The Consolidated "Slate Is Stupid" Thread

[ellaguru]

I did go to mine, and then was irritated years later when it suddenly occurred to me that I could have just skipped it.

[Aglaya]

The interesting thing about prom, that is not really interesting or surprising in any way, is that enjoying it isn't about it being The Prom.  All three that I went to were fun, and they were all completely different experiences.  The first one was basically the wholesome ideal of the prom, where the night before, all the girls had a sleepover, then spent the whole next day getting ready, doing each others hair and makeup.  There were about 5 or 6 couples (and all were serious couples) in the group, we all went out to dinner together, went to the prom, then went immediately to the school-sponsored after-prom (it was a Catholic school, and if you showed up late your parents were informed), then all went home.  No hanky-panky, so far as I know.
My second prom was with a huge group of people, our group photo had over 30 people in it.  I went with a guy I barely knew who was from out of town.  He was bi, and we ended up pretending to fight over another dude who a girl I knew brought as a friend date.  I ended up making out with other dude in the backseat of my mini-van.
Third prom was in GA, and I went with a group of three German exchange students, though I had another group of friends who were there.  Some kid won a contest and Christina Aguilera sang a couple songs at the prom.  We all stayed at one guy's house, and me and a guy I was fucking (not my date) utilized the bed, then we all went out for coffee and bagels the next morning.

Edited because I can't type anymore, but this has yet to have made me start proofreading prior to posting.

[G.C.R]

Those all sound a bazillion times more fun than both the highschool formals I went to (one my boyfriends, we were very chaste and never did nothing, and we were both bored and wanted to break up, but he went to this fancypants private school where you had to have your date sorted MONTHS in advance, and I didn't want to ditch him a week before with no date, so I went and had an awful time, and then we broke up; and my school's, which I went to without a date, and it was so dull that me and all my friends left after about an hour.) I could have missed both those happily with no regrets at all.

[diesel_powered]

I went to two proms (military ball for me) and a couple formals at another school with people I was dating at the time. They were pleasent, but not earth-shattering.

Although I'm loathe to admit it, I kind of agree with Prudie in a way. I'm not saying going to prom is the highlight of anyone's life, and regretting not going later is silly. But it's also an interesting cultural experience that I think too many people write off on general principle.

[FreddyKnuckles]

Plus, if you write off the prom you're missing a perfectly good chance to get some ass.  

[dieblucasdie]

By "get some ass" FK means "give the shocker"

[FreddyKnuckles]

ha that too, although I believe that was twirp

[Andrew_TSKS]

Oh, I neglected to mention that my school had a similar policy to the one GCR mentioned, i.e. you had to have a date in order to go. I actually tried to get a date one year and failed, which really bummed me out. The second year, I figured fuck it, why try? It'll come to the same, but this way I'll be bummed out less.

Aaaaaand in hindsight I really don't care. Getting turned down by three different people for my junior prom now seems like it just saved me a lot of trouble.

[FreddyKnuckles]

you just need to lower your standards. 

[Andrew_TSKS]

Not worth it.

[Aglaya]

I guess what I was saying is that my proms weren't fun because they were proms, they were fun because I had a bunch of cool-ass people to hang out with and we would've had fun no matter what.
So if you've got friends who are fun and can have fun without help from outside sources, prom is awesome.  If you don't, it probably isn't worth it unless you just really really like getting dressed up fancy.  Because that's pretty much all that prom really is, getting dressed up fancy and being in a room with other fancy-dressed people while music is playing.  Maybe some food or punch is there too.

[edison]

I think the fact that there is no such thing as this prom stuff here is actually one of the few good things there are about this country (Maybe one of two things, the others being bakeries. There might be a third one).

[Andrew_TSKS]

I nominate Jean-Luc Godard as the third one.

[edison]

Well, yeah, but I was thinking along the lines of stuff that directly affect or has affected my everyday life for the best - you can enjoy Godard's films just as much in the US, Brazil or Sri Lanka.

(Come to think of it, a third thing I'm happy about here is the amount of interesting stuff there is to see in movie theaters!)

(Yes I am desperately trying to think about reasons to like my country these days)

[edison]

Also, I would contribute to this thread with links to the newborn www.slate.fr, but ever since I had a look at it on the day it opened, I've been actively avoiding it. Brrr.

[Little Sixes Little Nines]

my prom is next month...

[dieblucasdie]

Then They Came for the Fresca: The Growing Ambitions of the Food Police

[distance]

i only went to prom as a senior.  the whole thing was uneventful.  didn't have a girlfriend at the time.  a female friend went with me.  we had an ok time, but nothing exceptional.  after prom was less interesting than prom/before prom.  when you're two people who don't drink and you're hanging around a bunch of people who are drinking, it's not terribly exciting at times.  i think i was in bed by 1.

...and within 2 months she and i weren't really friends anymore.

no idea what this thread is really.  just randomly clicked on it (the last page) and decided to reply.

[Greg Nog]

Then They Came for the Fresca: The Growing Ambitions of the Food Police

I can't tell whether you think it's stupid that the author thinks such a tax might be passed, or if you think it's stupid that people are mad about it.

[dieblucasdie]

It isn't God who hates fags. It's Michael Bloomberg.

and that whole paragraph really

We're what we were five or 10 years ago: skeptics and fact-mongers with a bias for personal freedom. It's the left that's turning conservative. Well, not conservative, but pushy. Weisberg put his finger on the underlying trend: "Because Democrats hold power at the moment, they face the greater peril of paternalistic overreaching." Today's morality cops are less interested in your bedroom than your refrigerator. They're more likely to berate you for outdoor smoking than for outdoor necking. It isn't God who hates fags. It's Michael Bloomberg.

is sort of a perfect encapsulation of what Slate's all about.  "Oh, we're liberals,  but we're sensible, serious liberals.  We're not like those liberals.  Here's a sub-Fox News smear on Democrats." 

I mean, take a position on smoking bans, sure, but spare us the meta-posturing about how Slate is better than everyone else. 

[dieblucasdie]

Saletan does this same trick all the time with abortion, btw.  He'll proclaim, "Oh, both sides of the abortion debate are two pedantic.  We can settle this with a Glorious Third Way, which I thought up just now, wherein liberals really commit themselves to lowering the number of abortions."  As if, like, Hillary Clinton, that scary ur-liberal Slate fears most, hadn't said "safe, legal, and rare" ten million years ago. 

[Greg Nog]

is sort of a perfect encapsulation of what Slate's all about.  "Oh, we're liberals,  but we're sensible, serious liberals.  We're not like those liberals.  Here's a sub-Fox News smear on Democrats." 

But, like, on the topic of soda taxing and cigarette-banning nanny-state-ism, this column is indeed more sensible than a lot of other liberals.  Did you just get worked up by substituting the word "abortion" for "soda" while reading the article?

[dieblucasdie]

I repeat:

It isn't God who hates fags. It's Michael Bloomberg.

And again, the article is called "Then They Came for the Fresca," if you need more evidence that it fits the topic.

And, wait a second, isn't Fresca sugar-free anyway? 

[Greg Nog]

Dude is mos def a fucked-up writer, but given the recent flavored-tobacco ban and the way the left is generally cool with it, I'm happy to see right ideas in the hands of even the hackiest of fag-punners.

[diesel_powered]

And, wait a second, isn't Fresca sugar-free anyway? 

Dude, didn't you read the article?

diet beverages may increase calorie consumption by justifying consumption of other caloric foods or by promoting a preference for sweet tastes