• Home
• Journeys
• 80 Days
• Pole to Pole
• Full Circle
• Hemingway
• Sahara
• Himalaya
• New Europe
• 80 Days Revisited
• Brazil
• Photography
• Photo Gallery
• Search Facilities
• Keyword Search
• Photo Search
• Palin's Guides
• Geography
• Accommodation
• Activity
• History
• Nature
• Person
• Transport
• Advanced Search
• Community
• The Chatter Box
• Chat Room
• Competition
• Polls
• Register
• Bookshop
• Bibliography
• Links
• Using the Site
• Instructions
•  
• 

Forgotten password?

THE CHATTER BOX

	The Chatter Box : Blathering On
	Messages 1 2  The haves and the have-nots: interesting story about the haves by canaveralgumby on 17 October 2005 12:09am   Wonder how people who, say, just went through a natural disaster, might feel about American people in Long Island, NY. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051016/ap_on_re_us/prom_canceled   Re: The haves and the have-nots: interesting story about the haves by tucsonmike on 17 October 2005 12:38am   I can't say I'm suprised. The irony? Long Island just had massive flooding.   Re: The haves and the have-nots: interesting story about the haves by perfectbitch on 17 October 2005 11:38am   This sort of flaunting seems to be ubiquitous nowadays. It also appears to be associated with binge drinking which is very worrying. Ah - an American who understands irony. Nice. ; ) Linz   Re: The haves and the have-nots: interesting story about the haves by Clare on 17 October 2005 4:50pm   I can't quite belive the extents some peole go to for what is essentialy an end of school dance!! We have them to a lesser degree over here in the UK but nothing like what has just been described. Is that normal for the US? Clare   Re: The haves and the have-nots: interesting story about the haves by pollyanna199 on 17 October 2005 6:03pm   I don't think so, Clare. I grew up in a pretty nice neighborhood and we had a nice dance at the Santa Monica Museum of Flying (which was pretty neat, dancing under the antique airplanes). There was no renting of boats or houses, or anything. If there was I never heard anything of it.   Re: The haves and the have-nots: interesting story about the haves by Janean on 17 October 2005 9:39pm   Some parents are only concerned with their children's approval of THEM. Those parents think they're creating "a special night" for their teenagers. If it takes such a lavish display of cash to make something "special" what are their normal lives like?   Re: The haves and the have-nots: interesting story about the haves by tucsonmike on 18 October 2005 2:22am   I hate to say this. I have no real measurement of proms. My high school didn't have one. Why? Because several years before I attended, there had been a race riot. Bottom line: The authorities feared we would knife each other over the music. Any sort of large student gathering (of which there were few) had the 69th Precinct on alert. I can see at a distance the excess. Mostly on the news. You get less of it in Tucson, probably because few families with kids have the sort of money described by the Principal of the Long Island school. I admire the principals guts. The underage drinking is dangerous and illegal. He did the right thing if nothing else to protect the school from liability issues. The moral part is a matter for the parents. These folks are still minors. Maybe things have become looser. If I got drunk like that, I don't even want to THINK about what my parents would do to me. I'll give you an example: I was sent home from school with a note for misbehavior when I was 13. I was punished. I looked at my Dad and asked "Don't I get a break for my honesty? What if I had crumpled the note up and tossed it in the garbage?" His eyes went wide like saucers. He was speechless. I found out later the fact that I had the gumption to even think about such a thing was outrageous. What was going through his mind was, what sort of criminal career is this kid headed for? I was visiting my parents back in June at my cousins in the Los Angeles area. My cousin heard the story and said "in our day, you would have been beaten by all the adults on the block. The teacher would have telephoned if you didn't bring the signed note back. If your parents asked What note?, your life expectancy dropped." So I guess while I can't measure the history of proms, I could read the article and recognize how insane it has become. Yes, Linz, I do understand irony. I may be an American, but y'all I ain't that dense. (Thank you Jeff Foxworthy). Actually John Cleese mentioned in the second book he wrote with Robin Skynner, Life and How to Survive It about Americans off the coasts not understanding irony. They had an interesting theory as to why fundamentalism so takes root here. It is a certain literalism. Boy, it took a long way to get to that. Yeah, those writers. Mike   Re: The haves and the have-nots: interesting story about the haves by George on 18 October 2005 9:03pm   I totally identify with Mike's comment about parents showing off their money with graduation parties. And, it will probably never change. However, one thing that has changed is the general attitude towards teenage drinking and driving. Texas was pretty much laissez- faire when it came to this, but not anymore. The police can and will put put a kid in jail and "throw away the key" on prom night. Over the years, almost everyone has known someone who was killed on prom night. Non-alcohol prom parties are very much the rule now, rather than the exception.   Re: The haves and the have-nots: interesting story about the haves by tucsonmike on 19 October 2005 5:11am   So Texas saw the problem and responded. The story about the Long Island school made CNN last night.   Re: The haves and the have-nots: interesting story about the haves by purple on 19 October 2005 6:05pm   I don't know if it's any different over there, but I always found proms (or year 12 balls as we call them) to be a celebration of our coming of age. The prom is supposed to be the ultimate gathering where we can celebrate with our peers that we have made it through the toughest part of our education by letting loose and having fun. The opprtunity for the girls to feel like a princess and the boys to have a laugh and dance into the night without looking back. Drinking only seems to be the small part of it, though I wasn't able to go to an after-party when I went to the ball. I went back with my girlfriends to their place and watched videos, that was it. Some my friends did go to an after party and got drunk but they stayed the night at the host's place. There was no drama, but I know there have been worse. Though I believe that underage drinking is wrong to an extent, I also think there is so much instilled in the activity that makes it so popular. It's a form of rebellion, an act of initation and if adults can do it worse, then why not? Drinking is a big social act both here and in America, so you can imagine there is a lot of peer pressure involved throughout society. It's our night after all, so why shouldn't we be entitled to celebrate our way? If we're going to be adults next year, then what a better way to start.   Messages 1 2
	Reply to this post:
Username        Password            Register here

INSTRUCTIONS

Select a discussion theme.
Register (or log in if you have not yet done so).

To start a new discussion topic:

Write the name of the topic in the 'Subject' box.
Type your message in the larger box to contribute.
Click 'Submit'.

To join a discussion topic:

Click on the discussion topic of your choice.
Type your message in the larger box to contribute.
Click 'Submit'.

To edit your message:

You can edit a message at any time after posting it as long as you're signed in.
Click on the 'Edit your message' link above the message.
Make your desired changes.
Click 'Submit'.

If you find you don't want to change the message after all, click on 'Return without changes'.

To set a chatmark:

Register (or log in if you have not yet done so).
Click on the "Set chatmark" link on the Chatter Box pages. This will set the time at which you have logged in.
Click on the "Go to chatmark" link to see all messages posted since you set your chatmark.

You can set your chatmark at any time and as often as you like.