Teens spending as much as $3k on Prom these days...

[TheMightyFavog]

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/23159.htm

April 25, 2004 -- It's prom season - and fun-loving teens from the posh private schools of the Upper East Side to the parochial institutes of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, are shelling out as much as $3,000 each on one night of romance and revelry



(Yeah, I know It's Murdoch's rag, and the only good thing about it is that it beats the TP ou find in most government buildings, but I found this interesting anyway.)

They're spending it on 34 foot stretch Hummers, (I'm talking the SUV here, so get your minds out of the gutter!) Rolls-Royce limos, and shiatsu massages!

Crap, I spent less money for my 95 Cutlass Ciera than what these kids are shelling out! Um Gott es willen!

[candy]

1. When did teenagers start ruling the world?

As a mother and grandmother this entire thing shocks me.

[THUNDER HANDS]

7. when young baby boomers started to give it to them

in exchange for their "love."

[Screaming Lord Byron]

21. Woah! Profundity from the Rat!

Good call, man. That totally nails the whole thing.

[indigo32]

46. Yup

[blondeatlast]

32. There are books and videos that teach marketers how to

draw teenagers and YOUNGER.

It makes me sick--if I didn't WORK at our local library, I'd fill out a Request for Reconsideration on the damn things.

The NoLogos crew ought to jump on this.

[arwalden]

2. Wow!

[Triple H]

3. Geez...

prom isn't that important to spend so much money on. I don't understand why parents give their kids money for shit like that. Heck, with $3,000, you can buy a really decent car and have some spending money left over!

[kitkatrose]

4. Hell with that!

I spent about $300 on prom and had a blast, more or less. You're only gonna wear the damn dress and shoes once! Sheesh... what a ripoff...

[Loonman]

5. Getting expensive for awkward, embarrassing...

...sex these days.

[Exultant Democracy]

6. I spent over $1,500 on mine all together

but that includes the four day trip I went on with my friends right after prom.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

8. Because they're deeply insecure and desperate to conform.

The whole thing is just a useful way to reinforce the high-school popularity hierarchy.

[Exultant Democracy]

13. Don't you see that as a little judgmental?

I don't know anyone that was thinking about the "high-school popularity hierarchy" when they planed their prom. They think about their date, having some nice pictures, and then having their last blow out party of high school.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

14. No. That's just how I see the prom.

Our school prom was just an exercise in popularity designed to reinforce the self-image of some, and make others (particularly poorer students) feel inadequate. In my opinion, that's all Proms are. They represent the last event of high-school before people can escape its artificial restrictions into the real world of college and work.
That's probably why I didn't get asked.

[Triple H]

15. That's how I viewed my proms as well.

The "rich" (I put rich in quotes because they weren't really rich...just rich wannabes) came in limos and nice tuxedos while us poor kids wore some cheap-looking suits.

It was all about popularity. That's what prom was about and that's why I never went.

[Exultant Democracy]

18. But you don't know these people who you are

calling desperate. You don't know where they got the money, or how "popular" they were in high school. I know plenty of people who had never even been on a date till prom.

"They represent the last event of high-school before people can escape its artificial restrictions into the real world of college and work."

You don't that this is an important thing to recognize, every culture has some type of coming of age event. Many families spend $10,000 or more on bar mitzvahs, and that is just for one person, put in that contexts $3,000 for two people doesn't seem so outrageous.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

20. I don't think so. To me the $3,000 is an appalling waste.

The only coming of age I ever needed involved having sex or getting much more drunk than is reasonable. Cost me about $40 all told.

[chicaloca]

30. yup...

I went to prom from sophomore year on, and it was a complete drag....With my group of friends, if one or two people from our group decided to come, we would all have to go to lend moral support to the poor morons who wanted to go in order to prove they were cool.

Interestingly enough, I went to lots of school dances, about half the time with a date and half without, and I found that I had _way_ more fun when I went without a date than with.

