Film Crews and Mortification

My sister-in-law just got a nice check for letting a popular TV show film a scene on her doorstep.

A few months ago, she heard a knock at the door and found a guy who wanted to know what her interest would be in letting her house be the scene in an upcoming episode. They own a cute little green New England style home in California with white trim. At first she was a little hesitant, but once they mentioned compensation, she jumped at it.

(Tangent)
And wouldn't we all jump at the chance to get paid just for picking the right house and enslaving ourselves to a mortgage?
(End Tangent)

I should mention that this sister-in-law has four children under the age of six (within five years of each other), including a set of twins. Needless to say, she is a busy woman and life can get pretty crazy.

When the guy came back to draw up the contract (specifying what the crew is allowed to do and where they are allowed to film), my sister-in-law nervously started mentioning that if they needed to plant any flowers in the yard or if they needed to spray paint the lawn green, she would be just fine with that.

The guy sort of shrugged and made a vaguely affirmative grunt.

When the fateful day came, my sister-in-law, brother and their kids were away on vacation, so her brother was on site to represent the homeowners.

The TV crews arrived along with the actors. At one point, my sister-in-law got a phone call from her brother.

He said, "Yeah, I don't think you need to worry about planting flowers or spray painting the lawn. It's a white trash scene."

My sister-in-law was mortified and suddenly extremely grateful she was anywhere but her house.

Later, her brother mentioned that when they saw the couch in the living room (which has more than a few rips in the fabric), the crew enthusiastically said, "Oh! We should put that out on the porch. It would look perfect."

Personally, I can't wait to see the episode.