S06.E20: German for Beginners and a Crazy Old Man with a Bat

[Sarah 103]

11 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

Maybe, because of the nature of the business (are they paying taxes on the gambling money?), they can't use the bank's night deposit.

I want to apologize for the incredibly bad pun that I about to make, but there really isn't a good way around it. It would be really easy to launder some of the profits of the gambling money with the laundromat's finances, because there's no inventory to keep track of. Without constant monitoring, there's no real way to prove how much legitimate business they did in a day or a week. The video store is harder to do that with because there is a direct record of inventory and transactions. 

[Yeah No]

On 5/13/2023 at 7:56 AM, shapeshifter said:

I got this. 😉. 
Pastor Jeff would love to get a vacation from Sheldon for the summer since he’s right next door, right? 
So Pastor Jeff gives a sermon about the sin of gossip and “let she who is without sin cast the first stone” and gets the congregation feeling guilty for the way they treated Mary.  
Pastor Jeff then sheds a tear for his own complicity.
Then Pastor Jeff mentions poor, misunderstood Sheldon not being able to go to Germany to learn things that might save the world [from whatever current fears were high in the minds of Texans] and suggests the already-feeling-guilty-of-gossip congregation might want to contribute to a fund for Sheldon’s and the World’s future. 
Bingo. And just like that: Full collection plate.

I would agree with you except for a couple of things...

First of all, I think your second idea is more right than Pastor Jeff wanting to get rid of Sheldon.  I think his wanting to raise money for Sheldon's trip would be more likely motivated by guilt over pushing his family out of the church, and would be a way (in his mind) of absolving himself of some of that guilt without actually welcoming them back into the church.

But secondly, even if that were so,  I think it would be a hard sell to convince some fundamentalist Christians of science as a way to help the world's future.  In their view God is in control of the natural world, not science, and promoting science apart from God would potentially go against God's will for the world.  It would be an even harder sell with those that knew of Sheldon's atheism.

So personally I didn't see this particular part of the show as very realistic.

Edited May 14, 2023 by Yeah No

[Yeah No]

On 5/12/2023 at 12:39 PM, ahpny said:

No, in prior episode they actually showed an image of Patrick Swayze fading into that of Georgie, and there's also been commentary about this before too, I think a few times.

Am I the only one that remembers the scene in an earlier season where Georgie spins the tire and asks it where it hurts to the tune of "Unchained Melody" like in one of the scenes in the movie "Ghost" with Patrick Swayze which includes the spinning pottery?  I think that was a nudge and a wink to it too.

[Bethany]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

So personally I didn't see this particular part of the show as very realistic.

Agreed.  It was done totally for laughs.  A reminder that, at the end of the day, this is  a sitcom.  Sometimes the show (ok a lot of times) edges into dramedy territory and does have continuing storylines but it also, often, has a funny scene that doesn't lead anywhere.  

[Tom Holmberg]

12 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

I want to apologize for the incredibly bad pun that I about to make, but there really isn't a good way around it. It would be really easy to launder some of the profits of the gambling money with the laundromat's finances, because there's no inventory to keep track of. Without constant monitoring, there's no real way to prove how much legitimate business they did in a day or a week. The video store is harder to do that with because there is a direct record of inventory and transactions. 

I thought of the money laundering angle (a laundromat is a good business for it), but there still might be some reluctance about being public about their income.

[wknt3]

12 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

I want to apologize for the incredibly bad pun that I about to make, but there really isn't a good way around it. It would be really easy to launder some of the profits of the gambling money with the laundromat's finances, because there's no inventory to keep track of. Without constant monitoring, there's no real way to prove how much legitimate business they did in a day or a week. The video store is harder to do that with because there is a direct record of inventory and transactions. 

 

36 minutes ago, Tom Holmberg said:

I thought of the money laundering angle (a laundromat is a good business for it), but there still might be some reluctance about being public about their income.

You are both correct. At least at the time this was set - in today's regulatory environment laundromats get extra scrutiny from most banks because it is so easy to bring in cash and report that you are simply emptying the washers and driers and putting the quarters back in the change machines and it's not like there is a record of inventory or cycles run (on older machines at least). Actually the video store would be pretty easy too - you just have to add some extra rentals to the records. It is pretty easy to explain in universe why they didn't go this way - both Georgie and Meemaw are shrewd, not sophisticated, and would rather hide the cash to avoid any taxes. Plus they wouldn't want it getting around town how much money they are making - this is a small town where everyone gossips about everyone else including the bank tellers. And while money laundering regulations were much laxer so where the customer information confidentiality rules.

