When her son wants to marry a poor girl, a snobby mother becomes furious and invites her parents to the wedding on the grounds that they don’t appear classy enough.
She was shocked to learn that Clara Wellington’s son intended to wed a poor girl from Montana when he returned from college. She questioned, “But who are her parents?” “How do they operate?”
Brad, her son, questioned, “What does that matter?” “The only thing that matters to me is that I love Frannie.” Clara sealed her mouth shut. Naturally, birth and social standing were important factors. For Clara, at any rate, they were everything!
Clara’s worst fears were realized when she and her husband, Brad Senior, met Frannie Heckle and her parents. Clara assumed that the Heckles were not what she wanted as her son’s in-laws, but rather what her father-in-law would have called “salt-of-the-earth” folks!
Mrs. Heckle liked painfully vivid flowery house dresses and white plastic shoes, whereas Mr. Heckle was a tall, burly man who wore a light blue suit that pouped at the knees and elbows.
Clara trembled. They would need to take action over their attire! She refused to let them ruin the wedding by coming off as the hicks that they so obviously were! When she told her husband as much, she was taken aback by his response.
Brad Senior had remarked, “Leave them alone, Clara,” using a tone of voice he didn’t usually use around her. “Brad genuinely cares for this girl, and these are good people.” It makes no difference what they wear!
Clara was infuriated by her husband’s inability to recognize the significance of projecting the proper image and making the appropriate impression. Her son would become a prosperous man and a member of the city’s elite eventually.
Don’t downplay your origins or try to be someone you’re not.
Clara was determined that this wedding would be a huge success and that no one would make fun of her only son’s wedding. She knew that people would be talking about it for years to come.
Mrs. Heckle and Frannie were asked to lunch by Clara, who took great pains to explain to them the significance of their attire.
“Mrs. Heckle, I believe you ought to reconsider your image. You ought to visit Bloomingdales; there are several reasonably priced off-the-rack items there that would suit both your husband and you well.
