Junior prom.

Christ! What a joke that was.

Not only was I the oldest son of the family, I was the oldest son of the entire generation and the pressures were unfair. When my Junior Prom came around Mom asked be who I was going to go with and I told her I was not going.

"You HAVE to go to your prom!"

"Where does it say I HAVE to take part in ANY school activities?" I shot back. 

"You're going to the prom," she practically screeched.

The carrying on was close to epic and I knew Dad would be dragged into it and I cringed. While I knew he'd back me when push came to shove.

"Okay," I said. "I'll figure something out."

Off to the next town over where I generally hung out. I asked around and found out that Lisa Lorenzo didn't want to go to her prom, either. So I went looking for Lisa.

When I found her I told her that I didn't want to go to my prom and that I was looking for someone not to go to either prom with. She laughed like hell and agreed not to go to my prom with me if I wouldn't go to her prom with her. She said that when she told her parents she didn't want to go her mother was disappointed.

"So we both don't go to our proms together." I said. "It's a non-date."

"Okay," she laughed. "It's a non date."

The following afternoon I got a call from Lisa. She said her father wanted to meet the guy that wasn't taking her to the prom. "Don't worry. You'll like him."

I showed up that evening, having bicycled to her place. Al Lorenzo proved to be a real character. 

"I just wanted to meet the young man that isn't taking my daughter to her prom that she's not going to," he deadpanned. We chatted a while and finally he told me he would be delighted to have me not to take his daughter to the prom. We both laughed. Then he asked me how I figured that Lisa and I were not going to different proms together.

"Yogi Berra was asked how he knew someone and he replied "We went to different schools together." It makes sense to me."

He chuckled.

Then he asked me what I was going to do instead of going to the prom.

"Probably going fishing at Damon's Point," I answered. He said he wished he could join me. I told him to drop by.

The next day was Saturday and that afternoon Mom asked me who I was going to the prom with. I announced that a girl named Lisa Lorenzo and I were not going to our proms together.

We went round and round over that for a few minutes and Mom demanded the Lorenzo's phone number and said she was going to call the parents to find out what kind of funny business was going on. I gave her the phone number. As she was dialing it my father walked in.

My mother introduced herself and asked what was going on between Lisa and I. The next thing I heard her say, "What do you mean they're not going to their proms together?" and I knew Al had answered the phone. I pointed at Dad and then to the phone.

Dad stepped in and in about a minute it became clear that he and Al understood each other.

"I can do that...Bring him? Sure he's right here...Give us about 25 minutes... See you then..." He turned to my mother. "We're meeting him at the Harbor." He turned to me. That means you, too."

We went out to the crap can dad drove back and forth to work, a beat up old Ford. He started it up and laughed. "He's a hot $hit," he said. "He told me to meet him at the Grog Shop."

"You'll like him, Dad. You know how parents want to meet their daughter's dates? He had me over so he could meet the guy that's not taking his daughter to the prom she's not going to."

"What!?" he snapped.

"Yeah. He did that. It was a hoot. I went, met him and laughed myself silly. He's funny. You'll get along with him well." I said. Dad shook his head.

We arrived at about the same time and I noticed Dad was carrying two beers and Al had one. Dad parked a beer in front of me. This was back in the day and the rules were different then. Dads could quietly have a beer with their sons and nobody said anything about it.

It took the pair of them about eleven seconds for it to sound like they had known each other for years.

Al said his wife was totally confused over the story that they were not going to different proms together and Dad admitted that Mom didn't understand it, either.

"That's because women don't understand Yogi Berra," he said and they both laughed.

Then Al said something interesting. "I like the way these two young people came up with their story and ran with it. I spoke with Lisa and there's no romantic interest between the two. They just had problems with their parents and figured out a way to deal with it. I really like the way our children educate us and help us grow up."

Al turned to me and said, "IF you need a date sometime and ask my daughter you don't have to worry. You can go out with her anytime. If you don't want to I'll understand."

Dad  looked at me wide eyed and with a lot of pride. "Thank you," I said kind of humbled.

Then the subject was dropped and the bull$hit started. The three of us yakked the time and beers away for a couple of hours. We all laughed a lot. 

Those men were Old School guys of the WW2 generation. They didn't step down to deal with a younger man, they lifted him up to their level and I was a part of the conversation. I've said before I walked on the shoulders of giants.

Al asked me what I was going to do on prom night and I replied, "Probably go fishing at Damon's Point." and he laughed and said he might join me.

After we left Dad said he'd handle things from here on. He also said he liked Al and was surprised I'd met such a good guy and thanked me for creating the meeting.

When we got home with a mild buzz on Mom asked Dad what was going on. He said "Lisa Lorenzo is not going to her prom and your son is not going to his prom and that's that. The matter is closed."

"But they're doing it together," Mom protested.

"Yes," he explained. "At the same time but not in the same place. Lisa is going to do what she wants and  Piccolo is probably going fishing at Damon's Point. The end. Now drop it."

Aftermath. Prom night.

I actually did go fishing prom night and as it was getting dark I was working on my tackle. I caught the motion of a car approaching and turned back to my tackle.

When I was done I saw Al Lorenzo get out of his car carrying a tackle box, a rod and a heavy ammo can that I soon discovered contained about a dozen cans of beer. It was heavily iced to boot.

"Help your self," he said and Al and I fished until about 2300. When he left he left behind a scrounged cardboard box containing two or three beers and a pile of ice. I kept fishing until about 0200ish and brought home a pretty good striper.

Lisa and I remained casual friends. She later went off to college and I lost track of her. From time to time I'd run into Al here and there. I did meet him on a visit home after I got out of the army. He said Lisa had married, had a child and was living in New Hampshire.

To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY