Wally is off to school wearing a jacket and tie! Why, Ward figures it's a girl. It is: Ginny Townsend who passes Wally every day on the way to her history class. Wally has it bad. He tells Eddie he likes looking at Ginny the way some people look at the Mona Lisa. Eddie says Wally better see his guidance counselor.
Ward says in his younger days he had a crush on Loretta Mish. Her father sold Hupmobiles in Shaker Heights. I was always curious about Ward's references to his youth and growing up on a farm. Ward would have been about my dad's age, and Shaker Heights was a fairly upscale suburb even during my dad's youth. Anyway, Ward tries to explain to June about "love" when you're a 16-year-old boy and you have a crush on a dream girl. Those "crushes" while intense are short-lived. Ward's crush on Loretta ended when he saw her cleaning fish. This concept is intrinsic to The Great Gatsby. What helps destroy Gatsby is his unwillingness to see Daisy as just a woman of flesh and blood. A similar theme appears in Studs Lonigan (James T. Farrell)
At home Wally is listening to love themes on the record player. June is upset. Wally might be in love. Wally is sixteen. Wally might get hurt. Wally is too young. June really has a problem. Wally does confide in Beaver and tries to explain to Beaver how he feels, but Beaver concludes it's mush. And Beaver in his own way gives Wally some good advice.
Unfortunately, Beaver mentions the name to June. June says he met the mother in a store, they just moved here from Indianapolis. AND JUNE CALLS INFORMATION TO GET THE FAMILY'S PHONE NUMBER. Poor, poor Wally. June has arranged for Ginny to go with the Cleavers on a picnic. Ward believes June has made a horrific mistake. When she announces this to Wally, she says to Ward, "He didn't have much to say." Ward retorts, "Caesar probably had little to say to Brutus."
On the drive out to the picnic, Wally and Ginny sit in the back with Beaver kibitzing from the front seat. We discover Ginny has food allergies, sunlight allergy, and is concerned about her weight. June claims, as she talks with Ward, she has learned a lesson about interfering in her children's lives. We'll see, June apologizes to Wally for asking Ginny, but Wally says it was OK. He learned he needs to look beneath the surface, a girl being good-looking isn't enough. At least we hope then, Wally won't share the fate of a Gatsby.
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