Skip to main content

Raining on Prom Night

Friday night I was on pizza delivery duty for the GSA all-HoCo party at my daughter’s high school.


They were tight on money so restaurant delivery from Anthony’s wasn’t in the cards. Having Mom bring it on over from Little Caesar’s was the more affordable option.

It was raining, not heavily, but when hasn’t it been raining lately? When I arrived at Little Caesar’s in the Oakland Mills Village Center there were only two other customers: a young couple in evening finery. The fellow, in a whimsical move, was wearing his date’s handbag around his neck by its gold chain handle. Her dress was red, satin and lace, but understated. Quietly elegant.

“You guys look fabulous!”

“Thanks!”

“Prom?”

“Yep.”

Another gentleman came in from the rain. Around my age, maybe older.

“Where’s your prom?”

“B & O Railroad Museum, in Baltimore.”

“Oh, that’s gorgeous. You’re going to love that,” he said. I shook my head in agreement.

All the while the young couple is waiting on their order, and I am waiting for fifteen assorted pizzas and five orders of cinnamon bite things. I begin to carry my order out to the car. The young people leave, carrying a pizza. The young man stops.

“Do you need some help carrying that to your car?”

“Oh, heavens. No, I’m fine. You go to your prom and have a fabulous time!”

They smile and walk away. The clerk from the pizza place comes out carrying the rest of my pizzas.  It is an altogether satisfactory experience.

Some of our kids in Howard County pose for photographs by the family pool and head off to dinner in fancy restaurants before the prom. These kids were heading off with a humble pizza from Little Caesar’s and they still had the human kindness to offer help to someone in the rain.

It turns out that it was the Wilde Lake prom they were heading to. I checked the arrival photos in the Sun but didn’t see them.

I hope they had a truly wonderful time.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Getting Fresh

One of my favorite days in the Spring comes when this year’s list of Farmer’s Markets is released. That happened this week. New this year are markets in Old Ellicott City and the “Merriweather Market” which, according to the address, will be located here . I mistakenly thought at first glance that it was in the new-construction part of the Merriweather District. I find the name confusing considering its actual location. I’m going to guess that this market is an initiative of the Howard Hughes Corporation because the name seems chosen more for branding purposes than anything else.  Alas, the market in Maple Lawn is gone. The thread on the markets on the County Executive’s FB page will provide you with quite the education in who actually runs the Farmers Markets vs what people often think is going on. Short answer: they are not  chosen nor run by the county. Each market is an independent entity, sometimes started by community volunteers, other times supported by local businesses...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

What Kids Are Thinking

  It’s a Monday in February, and if you guessed that a lot of Howard County students have the new cell phone policy on their minds, you’d be right. It will mean big changes and it will be stressful, no matter how much good we hope it will do in the long run. But on this particular Monday cell phones might not be top of mind, as amazing as that seems. Some kids will go to school wondering if they or family members will be seized by ICE. Some will fear that their parents’ employment will be purged by the ongoing rampage of Elon Musk and his cronies through Federal Government. Some fear heightened and renewed racism as programs that supprted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are vilified and destroyed.  Some worry that it soon won’t be safe for them to use the bathroom in school anymore. It goes without saying that some kids fear going to school every day because of the prevalence of school shootings.  And look! Here’s something new to fear. That old hate group, Libs of TikTo...