It’s rather disingenuous for me to relate to George Bailey the way I do. I watch this, the best of the Christmas movies, each December and each year I tear up while recognizing the similarities between me and George. The obvious comparisons that pale include the fact that I can hear out of both ears, and I haven’t once done something even remotely as heroic as saving my brother from drowning in a very shallow stream. The two of us didn’t go to college, instead we both stayed home and worked for struggling family businesses. But that’s where the real comparisons end. Remember when George is offered a salary for 400% more than his current wage and he turns it down? See, that’s another place where we differ. I would have jumped at the chance to take Potter’s money. Then I would have implemented my subterfuge from the inside to torpedo Potter’s bank. As we’d later learn, bank examiners back then weren’t exactly strict, so I’m fairly certain I could have slipped some cash into random newspapers to wreck the books. Later, when the dust settled and Potter was in shambles, I would have returned to my position at my family bank and gobbled up all of the newly available market share. But I would have never found myself in that position, because when my friend offered me that investment in his plastics company, I would have scraped together a few dollars to fund my stake. Later, once that investment provided my significant liquidity, I might have considered a hostile takeover of Potter’s bank, and saved Bedford Falls that way. George might have been a good man, but he wasn’t as shrewd as he could have been.
