a fabulous plan.

They would be part of the court. Oh no, they weren't elected, or even on the ballot. But they found a place in the middle of the line where they simply inserted themselves.

If you are wondering about how I felt while my prom date walked off with another woman I can assure you I was simply laughing, hard.

So up onto the stage they marched as the MC announced the members of the court. And then those in charge started to panic as there were two people, dressed in black, one with lots of jewelry and make up,  standing there among all the beautiful well dressed popular kids, having their pictures taken who were not on the list. There was much agitated arm waving from the principal signaling to get off the stage.

They did comply. They weren't out for a fight, just a memory.

I stood and laughed. No, I had no desire to be the one standing in front of them all, but I really enjoyed the break of standard behavior.

That was my favorite part of senior prom. Sadly, I did not take a picture and the only one that I knew of its location appears to have been lost. That is one my memories. It makes me smile.