Just adding my two cents' worth: I didn't go to senior prom either. Add one more to the tally. :)

Back in middle school (a.k.a. junior high), I was a bit more sociable than I am now, and I went to a number of dances. They were far cheaper than the elaborate high-school proms, one could go in a T-shirt and jeans with no fear of embarrassment, and on top of that, I had quite a few more friends back in middle school than I'd have in high school. (Quite a few acquaintances of mine were actually far more mature in middle school than they would become when they entered high school, but that's worthy of another post entirely...)

And indeed, I have nothing against dances in themselves. I've had enormous fun at social activities within various "geekfests"--honor society gatherings, spelling bees, and the like--and indeed, I've even managed occasionally at such events to pair up with some other clumsy introvert for some rather awkward dancing on the sidelines. ;-)

But I never went to senior prom. First of all, it was too expensive; second, I tend to dislike elaborate formal dress; third, I hadn't enough really close friends at my high school, and I figured I'd probably be standing off on the sidelines rather than actually connecting with anyone (indeed, by graduation I had only truly "connected" at most ten people), and fourth, I'm an absolute klutz.

So what did I do? I just spent the night in RinkChat, naturally. And it was probably for the better.

-- codeman"RinkChat: senior prom for introverted geeks"38