Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:29 — 13.5MB)
America is the land of tradition. Traditions of our pasttimes, holidays, and that undeniable one that faces Ozzie Nelson today, filing the annual income tax forms.
Try as he might, Ozzie just sits and spins his mental wheels over the tax form. The boys distract him with one of their toys. It appears that Ozzie would prefer a squirt in the face from a trick flower, than to face another moment of income tax. I can’t blame him.
Ozzie points out some finer points of money management to Ricky, about being talked into buying things you don’t need. . Even Harriot had a similar experience with a dress that she plans on having Ozzie buy. It’s all about making a decsion and sticking to it. Easier said than done.
With Harriot’s help, Ozzie gets the last bit of his taxes filled out, and keeps him from trying to look for tax breaks. All that’s left is mailing the document. Meanwhile, David walks with Harriot, and ends up swaying her decision about that gray dress she bought. Did she make the right decision afterall? Second thoughts run rampant when, Joe, a friend of Ozzie’s raises doubt that his tax forms were done to the best of his benefit. Did he take all the deductions that he is allowed?
Feeling embarrassed, both Ozzie and Harriot try to hide their indecision from each other.Going back for that other dress, and giving the tax report another go is just their little secrets, although the boys manage to spill the beans to each other.
As Ricky watches his dad, he makes some pretty shrewd observations that I’m sure all kids might wonder about. Harriot gets a call from her mom, and now it appears that indecision rears its head yet again. As Ozzie is about to drop the tax form into the mail slot, he is approached by an energetic teenage gal with comments that cause him to rethink his tax form, again.
All that talk about making a firm decision is sure more easy to tell others to do than to practice it yourself. In the end though, harriot has a practical way to resolve the problem at hand.