A Little Credit, Please

June decides Connie is old enough to begin building a good credit record and gives her a credit card in her own name. She explains that the entire balance must be paid at the end of each month and warns Connie not to pile up bills and interest. Connie is thrilled by the trust and responsibility - especially by the sight of her own name printed on the card.

At Whit's End, Bernard Walton introduces Eugene to Simon Birtles, a young Australian who is spending the summer as Bernard's window-washing apprentice. Simon is eager to work, but he wants to skip quickly from a squeegee to Bernard's power sprayer. Bernard insists that he first master the basic skills and learn to care for the equipment. Simon obeys, though cleaning buckets and waiting several weeks to operate the sprayer seem far less exciting than he expected.

Connie arrives carrying an armful of purchases she has made to test her new card. Its convenience makes every purchase feel easy and justifiable. Tom Riley warns her that his own credit-card bills once grew so large that he cut up his cards and decided not to buy anything he could not afford with cash. Connie agrees that this sounds sensible, then immediately returns to a catalog order she is placing with her card.

Meanwhile, everyone keeps asking Eugene how he is coping with Katrina's departure. He insists that his emotional faculties are under control, but his impatient answers reveal the opposite. At the mall, Connie finally gets him to admit that he is miserable, and she invites him to dinner. Eugene confesses that Katrina's absence has left a terrible emptiness in his life. He has repeatedly wanted to call or write her, but he knows that a clean break is painful for Katrina too. The restaurant makes matters worse because he and Katrina often ate there, even at the same table where he now sits with Connie. Wanting some outward sign that he is changing, Eugene decides to grow a mustache.

Connie pays for their expensive dinner because she issued the invitation and can charge it. The next day, she continues shopping and remembers at the last moment that she still needs a birthday gift for June. At Rathbone's Palace, she selects a blender, only to have the store reject her card. Angry and embarrassed, Connie refuses to believe that she could have reached a credit limit after only a few days.

Outside the store, Simon is tired of Bernard's caution and decides to prove that he can already handle the power sprayer. He asks Connie to hold the nozzle while he turns on the water. The powerful hose jerks out of their control, soaks them, and smashes a window at Rathbone's Palace. Although Connie has helped reluctantly and the accident is chaotic, Simon admits that the fault is his because he used the sprayer against Bernard's instructions.

June calls the card company and learns that Connie has spent more than her $250 limit. Connie had treated each purchase as a small, reasonable exception without adding the costs together. Now she has no idea how she will pay the balance. June had hoped she would be more responsible, but she deliberately set a modest limit as a safety net. Connie must work extra hours at Whit's End to pay the bill and leaves the card at home until she has a genuine need for it.

Simon must repay the broken-window expense a little at a time from his wages. Bernard explains that the accident shows why responsibility is given gradually. God also entrusts people with possessions, talents, and opportunities in small measures, giving more when they handle what they already have with maturity. Simon has learned that lesson the hard way, just as Connie has learned that the ease of charging something does not make it affordable.

At Whit's End, Eugene offers to pay his share of the previous night's meal, and the indebted Connie gratefully accepts. She then notices the faint beginning of his new mustache and suggests that changing his hair or vest might make a better symbol. When Eugene proposes a pierced ear, tattoo, gold tooth, or mohawk instead, she quickly declares the mustache terrific - and offers to fill it out with eyeliner while he flees from her.