Chapter 3: The Thomas Edison Inn

Sorry for the late post. Lots of work today. Anyways, onto the exposition.

***

Located right next to Lake Huron, the Thomas Edison Inn is a fine establishment. I’ve never stayed there, but I’ve seen it many times from the boardwalk.

The only time I was ever there was for my shitty, shitty prom.

I didn’t really want to go to prom. By the midway point of my senior year of high school I had more or less unconsciously given up the pursuit of women. It really didn’t seem necessary to go. I got seriously tired of hearing people say it is going to be the greatest night of their lives. If that was the case, there should have been a few suicides after the prom. I have a feeling that “marriage” or “having kids” or “getting a career” are way more important.

But I had to go. My dad wanted me to go. Mike said he’d go to a concert that summer with me if I went (a promise that was never kept, but that’s no big deal, really). I rented a suit but went really on the condition that my sister would put my short hair into the ton of braids she did. It was awesome.

I really didn’t like the idea of paying $40 for a dance. But I found out that couples could go for $60. I found out that “couple” had a loose definition like marriage couples in this country should. Two guys could go as a couple I found out. My friend Joe did it. Kyle and I then decided to go as a “couple” in name only. We just didn’t feel like paying that extra $10 each for tickets.

So I’m all dressed up and ready to go. Kyle was going to drive the aptly named “Danger Ranger” (a Ford Ranger truck for those uninitiated chaps) to Port Huron and we were going to sit and mope at prom. But the Danger Ranger lived up to its name and wouldn’t start. We had to hitch a ride from our friend Kenny and his date. I’m sure he wasn’t really pleased to have to do this, but whatever.

Most of the prom I sat around at my table with my video camera. I really didn’t think it was very interesting. I’d have to say about 70-80 people were crammed into a room meant for about 40 tops. The food was crap, but I cannot blame the kitchen staff. They had to serve a lot of people and probably didn’t have a lot of time to cook everything.

I spent a lot of time filming people’s eyes. I found extreme close-ups to be funny and still do to this day. Eyes are the most interesting feature on anyone. Hard to describe in a blog now, but maybe another time.

Really, its not like this was any different than the dances I had attended since 7th grade. The only discernable difference being that the venue was different. The attire worn wasn’t much different since the only high school dances since 9th grade were Home- and Snow- comings. The music never really improved in this time either.

I didn’t dance with anyone in my grade. The last time I had that pleasure was my homecoming dance, I think. The two dances I did have were with girls in 10th grade and one I would later find out to be in 9th grade. They could be there because they were invited by others from 11th or 12th grade. My friend Sarah asked me to dance with her and I did. I asked the other one to dance with me and I did.

Probably the most interesting moment of the prom was when it was all over with and I was hanging out with Kyle while others were figuring out what else to do afterwards. Without any request, I started giving him a lecture on the history of rock and roll. Someone took a picture of me doing this, crazy braids and hand gestures and all, and it ended up being the only noticeable picture of me in the yearbook.

I do remember going outside a couple times to look at Lake Huron though. Some of the more popular kids were teasing a little kid playing mini golf outside and I found it stupid. But Lake Huron, that’s a sight to behold. I was also able to see the Blue Water Bridge. With the sun going down and the light hitting the water it was as beautiful a sight as I had seen.

I knew that I was going to start at SC4 a couple months later. I didn’t know what my future was at that point. I wasn’t interested in college but was ready to go anyway. I didn’t know who from high school I would still be friends with in a year or even in the coming months as we all spread out to pursue our futures. But looking out at the lake from the Inn was transcendent.

I still have the video of the prom. I can look at that view of the lake and still lose myself. I can still go to the lake and relax for hours.

Some of my friends were out there also, including my friend who moved to Almont from Canada. Looking out on the lake a large ship was coming by. Someone asked my friend “Is that how you came over here?”

“No, we swam.”