In your busy, hectic day-to-day life, you just might have not noticed when March 11 passed by.  What is so important about March 11 you ask? Well that was National Promposal Day, I promise that I did not make that up.  National Promposal Day was sponsored by Men’s Warehouse, who I am sure,  had only the best interests of today’s youth in mind and had no interest in gaining any profits from tux rentals for prom. Students who participated in National Promposal Day were encouraged to “share their epic promposal experiences throughout social media by using the hashtag #NationalPromposalDay.”

It is no longer sufficient for a nerdy, socially awkward, self-conscience guy to muster all the courage he has to ask a girl to prom (if that sounds like the voice of experience, well you might be correct).  No, no, no,  Now he must craft an elaborate and, of course, expensive way to ask.  Thus we now need a “national” day for such nonsense and March 11th was “officially established with the idea of getting the ultimate question asked.”  The ultimate question?? Really?  Guess a marriage proposal takes a back seat to a promposal, well the promposal might very well cost more than a marriage proposal.  No need to add any more pressure to the fear of rejection, one is no longer only emotionally invested, now one is financially invested in asking someone to prom.  

Visa tracks prom-related expenses in an annual nationwide survey and found the average American household with teenagers spent $324 on promposing.  (Please notice the wording – the “household” not the “teenager” spent the $324)

Can we please stop the madness!!!  It seems pretty obvious to me that this whole ordeal has gotten completely out of hand.  I am pretty sure that even on an inflation adjusted basis that I did not spend $324 on prom and I am certain that I would not have spent much if anything on a promposal.  (Why spend the money when you can enjoy all the fear of rejection for free??)

Here is my modest promposal.  Ask someone you really like to go to the prom.  Wait for a “yes” or a “no”.  If the answer is “yes”, you have a date.  If the answer is “no” you don’t.  As an added bonus, here is something to ponder – If the only reason she will say “yes” is because you blew over three hundred bucks on some extravagant way to ask –  newsflash – she probably does not really like you that much anyway.

I know I am old…. and cheap.  It has been said before that prom should be more about who you go with than how much was spent.  Perhaps it is not a coincidence that both my prom date and myself ended up as CPA’s.  Yet, I have a feeling that even if this crazy idea was around “back in the day”, I would have not succumbed to the madness.

Keep your $300 and thank me later.