Gah. Just hearing about the crap with popularity and the like that goes on in high schools lately, I'm incredibly glad to be out of that hellhole and in college; it really sounds like it's gotten worse in just the last three years or so. And yeah, none of the poor kids at my school ever went to prom. :( I've decided that the next time I visit my parents' place, I'm going pick up my old prom/homecoming dresses and donate them to the Ruby Room, which is a group that gives prom dresses to girls from low-income families.

Edited to add: Grrr...I just found out that the Ruby Room is based in Seattle. I thought they were a nationwide thing. Oh, well--I can probably ship my dresses there.

[SmileyBoy]

29. Very cynical, but I agree 100 percent.

eom

[Screaming Lord Byron]

44. Yeah. I am a misanthropic bastard, I'm afraid.

[Kadie]

9. When they had the prom in our area the other night

I was on my way home from the store when I noticed the kids going to friends houses, having pictures taking etc. The dresses were so beautiful, it looked like they were getting ready for the Oscars. I am sure the parents put down some big bucks.

I remember having to make my own dress for 8th grade graduation because we didn't have the money to buy a dress. It didn't come out very well, and I was so embarrassed that I didn't go. I knew the other girls at the school would be in their fancy store bought dresses and the thought of me going there in my dress made out of material I bought on the clearance shelf actually made me ill. So much pressure on young girls.

I'm glad things like that don't bother me anymore. I'd rather be in a pair of blue jeans anyway.

[eyesroll]

10. I skipped my prom, and went to a comedy club instead

I think I spent $25 on the whole evening.

[devilgrrl]

11. Thankfully I was total loser...

and didn't bother to go. No one aked me anyway, so I never got chance to blow that kind of money.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

12. I would've asked you.

Anyone who calls herself Devilgrrl and likes Nico would be a decent prom date.

[Loonman]

16. I thought you just dumped all over the concept of the prom

:evilgrin:

[Screaming Lord Byron]

17. Yeah, but it's a date, dude! Can't turn that down.

Goodbye Principles!

[devilgrrl]

23. and I would have said yes!

Where were you back them?

BTW, My Bloody Valentine kicks arse! :-)

[Screaming Lord Byron]

24. Cool! I was in Scotland, so I would've had to have flown over

but it would've been worth it!

[Colin Ex]

19. I could buy a lot of records for 3000 dollars.

Could probably re-purchase a lot of my collection on vinyl.

All the kids who weren't douchebags either borrowed tuxedos from someone (such as the band or choir) or bought them straight out of Goodwill.

It's important, though, to recognize that these kids are a HUGE HUGE HUGE minority among most of the prom-goers. The majority of students don't HAVE 3000 dollars to blow on prom. Neither, in a lot of cases, do their families. (My dad, for example, would tell me to go mow the lawn if I asked for 3000 dollars, then would tell me he put it towards housing my dumb ass.)

But I'm pretty sure we can all agree that anybody who throws away 3000 dollars for prom night is an idiot.

-C

[northzax]

26. I don't neccesarily agree

it's all a question of scale, don't you think? and anyone who thinks Prom (and yes, I had a date, and yes, she was rich, so we spent a lot of money) is anything except and uncomfortable party, anyone who thinks it's the highlight of your life, is going to have a pathetic life.

[Endangered Specie]

22. Thats more than I spend on a computer...

not THAT much more though.

[Missy Vixen]

25. We're constantly amazed

The local high school's students have had some interesting experiences since * took office. Unemployment hit so hard here (rural area in Western Washington,) that many of the young people at the high school found themselves the sole income at their house after their parents got laid off. As a result, many of the teens couldn't go to the prom, let alone the "grad party," which is weighing in this year at $180 per kid. Yes, you read that right.

We've donated the admission price for one young person yearly; there were many, many kids who couldn't go last year, but the more affluent parents continue insisting that young Britney or Justin should have dinner at the Space Needle, all night (and very expensive,) go-kart outings, etcetera, for a grad party, instead of planning something a bit more accessible for all students.

