047b - Can You Spare a Dime?

When Mr. Krabs' first dime goes missing, he accuses Squidward of stealing it. After a heated argument with his boss, Squidward quits his job. SpongeBob meets Squidward outside of the restaurant, trying to convince Squidward otherwise. Eventually, after hearing of Squidward's great ambitions, SpongeBob leaves him be, insisting that if Squidward ever needs anything, he can seek help from him.

Time passes, and SpongeBob encounters Squidward again. Squidward is now homeless and begging for spare change, living in a cardboard box on the streets. Squidward, unable to find a new job has lost everything, and even his cardboard box is repurposed. SpongeBob takes Squidward into his own home in order to nurse him until he can look for a new job. One night, Squidward keeps on calling SpongeBob for various minute reasons each time, which ends with SpongeBob falling down the stairs. Gary tries to tell SpongeBob that Squidward is taking advantage of him, but SpongeBob is in denial.

Many months later (up to the point where time cards fly so much that the French Narrator gets tired of waiting and the producers are forced to hire a new one), Squidward has become completely dependent upon SpongeBob, turning him into a manservant of many sorts (he is even forced to wear a French maid outfit). SpongeBob is finally beginning to lose his patience, conveying several less-than-subtle hints to Squidward in order to push him towards finding work (for example, when serving Squidward a bowl of alphabet soup, SpongeBob arranges the letters to read "GET A JOB").

These hints are of no use, so when SpongeBob tries to make it as simple as he can by actually talking and not using hints, and Squidward still doesn't notice. Fed up, SpongeBob actually takes the bed Squidward is lying on, pushes it through the upstairs wall all the way to the Krusty Krab, and tries to convince Mr. Krabs to give Squidward his old job back. Mr. Krabs refuses, even after SpongeBob offers him more than just one dime, causing the latter to finally snap, grabbing Mr Krabs by the throat and yelling at him about how ridiculous the situation is, until he finds that his first dime (a large coin-shaped rock; Mr. Krabs explains that he has "been in business for a long time") was in his pocket the whole time. He restores Squidward's position, but then claims that it was Squidward who placed the dime in his pocket, beginning a new dispute. SpongeBob is shown putting on his maid outfit while the two are still arguing, anticipating the inevitable.