In a message dated 3/23/02 4:08:30 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: << I was probably about 20 so around '75 would be
right. I felt somewhat vindicated by the success of this song. It really felt good to hear someone express it so beautifully. Mark E in Seattle who never attended a prom or a high school reunion >> Wow!!! You remembered the whole lyric! God, seeing them all brings back how hard that song hit me the first time I heard it. I actually (gulp, blush) wept. The odd thing -- or, upon reflection, not really so odd -- is that I went to five proms. Honest to god. Some of my "dates" were girls I actually liked, some of them were friends of my sister's -- one of them is still a close friend of mine. But they all went with me (I think I asked two, and three asked me) because I was "safe" -- i.e., not likely to make a pass. True enough! Of the five proms, the one I had the most fun at was the last one, my sister Pat's senior prom (she was two years behind me in high school); she and her best friend rented jet black fifties-style cocktail dresses for themselves, and rented top hats and tails for me and Paul, a buddy of mine from college. My sister's friend, my date, was named "Carol". When the jock "usher" came to us and asked our names, we gave them as "Carol Burnett and her date, Walter Matthau". He had no reaction to the names -- hard to believe, even now -- and proceded to introduce us as such to all and sundry in the greeting line -- but just as we were about to be introduced to the Mayor and his wife, a former teacher of mine heard our "names", pulled us away and, giggling, scolded us. All of this -- our attire (dressed as we were, in '75, when pastel tuxedos and gowns were the style) and attitudes -- were my sister's and her friend's way of thumbing their noses at the jock-and-cheerleader aristocracy; it was fun, sort of, but all we got from the "target group" were puzzled stares. Ah, memories. I hadn't thought of that in years. I never have attended a high school reunion, either, Mark. Couldn't see the point. Peace, to nerds and non-nerds alike! Walt
