Post a Random Fact About Yourself

I love the American tradition of school prom. It's caught on over here but it isn't the same, it's just like Brits impersonating Americans. I find it fascinating to watch American films where they are preparing for prom night. Tuxedos, dresses, limos, flowers, photographers, I would've loved to go to one in America. My nephew had a school prom here and he did look gorgeous in his tuxedo, but give me the American way any day.

I graduated in the year 2000, but didn't know a single person who went to prom. I remember in class someone asking someone if they were going, and the response was one of like, "How uncool"... Now, I remember a girl who told me I should ask a girl we both knew, and I just shook my head and said "No way - I'm not asking anyone to nothing". I once went to a homecoming dance in high school and what a waste of money. I could have gone to a few concerts, etc..

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I agree on the stench

So not everyone goes to the prom? That's a surprise as I thought everyone would be planning on going.
We had discos at school, usually on a Friday evening, and as my best friend went to a different school I would sneak her in with me. That was hilarious!
What's a homecoming dance?

I have no idea about other schools. I don't even know what homecoming is, lol. I just remember the name of the dance because I went in 12th grade. Me and a friend went with our dates, got dinner, then to the dance. First and last time, lol. Dances in middle school were fun at times. I remember once staying at a "lock-in", where all the kids are in the gym all night long. Me and a friend started hallucinating toward the end, lol. One of those 8pm to 8am things. I remember some kids passed out in the gym, despite so many activities going on.

If I start to eat sunflower seeds, I can't stop.

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“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” — Gandhi​

I graduated in 1982 and also did not attend my H.S. prom.
Instead, I worked in the restaurant that night making salads!

My reasons may be a little different - I pretty much hated high school (and I didn't care for most of my fellow students). I had few friends and no date.

I felt far more comfortable, had more friends, and was far more popular at my workplace.

I remember telling one of my bosses that I was missing my prom. He said, "&$%# them! Bunch of losers! You're making money - they're not! Bunch of 'em will probably be killed in car crashes tomorrow!"

He was obviously kind of a negative guy with a wry sense of humor, yet his words (except for the last part) made me feel better.

I didn't like school either, my school mates were ok but I didn't meet them after school or at weekends, my real friends were at a different school so hung out with them instead. I remember money was tight when we were growing up so I didn't have the latest fashionable clothes but was smart in my school uniform every day. One of our teachers always stunk of cigarettes as she kept popping out of class for a smoke, I remember one day she tried to embarrass me in class for something trivial, so I told her that she can only attempt to embarrass me when she doesn't stink. The whole class erupted with laughter as I turned the tables on her! 😇

Hallucinating 😱 what were you on?
Another thing I'd like to experience is the drive in movies, how does it work?

We hadn't slept in 30 hours.


I went to a drive-in movie with some family when I was 8 to see Dick Tracy, which I don't remember. Then in 2015, I saw this piece of shit movie called "Elysium" (the first minute was good, then it was horrible). I've never seen a good movie at the theaters, and we would only go after we'd get high around 21.

We have cinemas but would definitely go to the drive in given the chance.
Last year I went to an American themed diner, complete with booths and jukebox, I loved it, beats our greasy spoon cafes, planning to go again soon hopefully.

My British prep school was fairly dreadful though I think in retrospect they did their best. I can’t believe how large our curriculum was now that I think of it. We girls were obsessed with boys since there were no boys schools nearby. We had all female teachers too.

Our school uniform was immense & the amount of stuff our parents had to buy was unbelievable. We had two uniforms - one for summer & one for winter. Not to mention all kinds of sports gear. My SIL tells me it’s a single-sex school for Muslim girls now.

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

I didn't like wearing a school tie. And the amount of stuff we had to carry in our school bag was ridiculous. We didn't have lockers, just an unlocked cloakroom, so couldn't leave anything in there so had to carry it around.

Hi Ellie,

You had asked about drive-in movies (which are rare these days - I don't know if there are any in the states anymore, but I know there are no longer any near me, yet when I was a kid there were two close by - each about a 10 minute drive away).

How they worked was pretty simple: most charged by the car (rather than the number of passengers) - so if the car was loaded with people, it was more economical.

You paid at an entrance, then found a spot with a view of the screen that you liked. Each parking spot had a pole with a speaker on it - the speaker usually had a wire and you hung the speaker inside your car window for sound.

There are documentaries about the various gimmicks drive-in theaters tried throughout the decades - everything from heaters under your car to keep it warm to various types of sound techniques.

Last time I went to one was during a trip to Pennsylvania back in the 1990's. I think the speakers were gone by that time and you were instructed to tune into a certain radio frequency on your car radio to hear the movie.

When I was in high-school & college, I had a pick-up truck. I'd park the truck backwards at the drive-in theater, then lay a blanket down in the bed of the truck. My friends and I would bring pillows so we could actually lay down and watch the movie, while having a little picnic in the bed of the truck.

There are still some drive-ins left, though greatly reduced and probably more in rural areas. I'm interested in drive-ins as I use to go all the time when I was a teen and in my 20s. All the ones I knew are now gone. But I had this web site saved and if it's up to date there's still some around.
This is cool!
https://www.driveintheater.com/


and the same site listing drive-ins in New Jersey, looks like there is one:
https://www.driveintheater.com/list/njersey.htm


In my state, Washington, there's more:
https://www.driveintheater.com/list/washingt.htm

Thanks, Rules.

I had to look Vineland up (only drive-in still operating in NJ) - it looks like it's down below the Pine Barrens on the map. (If you went to watch a movie there you might be attacked by the Jersey Devil or one of the many Jersey Bigfoots that inhabit the Barrens.)

The two that were near me were the Turnpike theater in E. Brunswick (which had an accompanying indoor theater - so you could go there for movies year-round - I saw a lot of movies there as a kid)! Now, there are a bunch of condos there. I remember, you could go to "Two Guys" (a department store across the street from the theater) and watch the movie on the screen from their parking lot - only problem was you couldn't hear it!

The other was the Brunswick Drive-In at North Brunswick - this one was a little more woodsy - surrounded by trees. That's the one where I'd turn my pick-up around and lay in the bed to watch the movie. Now there's a strip mall there... and no trees.

I just realized that if drive-ins had remained a thing, there could have been a huge boon a couple years ago during the pandemic. When most indoor theaters closed, the drive-ins could have had sunset to sunrise movies (since a lot of people didn't have to get up to go to a job anymore) and become the new, old way Americans watched movies... You'd be isolated in your car, or with people that perhaps you already shared a home with.

Heck, to go along with that idea, they could have opened all new drive-in restaurants during the pandemic (where you get waited on and eat in your car)!

Drive-ins would have been perfect for the pandemic.
Is it that people lack vision these days for such things... or just lack money to get such nostalgic operations off the ground?

Even though I love going to casinos there's only one game I play: Roulette using the Martingale system. If I go in with $5,000 and bet $25 per spin I almost always walk away with more money than I came in with using this popular and effective system.

I never really gambled much. But the few times I played roulette I would only bet red or black. That way I always had a 50 / 50 chance of winning.

My strategy for gambling was to start with a set amount I was prepared to lose - once I lost it, my gambling day was done. Easier said than done, I know, but to keep from developing a problem, you've either got to have the discipline to stop gambling when you've run out of your decided-upon amount, or leave the casino (track or whatever) when you've spent your limit.