I have to say it’s also unfortunate that he wasn’t interested in women of certain non-WASP persuasions. In my experience, women of certain non-Anglo nationalities have tended to be a bit more forward — perhaps he would have had the fun times he needed to get his confidence up without having to expend much energy.
First girl who was really interested in high school was of Trinidadian origin and a couple years older. She made it very obvious what she wanted, and as a kid who got his fair share of crap as a freshman (just moved to a new town, etc), this was a nice boost of confidence. Still kind of miss her — she’s a doctor in Canada now!
Sometimes the coach telling that kid in the corner — “you look like you’d make a hell of a basketball player…” might be just what’s needed.
