{"id":82550,"date":"2019-06-03T15:00:57","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T15:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"\/rcntv\/?p=82550"},"modified":"2023-02-14T20:22:38","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T20:22:38","slug":"prom-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/prom-story\/","title":{"rendered":"A Prom Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.<\/strong><\/em>
\nThis is not my usual blog about sports, so if that is what you were expecting, just stop reading now.\u00a0 I truly will understand.<\/p>\n

Instead, since the local papers this past month have been featuring photographs from proms of the Lehigh Valley high schools, it made me reflect back on my own prom many, many years ago.\u00a0 Things have not changed much.<\/p>\n

I know I was nervous.\u00a0 I was meeting my date\u2019s parents for the first time.\u00a0 They were Ukrainian and spoke very little English.\u00a0 I was leery about my ability to show them my charm and wit if they would have trouble understanding me.\u00a0 But, I figured what are a few minutes of idle \u201cmisunderstanding\u201d?\u00a0 I would be in and out.\u00a0 No harm done.<\/p>\n

Of course, when I showed up at the house, their daughter was not ready.\u00a0 I was left alone.\u00a0 I quickly discovered that Europeans feel that hospitality means sharing an alcoholic drink.\u00a0 I was certainly aware that I could not legally drink, but I was also aware that it might be rude to turn down the offer.\u00a0 And, what could one drink hurt, anyway?<\/p>\n

The drink was called a \u201ckamikaze\u201d!\u00a0 Yes, the same term used by the Japanese when a pilot was going to end his life during a military battle.\u00a0 It contained nothing but alcohol.\u00a0 The mixture was a special brew concocted by the host.\u00a0 It was as powerful a potion as you could imagine.<\/p>\n

After a couple of sips, I no longer cared if their daughter ever got ready.\u00a0 I was feeling GOOD!!\u00a0 She could take her time and I would allow myself to be entertained.\u00a0 I even began to believe that after a few more sips, I was beginning to understand Ukrainian.<\/p>\n

Luckily and probably to my benefit, my date came down the steps.\u00a0 She looked absolutely beautiful.\u00a0 I now was woozy from the drink and just as woozy from her appearance.\u00a0 She looked absolutely beautiful.\u00a0 I remember how nervous I was pinning on the corsage.\u00a0 It was in an area where only bad things could happen.\u00a0 Somehow, I managed to get the task accomplished.\u00a0 There was no blood.\u00a0\u00a0 The required pictures were taken and off we went.<\/p>\n

The prom was held in the high school gymnasium.\u00a0 When we arrived, parents had formed two lines, much like cheerleaders form when their team is running out on the field.\u00a0 The \u201coohing\u201d and \u201cahhing\u201d was nice.\u00a0 I guess we looked pretty good.\u00a0 The only thing missing was a PA announcer prefacing our arrival to the gym door with formal introductions \u2013 probably would have been a nice touch.<\/p>\n

We waited for others to arrive.\u00a0 One classmate had rented a big Cadillac and we wanted to see him arrive.\u00a0 He pulled into the parking lot.\u00a0 We noticed that he could barely see over the dash.\u00a0 It appeared he had to look through the vent of the car just to know where he was going.\u00a0 He decided to back into a space.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure when he turned around to see where he was going, all he saw was the headrest.\u00a0 He backed right into a concrete pillar.\u00a0 There was glass and metal everywhere.\u00a0 Those of us who watched offered our condolences.\u00a0 We convinced the couple to have fun and we would deal with their accident later.\u00a0 Little did we know he would later damage the front of the car when pulling into his driveway and banging into a telephone pole (true story).<\/p>\n

The prom went off without a hitch.\u00a0 Up next was the after-prom party, held at a classmate\u2019s home.\u00a0 It was fun; there was drinking, but not by me (despite my earlier experience with the \u201ckamikaze\u201d). Beer was the drink of the night and I hated the taste of beer, so I did not partake.\u00a0 As everyone began to get weary, I vividly recall the final sounds of the prom \u2013 fellow classmates vomiting throughout the night in the bathroom.\u00a0 In case you\u2019ve never experienced it, it is very hard to get sleep while others wretch their guts out.<\/p>\n

Hangovers abounded the next day, but the prom officially ended with everyone arriving home safely.<\/p>\n

By the way, my date that night became my wife.\u00a0 I drank a few more kamikazes in her home before her parents passed away and I still get a little woozy when she gets all dolled up and I am awaiting her at the bottom of our staircase!<\/p>\n

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The Dodgers<\/a> just swept the Phillies<\/a> and the Yankees<\/a> took the weekend series with the Red Sox<\/a>. They appear to be the best teams in baseball right now.\u00a0 It could be a throwback to the day when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn and the Yankees in the Bronx.\u00a0 It would be a great World Series.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. They say the apple doesn\u2019t fall far from the tree. We\u2019ll see.\u00a0 Bill Belichick\u2019s daughter, Amanda, was just hired to coach the Holy Cross<\/a> women\u2019s lacrosse team.\u00a0 That means she will coach in the Patriot League <\/a>against Lafayette<\/a> and Lehigh<\/a>.\u00a0 She recently coached at Wesleyan<\/a> and they went from #49 in the national rankings to #17 under her guidance.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. I am not sure how the Golden State Warriors<\/a> do it, but they sure make NBA<\/a> basketball fun to watch. They work exceptionally hard, play tough defense, and overcome injury after injury.\u00a0 They could lose this series because the Raptors<\/a> are very good, but it will not be because they don\u2019t give it everything they have.\u00a0 That\u2019s all you ask of a professional.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. Congratulations to the Liberty<\/a> and Notre Dame<\/a> baseball teams and coaching staff for winning the District XI<\/a> baseball championships. And congratulations to the District committee for giving the players the opportunity to play their title games at Coca-Cola Park.\u00a0 What a thrill for them.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. Blue Mountain League<\/a> baseball coverage begins next Tuesday and continues to the playoffs. The BML Game of the Week comes on at 9:30 PM.\u00a0 Join the RCN-TV sports team.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

             <\/p>\n

             <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. This is not my usual blog about sports, so if that is what you were expecting, just stop reading now.\u00a0 I truly will understand….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Prom Story - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Prom Story - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. 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