After all, it was the man who lost George the $8000 that was so important to the Bailey Building and Loan, driving him to near-suicide as a result. What gets me is why did George keep him around afterwards? I hope he wasn't put in charge of the $25,000+ George got from the townsfolk at the end. That bastard has got no right to be happy with them.
Why are you here if you haven't seen the movie yet?
That guy is his Uncle Billy - his father's brother.
shareOP has a point. Relative or not, the guy has no business handling large amounts of cash. I run a small business myself, and there's no way I would have a guy like Uncle Billy even in my employ, let alone being responsible for cash.
shareThat guy is his Uncle Billy - his father's brother.
I think you miss the point. One of the running themes of the story is that George has more love and loyalty than business acumen. Otherwise he would have bailed when the Building and Loan was in trouble. He would have made Harry stick to his end of the deal and take his place. He would have charged a lot more and made a fortune on Bailey Park. There are a lot more examples. He was also ready to take the fall for Billy when he told Potter that he lost the money when he could have thrown Billy under the bus. The main point is he loves his Uncle and he's going to take care of him.
shareFair enough, I suppose.
Why are you here if you haven't seen the movie yet?
Let's see how many perfect people you can find.
shareHe was with the company from the beginning. He just had to walk across the street to deposit the cash.
share[deleted]
Montgomery, it's not about finding a perfect person, which you rightly point out does not exist. It's about making sure the business is run competently. Uncle Billy isn't a bad person....not by a long shot. That said, just because one might be a good and decent person doesn't make them qualified for a job.
I've had to deal with the unpleasant process of firing people. I didn't let them go because they weren't perfect. I let them go because they couldn't do the job for which they were hired.
As hard as it is to realize, keeping around bad workers---while being a nice gesture---only can make things worse. By keeping Uncle Billy around, George put the entire business at risk, and if the business goes bust, then it's several people out of jobs, not just one.