BypassKid: Hi, Cat.

Catherine Specter: Hi everyone. Looking forward to hearing your tasty prom stories and questions. And if you don't have 'em, you might have to listen to MINE. : )

BypassKid: Do you think that prom still holds the importance it once did? A lot of my friends don't even wanna go; they couldn't care less.

Catherine Specter: I don't think that's anything new, Bypass. There have always been people who shunned the prom. Proms are expensive endeavors, not to mention stressful, so I'm not shocked to hear there are still people who decide to forego the whole thing. But they can also be very, very, very fun, especially post-prom activities, so if you can go, might be worth a shot. If nothing else, it can give you stories for years to come.

I'm tempted to share some great prom stories, but I'd have to change people's names to protect the un-innocent.

Hi Geo, Hughes and Silent. Got some good stories or questions??

Actually, GeorgeW, if you are the real guy, and if you don't have questions/stories for me, I've got a few for you.

GeorgeW: My brother's prom date was this girl that was a friend of the family and classmate. I think both mothers wanted to see them get married. Does that still happen -- matchmaking?

Catherine Specter: Oh, totally. I was surprised to learn, just in recent years, that matchmaking, even the formal kind (where people actually seek out a professional matchmaker), still exists.

GeorgeW: My other brother ended up marrying his prom date -- something my mother didn't want to see happen. I skipped the prom -- long time ago -- I was way too shy back then to ask anyone.

Catherine Specter: Do you regret not going?

Silent Bob: My prom was really uneventful. The biggest thing to happen was that Kerry Collins (just drafted from PSU) was at the same hotel as the prom.

Catherine Specter: LOL.

Silent Bob: We also danced the most awesome dance ever ... the Macarena!

Catherine Specter: That is THE MOST AWESOME DANCE EVER. I think everyone in the universe would agree with that, Bob.

Hugheshall: Proms have become elevated in our society as once-in-a-lifetime activities, like your wedding day, with almost as much pressure. But all the memories I ever hear are made up of who lost their virginity and who threw up in the ballroom, limo, on the prom king and queen, etc. Does anyone have any others?

Catherine Specter: Good question, Hughes.

GeorgeW: A relationship question: A friend of mine (not me, really!) took his mother with him on his first date. Would you want a second date?

Catherine Specter: LOLOLOLOL

OMG, that's one of the funniest date stories ever. You think those stories are fake, but then someone like you shows up and we come to realize ... it really happens.

And what's more, WHY would you take your mom on a date? Unless she demands to be there, that is never, ever, not in a million years the cool thing to do.

GeorgeW: Yeah, I regret not going.

Catherine Specter: Yes, it can be a bummer to look back and see that you missed a chance to have someone throw up on you.

Silent Bob: Hey, Cat. When are you going to update your Web site?

Catherine Specter: Soon, very, very soon. I promise.

GeorgeW: I only learned about this at his wedding (yes, he married the woman) when his mother got up and totally embarrassed him by telling the story.

Catherine Specter: LOL. Stop it, I'm getting a cramp.

Hugheshall: How many of the group lied about their sexual activity prom night after the night to their friends?

Catherine Specter: I'm guessing 98% of the guys and 3% of the girls.

Silent Bob: OMG! I've never thought about taking my mom. But there were a couple friends' moms I wouldn't have minded taking.

Catherine Specter: Wow, you're reminding me of dudes I knew in high school who lusted after their girlfriends' moms. Hmmm, maybe one of them was you.

Hugheshall: Where's a good yenta when you need her?

Catherine Specter: Look in the yellow pages under "Y."

Silent Bob: Miss a chance to be thrown up on? Just go to the South Side or Station Square. Same difference.

Catherine Specter: Good point.

Silent Bob: I didn't. They knew I didn't even try. A bunch of us went as friends.

Catherine Specter: That's fun. In fact, I think proms work best when friends go together and just have a good time. We all knew people who treated prom like their wedding reception, and then it's all stress all night long.

Silent Bob: I dunno, Cat. Where did you go to high school?

Catherine Specter: I went to Winchester Thurston, in Pgh. We had two proms, one for juniors, one for seniors. It was all about doubling your party chances back then. : )

That's not entirely true, but that's how we looked at it

Shipgrrl: My senior year, I had to go to the prom with a friend because the guy I was dating had asked my best friend -- before he and I started going out. Awkward! He couldn't un-ask her, of course, and we all sat at the same table, and it wasn't pretty.

Catherine Specter: So the three of you went as one?

Shipgrrl: Nothing that spicy. I went with my date (male friend), who was in a Scottish pipe band and wore his uniform and kilt (pretty awesome, actually, because he had the legs for it), and my boyfriend went with my best friend. She wanted him, too, and she never forgave me for "stealing" him -- which I didn't do on prom night, I might add!

