No such thing as 'prom' when I grew up. Instead we had The School Disco. In the 80s this was at its height of fashion. It consisted of getting dressed up in as much plastic, primary coloured jewellery as possible (all bought for 20p from the market), your best Chelsea Girl pixie boots and sticking half a ton of gel and hairspray on your hair. Then you'd spend the night flitting between the bikesheds where you had some cider stashed and the school hall where you would dance round your handbag to Duran Duran, while avoiding the lads windmilling their arms around in a semblance of 'dancing'. Later you would all laugh and jeer when you found one of your friends snogging a horrible lad behind the stage and try to avoid more horrible lads when Spandau Ballet came on as the last song at the incredibly late hour of 9.55pm.
But the nostalgia for such events, especially when you reminisce with your old friends, firmly belongs in The Shire.
