A tale of two dances

James Trotter, Staff Writer
May 5, 2014

For the last four years, I have attended my fair share of dances. The ritual of asking a girl, having anxiety before the night, and then finally getting to the dance and relaxing had become an annual tradition for me. With my last formal as a Cathedral student in the books, I began to look sentimentally in the rear view mirror on a good track record for social events. All the events had been well done by the ASB and I thoroughly enjoyed each of the nights out. But, by a strange turn of events, I found myself being invited to attend another formal- a non-Cathedral formal. I was both excited and fascinated. This was going to be similar to what I’m used to, but also different. Here is a first-hand account of each of the nights out.

Cathedral Formal

The Cathedral Catholic 2014 winter formal was nothing short of a good time. It was held at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. My night went a little something like this:

Coming from University City, Rancho Bernardo provided quite the worthy trek for a dance. It was 40 minutes to the house where I would be taking photos at with my group of peers, and then 10 to the inn from there. The photo taking and boutonnière stabbing was fun as always. I had the opportunity to photo-bomb other couples, strike ironic poses as a teenage boy, and even have some good laughs with some old friends.

Following photos, we scrambled to make dinner plans, since everyone had completely spaced on it. After calling both BJ’s Brewery and Red Robin, the 45 minute wait just for a table would not cut it. So we were relegated to the food court at the Escondido Westfield. For me as a guy this was a huge relief; small bill, big portions, and I was probably going to be the best dressed person in the whole room. We all went to our favorite food court eateries and rendezvoused at a big group table. Playful banter ensued as court was held over a 7-up and some Panda Express. After finishing up the last bites of MSG infused chicken we wandered the mall aimlessly and then finally made our way back to the car for the short drive south to the Rancho Bernardo Inn.

Upon arrival, parking was quite the hassle since I was driving an SUV, and the wait to get in was the usual awkward patting down of inner thighs followed by everyone’s dates being dress coded.

Finally inside the dance, I made my round to all my groups of friends; I tried my best to loosen up all the freshman and sophomores. I chatted with my junior friends and eventually made my way to the dance floor to cut a rug. They played all the classics: Cupid Shuffle, that one song about clapping hands, and even Howie Day for the traditional cheesy slow dance song. The dance floor was dark and crowded, and I found myself between lots of sweaty people (per usual).

When the doors opened there was a mad dash for the limos and buses as usual. Because people just really want to be in early, right? After a long night at the dance, my group and I made the final trek to In-N-Out for some post formal burgers, back to their cars and finally home. It was about midnight when my head hit the pillow, I smelled like cologne and animal-style fries. The whole night with gas, bid, and corsage cost me upwards of 100$, but I could not have been more pleased with the night as a whole.

Serra High School Formal

Obviously, I was entering into uncharted territory; I knew roughly 4 people at the entire school, and I knew the customs would not be nearly the same as Cathedral’s. As a rather easy start to the dance, I drove out to Tierrasanta to pick up my date. It’s not a bad drive coming from University City- just about a 10 minutes on the 52.

After we met a few more of our group, we all headed out to grab dinner downtown. The group was roughly 10-15 kids, much smaller than the undertaking I had been a part of a few weeks earlier. We ate at Panera Bread at Horton Plaza because 1. The food is legit and 2. It’s close to where the dance was being held. Oh wait that’s right, I almost forgot, their dance was being held on the Midway. THE MIDWAY.

So after eating a tasty dinner of sandwiches and soup, we all gathered for pictures on the steps outside of the NBC building. The usual whacky photos ensued, only this time it wasn’t me; I wasn’t entirely at the level of comfort to be inserting my charming face into the background of stranger’s photos they’ll show their parents. After some quick photos we all loaded up and caravanned over to the Midway.

Once there, I noticed something almost immediately: dress code is way less strict. Guys were wearing jeans and flannels with tennis shoes, and girls wore dresses that would make Ms. Conroy faint. There was a long line to be pat down, just like Cathedral.

Once on board, I took in the scene; I’ll just say it, it’s a really cool place to have a dance. Yes, the Rancho Bernardo Inn is a fine establishment, but being on an aircraft carrier on the bay at night is a surreal setting. The music was louder and definitely more explicit than anything Cathedral would allow, but I did notice one thing in particular; they hung large Chinese lanterns over the dance floor. The whole dance floor was lit up. I know for a fact at Cathedral’s formal, I could barely see while in the ballroom. It was bright enough here to resemble the blinding fluorescent tubes of the DMV.

My date and I explored all the things they had open for the students; they reserved flight simulators for free for the night, free food abounded, and they even opened up the gift shop. I had the opportunity to dance to the song “Wobble”which Cathedral has never played (to my knowledge), and it was pretty fun.

After a while of socializing and getting jiggy on the dance floor, some friends of my date had caught wind that the flight deck was open to us. We ventured out to see the skyline of San Diego at our backs and the U.S.S. Ronald Regan gleaming in the night fog off the bow. I was geeking out mostly at the fact that I was indeed on the deck of an aircraft carrier, and my newly acquainted friend Nathan called my date and I over. He was excited to show us something. He had found the pathway inside the bridge that led through all the various exhibits below the conning tower. The catch? It was pitch black. Everyone whipped out their smart phones to provide light as he led us through the maze of twists and turns below the deck. We jumped at the sight of some wax sailors a few times, but after navigating all the way through, we felt pretty accomplished. Nathan, myself, my date, and our large group of compatriots all made our way topside after the harrowing adventure, and I again marveled at the sight of the night sky.

My date and I walked over the end of the run way, and sat down on a bench. I gave her my jacket to keep her warm, and we admired the night time. After sitting there for a bit, we headed back down for the last few songs.

By this time, the doors had already opened and I wondered why no one had started rushing for the exits. The DJ announced it was the last song and everyone rushed the dance floor like a black Friday sale. We all moved to the beat like it was our last night on earth, and then finally the song was over, we rounded up our group and departed the ship. It struck a chord with me that the student body doesn’t rush to a dance just to rush from one; they all came to enjoy the dance, something I noticed a lot of kids at our school miss. They think the dance is just an excuse to go out after, but I saw a lot of people who really enjoyed it. And I did too; it brought me back to that sense of learning new surroundings, the sense of discovery I hadn’t felt in a long time.

We all got in the cars and went to In-N-Out (of course). After munching down on some burgers, I parted ways with my date for the night, made sure she and her friends were off safely, and I made the short drive to my family boat where I met my dad. He and I stayed the night there, and chatted about my night when I got back. As we sat out on the back deck, I again looked up at the night sky, and breathed a sigh of relief; that was a pretty awesome night, a night didn’t even know I wanted.

Epilogue

So after having attended both, I’m going to have to hand it to Serra. Maybe it was because it was a new setting, maybe it was just the different kinds of situations I was faced with, but the night was awesome. In 4 years at Cathedral I have never been wowed as much by any singular school as my night at Serra. My date and I are still in touch, she and I have gotten closer. And I really do owe her for what was one of the top nights of my young adult life.

Cathedral