About the $3,000 prom: I went to my prom. I borrowed the dress. (Maybe some of the older DU'ers will remember the "Gunne Sax" years. I was so excited to wear one of those dresses.) I went with the valedictorian of our class, who was taking a full load at the local community college and so busy that he didn't learn to drive till after he graduated. His sister chauffered us. We went to dinner at a local restaurant. I'm betting the night cost less than $150.00. I had a wonderful time; I still smile about it 25 years later.

Julie

[geniph]

27. Holy Mother of Gawd!

$3,000?!!! You can put a downpayment on a condo or starter house for that, or buy a decent older car! Good GAWD!

I went to the prom, once in my junior year and once in my senior (hey, I used to be kind of cute even if I was a flaming weirdo). I wore the same dress both years (O the HORROR!), some bizarre little green polyester thing my mother picked off a clearance rack for about $20. My dates both years probably spent about that for their jacket and tie, and in both cases, they borrowed their parents' car (I didn't drive until I was 20, I never needed to until I moved out of the city). The prom tickets were something like $10 each. Both guys bought me dinner - probably about $30 for the pair of us both times (this was a long time ago). Both times, we went to parties at someone's house afterward. Very little money got pumped into the late 70's Seattle economy by me for the prom. I'm a BAD consumer!

[SmileyBoy]

28. I didn't go to my prom, and I'm utterly thankful for it.

What's the point of spending all that money??? It's also just a chance for popular kids to stroke each other's egos anyway. And I wasn't exactly a "popular kid" in high school.

[WoodrowFan]

31. thought you said PORN, not PROM. oops. (NT_

[Throckmorton]

45. Shows you where our minds are,

I thought the exact same thing.

Although, taken as a whole, $3,000 dollars for a Prom is Pornographic in my estimation.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

49. Me too (and many many others I suspect)

And actually I'd consider it less sad if it WAS porn instaead of prom.

[blondeatlast]

33. Just think how much their weddings will cost.

Both have become mockeries of what they once were.

I think hubby and I spent $400 total on our wedding and it was beautiful, simple, and shared only with our closest friends and relatives.

Had a wonderfully fun reception, free of djs, music, and drunkenness.

[Missy Vixen]

42. Average wedding cost now: $20K

>$400 total on our wedding and it was beautiful<

Good for you, blondeatlast! We got married on the cheap as well.

The best thing about it: We've been married longer than the $20-30,000 wedding extravaganzas we've gone to in the past several years.

Julie

[blondeatlast]

43. Yesterday was my 8th anniversary and I'm damn proud of that!

(Even though it was posted on DU as our 27th--my hubby is only 33!)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

50. I spent a grand total or $0 on mine

We just went to the judge. Money was spent on fun things instead.

[geniph]

54. I have a theory

that most marriages last a time that is inversely proportional to the amount of debt racked up for the wedding. In other words, those $20,000 weddings tend to see divorces within two years, whereas those of us who spent $50 on the justice of the peace ceremony at the courthouse stay married forever.

My wedding ended up being free, since we got married in Vegas and hit a jackpot right before we left that paid for the whole thing.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

34. I spent less on my wedding!

This is way beyond the beyond... :wow:

[elcondor]

35. I went last year and spent a grand total of $80

$80 for my dress, I used a nice pair of dress shoes I already had; my boyfriend picked up the tickets; we drove there in his car; and we had dinner at the prom. It's just as well I didn't spend a lot--they had a smoke machine there and we had to leave really early because I'm allergic!

[Deja Q]

36. $3000?!

Stupid selfish imbeciles.

Hummers no less. What a waste of money.

Corporate america has fed into this crap, that's for sure...

Once they find out what the REAL world is like, they'll be doin' this: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

For about that long as well...

