The world turned upside down . . . or at least knocked on its side

To set the scene for this post, the following photos are of Powell Valley High School's prom on April 29, 2006. The school, located just outside Big Stone Gap, Va., rented the former Hotel Norton in Norton, Va. for the prom.









Having taken the photos, and having some experience scanning crowds from covering a prison riot and various other scens of civil unrest or tension, I was able to discern a couple of things:

- For every person in formal wear - male or female - there are roughly three to four parents, friends or family members in, let's say, sit-around-the-house casual.

- This was the prom: not the pre-prom mingling or the post-prom party - the prom.

Proms in this neck of the woods have evolved, or devolved, into sessions in which the proud promgoers literally promenade before a line of parents bearing cameras and making commentary on each couple's fashion choices.

It doesn't seem to jibe with what proms were when I was in high school. Feel free to express your own recollections or opinions.