[aemom]

All through the episode, I kept thinking about Connie - doesn't she have some money?  Couldn't she pay or help pay for Sheldon to go to Germany for the summer?

And yeah - why are you leaving all of the money locked up at night?  They should be doing regular bank deposits.

[possibilities]

They can't do bank deposits because they are hiding the money because it's an illegal business that "doesn't exist". They have one cop on the take who is looking the other way, but the IRS isn't going to be that lenient. 

It's not a sophisticated money laundering operation like they used on Breaking Bad. It's a flat out underground, illegal operation.

[Bethany]

6 minutes ago, possibilities said:

It's not a sophisticated money laundering operation like they used on Breaking Bad. It's a flat out underground, illegal operation.

Which they don't seem to get!  It was funny that they called the police over the break in when you think about it.  The crooked cop is getting paid to look the other way not to provide security.  What did they think he could actually do for them under the circumstances?

[DMK]

35 minutes ago, possibilities said:

They can't do bank deposits because they are hiding the money because it's an illegal business that "doesn't exist"

Yes they can, that’s the point of the front business. Deposits from the illegal business are lumped in with the deposits from the clean business and voila! Clean money. 

[HyeChaps]

I am convinced that the cop was aware of the break in and this was a shakedown for more protection money. 

[proserpina65]

On 5/13/2023 at 11:16 AM, ams1001 said:

Do they not at least have a real safe? I've worked retail where they do deposits in the morning, but the money is in a locked safe in a locked office (which itself is inside another locked room) overnight.

They need the cash on hand for payouts while the gambling den is open, which may be after banks close.  But yeah, get a real safe for it overnight.

On 5/13/2023 at 10:50 PM, Sarah 103 said:

I want to apologize for the incredibly bad pun that I about to make, but there really isn't a good way around it. It would be really easy to launder some of the profits of the gambling money with the laundromat's finances, because there's no inventory to keep track of. Without constant monitoring, there's no real way to prove how much legitimate business they did in a day or a week. The video store is harder to do that with because there is a direct record of inventory and transactions. 

Yep, that's clearly why the previous owner had the gambling den in the back of his laundromat.

[tennisgurl]

Its silly, but I was way too amused at the whole staff at the university and the church all collecting money so that they didn't have to deal with Sheldon for at least a summer. Any little bit helps such a great cause! 

This was probably one of the best Dale episodes we've had in ages, him just sitting them wrapping his bat on his knee was great, as was Meemaw's look when Dale said that the robber could be a woman. 

I hope that we can at least get one episode of Sheldon in Germany, or at least some flashbacks. Hilarity will ensue. 

[proserpina65]

19 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Its silly, but I was way too amused at the whole staff at the university and the church all collecting money so that they didn't have to deal with Sheldon for at least a summer. Any little bit helps such a great cause!

I almost feel sorry for Germany.

[wknt3]

On 5/16/2023 at 5:22 PM, tennisgurl said:

Its silly, but I was way too amused at the whole staff at the university and the church all collecting money so that they didn't have to deal with Sheldon for at least a summer. Any little bit helps such a great cause!

 

6 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I almost feel sorry for Germany.

Don't. They've done more than enough when it comes to foisting scientific arrogance upon the rest of world to complain about a little turnabout...
 

[shapeshifter]

On 5/15/2023 at 11:15 AM, aemom said:

All through the episode, I kept thinking about Connie - doesn't she have some money?  Couldn't she pay or help pay for Sheldon to go to Germany for the summer?

And yeah - why are you leaving all of the money locked up at night?  They should be doing regular bank deposits.

I missed that the whole point of the robbery was so that Connie couldn't pay for Sheldon to go to Germany. 
Maybe something was cut that would've made that clear?

[Tom Holmberg]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

I missed that the whole point of the robbery was so that Connie couldn't pay for Sheldon to go to Germany. 
Maybe something was cut that would've made that clear?

That might have been the excuse of the writers, so they could reasonably have only the people who want to get rid of Sheldon pay for the trip.