[ronnykmarshall]

37. Yikes!

[CO Liberal]

38. In 1971....

...I spent the following to go to my Senior prom, if memory serves correctly:

Tux rental - $20.
Corsage for Girlfriend: - $10.
Bids for Prom - $20.
Photos - $10
Turtle Wax to Polish up Dad's '63 Beetle - $3

Total - $63

And my girlfriend wore a dress she already owned, and went to the hairdresser that afternoon. Guess we got off cheap....

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

39. Yeow-ch... guess I'm lucky?

Here's how May 8th is breaking down for moi:

Dress- 199
Shoes- 10
gloves- 10
Shawl- 5 euros (bought it in spain)

Ticket- 35
Ride- FREE... we're taking our big conversion van =)

[rumguy]

40. damn that's a lot of prom

what the hell are they doing with it all?

[Pithlet]

41. It's obscene

That mentality seems to be creeping into all aspects of childhood. It starts when they're young. Many parents now spend thousands of dollars on their kiddies' birthday parties, and it is expected that it will be reciprocated when your child has one. It's ridiculous, and I don't plan on buying into that whole high pressure, materialistic, rampant over-consumerism with my kids.

[Scooter24]

47. costly

I went to boarding school in NH where it was very common for students to drop several thousand dollars on one of the formal dances of the year. I already owned my tux and put the limo on the parents credit card. The after-parties were low key as many of the wild, high-attended parties took place during the start of the summer break. Men have it a lot easier than the ladies.

[indigo32]

48. Crazy

I went twice...
bought a reasonably priced dress (borrowed one for Senior year), ate at reasonably priced restaurants, and had a knock down dragout cuz my parents made me ride in a cab instead of letting me drive my own car downtown (no it wasn't about alcohol...I was a nerd and my parents knew it, they just wouldn't let me drive downtown). I was with friends and had a nice time... I remember my Senior year we all went to a state park and camped the next day.

[mac56]

51. Surprised no one has quoted Fountains of Wayne yet. So here goes:

Here we are at last
The moment soon will pass
We'll go our separate ways
We'll vanish in the haze
We'll never be the same
We'll forget each other's names
We'll grow old and lose our hair
It's all downhill from there

But tonight we'll reach for the stars
We'll rent expensive cars
And dream our dreams
Of a perfect night
And we'll sing our prom theme

Here we are at last
We're running out of gas
The air is getting thick
The girls are feeling sick
We'll pass out on the beach
Our keys just out of reach
And soon we'll say goodbye
Then we'll work until we die

But tonight we feel like stars
We'll play our air guitars
Cause we're eighteen
It's a perfect night
To sing our prom theme

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

52. Serious defect of character -- spending for the sake of spending

Just "because we can". I categorize these along with $500 cellphones, Ferraris, $3000 suits... absolutely no reason except rub it in the face of other people. Warrants therapy IMHO.

And what about "rich people stores" where you can buy the most mundane items for $ thousands? Purses, pants, wallets... we have some of those in the rich areas of São Paulo (a city that, unlike Rio, sucks rocks). Whenever the subject comes up I like to point out how good this is for money laundering:

1) Establish aforementioned store;
2) Earn dirty money (drug dealing, arms trafficking, child prostitution etc)
3) Buy your own merchandise, in cash.
4) Poof! Legitimate money!

[MissMillie]

53. My dress was about $150

The tickets were $60/couple. My date rented a tux and bought me a corsage (and a bootinere for himself).

We borrowed my mom's car.

I think we had beer & pizza at a friends after the prom. Home by 2:00, total cost < $300.

[ButterflyBlood]

55. dumb

I didn't spend a dime on the prom. But I suppose I paid for admittance to the kegger afterwords.

[MAlibdem]

56. fuck that...

$45 per ticket(2)
$20 Corsage
$20 After festivities fund

$130
(I own a tux and I'm driving my dad's acura).

I don't have money like that to burn...but I clean up nice, so it's all good.

I have gone to some proms as the date tho (lady friends from out of town), and they blow money like crazy...Hummer2 Strech Limos (+$100 to bribe the driver to let them drink in the limo), hotel rooms or rent a beach house, all sorts of crap