Don't worry...this story's not intended to scare you. We don't want to cause recurring nightmares or cold sweats. Or prompt you to return the awesome red satin dress you found at Macy's on sale for $60. This story's objective is exactly the opposite. It's intended to make you aware of possible prom night disasters, give you some tips on how to avoid them, provide some of that elusive 20/20 hindsight, and in the process, allow you to laugh at some of my own past dance hall disasters.

Yes, laugh. We know for some of you prom night is a special, rite-of-passage type of night that you will immortalize with pictures and memories. But if something would happen to go wrong, if the cosmos just decide to take you as their victim for a night; it is not the end of the world. Hell, it's not even the end of the night.

I've had a very prolific formal dance career, I've been to three high school proms, four homecomings, four winter formals, four college formals and my own wedding. Were there disasters? Yes. Did it suck at the time? Yes. Did I die? No. Are they funny now? Eternally.