Why didn't he and Mary invest in Sam Wainwright's plastics? He could have made 100 times his money, or more. Idiot.
"'Extremely High Voltage.' Well, I don't need safety gloves, because I'm Homer Simpsonzzzzz--" - Frank Grimes
He never really got over his resentment of Sam Wainwright. He may have known in his head that Sam's investment tips were a sure thing, and if it had been anyone else in town, he might have said yes, but his jealousy towards Sam would have kept him from taking him up on the offer. At the dedication of the Martini home, Sam and his wife show up, and George points them out, grumbling.
Mary responds with a too-loud "Who cares!" which doesn't reassure George that she doesn't still have a little torch for him. When he is desperate for money, Potter asks George why he didn't contact Sam for the money; George claims that he couldn't reach him because Sam is in Europe (which may be true). Yet Mary was able to get in touch with him on Christmas Eve (by then, Christmas Day in London). When George hears that Sam is sending him the money, he exchanges a long, possibly accusatory look at Mary. He may be curious as to how she was able to get in touch with him so easily when he couldn't (maybe she has a private number to reach ol' Sam), and/or he may feel embarrassed that she reached out to his former romantic
rival (although Sam never seemed all that brokenhearted about losing Mary; he was even cheerful about it). Long after all the happy guests went home that Christmas night, and the mess at the bank was cleared up, it's possible he harangued Mary about just what was still going on between her and "Hee-Haw." Jealous spouses are like that.
I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!
Hewwo.
I never read so much into Sam's character before. I always thought he had many girls on a string his whole life, and Mary knew she was just one of them. If I had a chance to gamble a modest or tidy sum in George's situation and didn't do it, I would hate myself for losing out on all that revenue. I would be jumping off a bridge long before he actually thought about it. Also, if George hated Sam so much, he wouldn't sink so low as to ask him for help, if you ask me. If we deduct Sam's offer from the generous town's contributions, I wonder if there would be enough to cover the $8,000 needed anyway. George needed Sam in that case. And I also think Sam's offer was a loan, not a gift.
"'Extremely High Voltage.' Well, I don't need safety gloves, because I'm Homer SimpsonZZZZZzzzzz--" - Frank Grimes
Why didn't he and Mary invest in Sam Wainwright's plastics? He could have made 100 times his money, or more. Idiot.