The very young and very attractive bride was
fetching in her suit of midnight blue with a matching hat trimmed with leather
ribbons and buckles.
For their honeymoon the groom had chosen a near by
hotel where the two celebrated so enthusiastically that they were thrown out of
their hotel not long after their arrival. Undaunted, they picked themselves off
the sidewalk, registered in another hotel, and continued to celebrate.
In one of his more lucid moment, the groom realized
that as much as he adored his wife, she was not exactly a fashion plate.
Leather ribbons and buckles were fine in Alabama, and may have won her the
award of the most attractive debutant alive, but in New York they were very
suggestive of country bumpkin.
“Sweetie, you must do something about those Southern
Belle clothes you’ve got. I’ll talk to some of my New York female friends. I’m
sure they’ll be delighted to put you on the right track. After all, this is New
York, and we are on our honeymoon.”
“But honey bunch, can we afford it? Don’t forget
we’ve already trashed two hotels and our honeymoon has barely started.”
“My dear girl,” he said indulgently, “haven’t you
ever heard of credit?”
“Credit!” she gasped. “Why my daddy would simply die
if he heard me say the word less run around asking for it.”
“Baby doll,” he answered with a smile. “For a judge
he’s not a bad sort, your daddy. But when it comes to modern living, your daddy
hasn’t a clue. Didn’t you tell me that he’s refused to take out a mortgage on
his house because it would put him in debt? I mean to say, it is 1920. Or
hasn’t he heard?”
“I don’t know.”
“Look! I absolutely insist! Go out on the town and
come back an unflappable New Yorker. We’ll be the talk of the town.”
And so began the story of Zelda and Scott
Fitzgerald. And their love affair with credit. A love affair, like most love
affairs, that ended in tragedy and tears.
But despite the mark that they have left behind, all
too many couples are only too ready to embrace a similar affair, fuelled to an
even higher pitch by the advent of credit cards.
For them it will be different, they think.
But as the man said, first comes the wedding and the
credit card, then comes the honeymoon and the credit card. Then come the bills
and the divorce.
Plan your Honeymoon with
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