by Sj Brown

Created on: April 03, 2010   Last Updated: April 07, 2010

Five things. Seriously, if you can just remember these five basic rules about social etiquette, you can master just about any social situation.

And let's face it, the one place you don't want to screw up in society is your prom. A prom is like the culmination of years of hard work building your social standing in school. You spend hundreds of dollars on a dress, doing your, hair, jewelry, make-up, etc. if you are a female. If you are a male, you spend loads of cash on a tux, flowers, dinner and maybe a limo. So, do you really want to mess up all your hard work (especially after convincing that special guy or gal to go to the prom with you) by being socially inept? I didn't think so.

These are really things you should have learned in kindergarten when you learned the golden rule - always be kind and put others first that is - but let's do a re-cap shall we?

#1 - If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. If a girl asks you if you like her dress and you think she looks like a moose in a tablecloth, you should politely smile and say "you look great." Even if she doesn't. Is that lying? Yes. But is this really the place to make someone feel horrible? And do you really want to be the one who ruins someone else's prom memories by saying something mean (albeit true)? Keep your opinion to yourself if you know it will sound badly if you spoke it out loud. If you can't lie, give the poor girl a "thumbs up" signal or nod your head "yes" at the very least.

#2 - Dip once. Weather you are grabbing grub at the refreshment table or dancing on the dance floor. Double dipping is gross! If you are dipping with food, it is unsanitary to double dip. If you are dancing and decide to dip your partner, do it once for effect. Double dipping on the dance floor is just showing off and taking up room that other couples could use to dance - don't be greedy, even if you are the best dancer there. While you are at it, don't be greedy at the refreshment table either. Everyone paid thier money for the ticket, lots of time an effort went into planning this party and you go hogging all the food. Very tacky!

#3 - Be a social butterfly, just for one night. Cliques are just stupid and a waste of time so staying in one spot and talking only to your group of 4-5 friends all night will be socially wrong and maybe even boring. Mingle around the room and try to at least say hello to each person. I realize that in high school, you have a set group of friends

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