Saga of the Dance, Part 2

I fear for the future of our country at times.  Not from an outside group or our own politicians or the swine flu or one of the multitude of other potential hazards.  I fear for our future because of who will be leading it - someday today's teenagers will be in charge.  If my week is any indication, we're in trouble. 

Due to a scheduling/calendar error, our big Winter Dance, scheduled for the weekend before Valentine’s Day, has no home.  So I (one of the two volunteer mentors for the group) have spent almost every waking moment on the phone, checking on alternative venues.  And guess what?  Surprise!  There’s nothing that will charge less than $1000, hold at least 150 students (there’s 350 kids between the two classes involved, and of course they’re allowed to buy tickets at the door!) AND let us bring our own food in (the parents donate the refreshments) that isn’t already booked.  One hall coordinator actually laughed and asked if I realized that it was a prime wedding weekend.  Um…yeah, I did, but try explaining that to a bunch of 16-year-olds.  I can’t believe our state lets them get behind the wheel, because they can barely grasp the facts of reality in conversation like the following:

Please read the following completely and thoroughly before answering.  You have the following options to pick from.  There is nothing else available due to conflicts with sports and other school events through (apparently the end of the year, but we’ll say May 1^st at this point).  There are no other options for this event, other than:

1.  Dance on original date at Venue A (a church hall which we don’t even know is available because one of the officers is waiting for family member to confirm).
2.  Dance on original date at Venue B (a gymnasium/auditorium in a former school that’s now a community center).
3.  Dance on a Friday night in March in your school’s cafeteria (same locale as last year, and we’re not talking 5-star restaurant-style caf – it’s a cement-block-wall school caf).  You do have school that day, and like with prom, you’re not allowed to be dismissed early to get ready.

Please “reply all” and simply list your choices in order of priority.  If you favor putting off the dance to March, your second choice would be having it at the community center, and you like Venue A the least, then you’d respond “I like 3-2-1”.

Here's a sampling of the responses from the Best and Brightest:

"Don’t think we should have it at Venue A.  Might annoy X group.  We should find another place."

     Yes, I am your Fairy Godmother.  Let me just find my magic wand and I’ll make one appear for you.

"We can’t wait until March.  What about another night in February?"

     Sounds like a plan, because I’m sure no one has plans to go away during that thing on the calendar – I think it’s called February vacation week – you know, that starts the weekend after and eliminates the rest of the Friday and/or Saturday nights.

"Why can’t we just have it at the school the night we planned?"

     Because we didn’t make sure it was entered on the double-secret calendar and you hooligans aren’t allowed in the same building as the middle school darlings who moved their concert to that night last month… without any adult in the building saying, “Gee, shouldn’t we check with the high school office calendar to make sure there’s no conflicts?”  (Did I mention our schools are in the same large building complex but we have a principal for each school?  Of course, they are a married couple – they met on the job… when they each had a different spouse.)

They finally make a decision Thursday night.  They had to - any change in the date had to be announced.  We confirmed Venue B yesterday.  Then someone said they didn’t like Venue B, and the officers, whose backbones apparently were mysteriously removed from their bodies, started with emails that maybe we should change it again.

Forget Gen Y.  This generation should be called “The Wishy-Washies”.