Catherine Specter: You go girl. So really YOU had two dates and your friend had one, by default.

GeorgeW: I went to Steel Valley, back when there was steel still in the valley. I think we had formals and semi-formals. I might have gone to a semi-formal.

Catherine Specter: Yes, we had big dances other than proms, too.

In a way, those can be better than prom 'cause there's not as much huge stress and $$ spent on dresses, hair, limos, and "party stuff."

Silent Bob: I went to Central Catholic. We and Oakland Catholic had separate proms. I could have also gone to Oakland's, but that's a story in itself.

Catherine Specter: Do tell, Bob. Hey, if we're in the same age range we might know each other. I knew more than a few Central guys in my day. They were really good guys.

I should amend my "party stuff" comment. It refers to post-dance expenditures.

Hugheshall: Prom night, like most capitalistic holiday inventions, are mostly fun for the hetero students. As a lesbian it was difficult for me to decide if I should go with my gitlfriend, whom no one knew about, or go with the guy who asked me and be in the same limo as my girlfriend and her date. I chickened out and went with our beard male escorts. But we kept sneaking out to the ladies room and making out in the stall.

Catherine Specter: LOL. Now that's a great prom story! Doesn't even matter whether it's hetero, it's like playing musical dates.

Silent Bob: I'm 28, graduated in 96. You?

Catherine Specter: 32. I graduated in '91.

Shipgrrl: My favorite prom story is the girl a few years older than me whom everybody loved to death, but she was not terribly attractive and didn't get asked. (Small school.) So she took a MANNEQUIN, in a tux, to the prom! It was great. Everyone loved it.

Catherine Specter: LOL. She did not. You're kidding, right?? LOL

GeorgeW: To show you how old I am, I wore a tan corduroy leisure suit. No wonder I didn't get any dates.

Catherine Specter: LOL. That's hot, George. Sssssssmokin'.

Silent Bob: The short version is this girl liked me. I liked her as a friend. I liked her friend, a lot. She liked me as a friend. I asked the girl to prom; she said yes. The one who liked me asked me to her prom as a boyfriend-type. She got mad when she found out I asked her friend. I found out she was mad through a note.

Catherine Specter: Wow, it's like remembering "The Days of Your Youth."

I almost miss the days when serious emotional dramas were hashed out through notes.

Silent Bob: I sincerely did not mean to hurt her. I thought we were friends, that's all. I guess I was wrong.

A mannequin? I may not have dated much, but I never did that.

Catherine Specter: At least not in public, right, Bob?

Silent Bob: Hey, what I do in the privacy of a PAT bus is my business. lol

Catherine Specter: LOLLOLLOLLOL

Shipgrrl: I kid you not. True story: a mannequin. She wanted to go to the prom, and all her friends wanted her there, but you couldn't go without a date. I have no clue where she got the mannequin. But he was probably one of the better-looking guys at the prom, and everyone admired her guts and sense of fun.

Catherine Specter: I'd give her a round of applause, too. Dig it. That takes moxie.

Silent Bob: I know people who still use notes.

GeorgeW: Do kids still pass notes? Or is everything electronic these days?

Catherine Specter: They MUST still pass notes. Of course, texting could put those to shame, but there's nothing cooler than getting a note successfully passed in that one class where the teacher has eyes in the back of her head.

Considering how expensive things were even 10 years ago, it's amazing to think what a whole prom night would cost now.

Silent Bob: On the art of note-passing ... we had a teacher like that. She taught history. She also thought the South won the Civil War. Don't knock our public school system. Catholic schools aren't that much better.

Catherine Specter: You mean the South didn't win?

Silent Bob: My teacher was a bit on the slow side when it came to thinking, but quick to dish out the punishment.

Catherine Specter: I've heard such things before. I imagine you got a few ruler slaps on the wrist.

Silent Bob: No, that cost extra. lol

Hugheshall: I just had the note conversation with a friend of mine; apparently now notes sound like rap music lyrics. Her daughter got in trouble for getting caught with one that was passed to her about her ass.

Catherine Specter: Hopefully it said something complimentary.

Have educators no respect for the privacy of notes???

Somebody contact the ACLU

Hugheshall: Ruler slaps hurt more on the knuckles or open palms.

Catherine Specter: Wow, Hughes, sounds like you're talking from experience.

Knuckles?? Ow.

Hugheshall: The principal didn't think so.

Catherine Specter: If I don't get the chance in a moment, thanks for chatting. This was fun. There's never enough time for great stories. I'll be thinking about that mannequin later, I know it.

Hugheshall: Being reared Catholic, gotta watch those nuns.

Catherine Specter: That would make a great bumper sticker. "Gotta watch those nuns ..."