The Importance
of Looking Good When Young
by Kevin Synnott
I was invited
to a formal dance at a private girls' high school
in the 1960s when I was nineteen. I agreed to go
to the dance and began to prepare for the big
event. I rented a white sports jacket and I
purchased a wrist corsage.
I wanted to
look good and realizing that the dance was held
in January, I investigated methods of tanning
because I had light skin. I purchased a bottle of
Man Tan. This lotion when applied was suppose to
turn the skin to a golden tan. I followed the
instructions and applied it two days before the
dance.
The day of the
dance I was a bright orange. The color was in the
skin and would not work its way out for weeks. I
determined I could not let my date down so I
decided to attend the dance. I recall ringing her
doorbell and being greeted by her parents.
Although they tried, they could not conceal their
amazement caused by looking at the bright orange
young man in a white sports jacket holding a
wrist corsage in the doorway. They did recover
and graciously invited me in.
We had a good
time at the dance. Most, if not all, of the
participants spent time, a lot of time "digging"
the orange guy. We had many laughs that evening.
I did get the
last laugh. The photos taken before and during
the dance were in black and white. When the
developed photos were returned by mail two weeks
later, I looked gorgeous.
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