History Main / WorkOffTheDebt

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/DudleyDoRight'', Dudley is assigned to tail Snidely Whiplash wherever he goes. One such place was a restaurant, and when Snidely was leaving, Dudley attempted to follow, only to be held back cause he hadn't paid his check, followed by being forced to wash dishes when he doesn't have any money. When Inspector Finwick finds him, he orders Dudley to get back on the job. Unfortunately, this results in the manager making the Inspector wash the rest of the dishes.

* An episode of ''Anime/MonsterRancher'' had the Hare treating the gang to a night at a fancy restaurant and inn... and then slipping off in the night without paying. Cut to a scene of Golem in a frilly pink apron.

* Both Smiley and Phoney ComicBook/{{Bone}} (much to his chagrin) have to work off their debts at the Barrelhaven Tavern. What's infuriating to Phoney is that he had money, but because the residents of the valley use a barter system, [[YourMoneyIsNoGoodHere his cash was worthless.]]

* Used on several occasions in [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Donald Duck]] and [[ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck Uncle Scrooge]] comics, usually to add insult to injury when Uncle Scrooge is temporarily denied access to his fortune because of unfortunate events. In a variation unique to Scrooge, he and the rest of the ducks once end up washing dishes even though he has the money--he doesn't have anything smaller than a thousand-dollar bill and the clerk can't break it for him.

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/18791527 Xenophiles' Dinner Club]]'', Cassie, Aftran, Ax, and Marco accidentally go to the wrong restaurant, instead of the one where Rachel's mom knew the chef. They end up paying their bill.

* ''Fanfic/FireEmblemRekkaNoKenAStoryRetold'': Lyndis' Legion manages to defeat Lundgren thanks to female merchant Anna supplying Michael with a Master Seal, which Lyn uses to get the upper hand in the fight, and an Aum Staff, which she uses to bring Michael BackFromTheDead after he was mortally wounded by Lundgren. Several chapters later, Anna arranges for Michael to work off the fifty-thousand gold he owed her for the two items during the one-year TimeSkip.

* ''Fanfic/AnAlternateKeitaroUrashima'': While visiting Keitaro's parents, Kaolla Su [[BigEater helps herself to some brownies]]... which were meant for one of their customers. They then force her to work to recompensate them for the cost of both the brownies and the lost business.
* Many Baravadans work off their debts to the gods (which are not at all uncommon, more like bank loans than anything else) in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached.'' One way to do it is to make sure the magical baths are still running in the empty, run-down hotels so the occasional traveler can wash up comfortably. Lyndess refused to do any kind of work for the debt she owed the gods, so they exiled her to Ketafa as punishment. No one knows what her problem was, but they've taken to calling her "Lyndess the Example" because she's a reminder that the gods don't take debt avoidance lightly.

* In the opening scene of ''Film/TheGayDivorcee,'' Guy and Egbert are threatened with having to wash dishes at a Paris restaurant when they both forget their wallets. Guy (a professional dancer, played by Creator/FredAstaire) eventually agrees to dance for his supper, only for Egbert to find his wallet after all just as the number finishes.

* Treated in greater depth in the absurdist film ''Film/TheMusicOfChance.'' A professional itinerant cardsharp and his chance-met companion unexpectedly get into debt to two apparently gormless lottery millionaires when it turns out the latter have been taking poker lessons. They have to work off the debt through what amounts to slave labor on a grueling and utterly pointless task: Using stones salvaged from a medieval castle to build a useless wall. Several levels of tragedy ensue.

* ''Film/ThoroughlyModernMillie.'' Jimmy [[spoiler:(who is secretly an absurdly wealthy tycoon)]] has deliberately not paid for dinner so he can wash dishes with Millie.

-->'''Addie:''' "I want my two hundred dollars!"

[[quoteright:300:[[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tfo_thebigproblem_8.png]]]]

** Inverted in Daffy's 1967 cartoon "Daffy's Diner"; Speedy Gonzales doesn't have any money and asks Daffy if he could wash dishes in exchange for a meal. However, since Daffy's angry customer El Supremo wants a mouse burger with a real mouse, Daffy has other ideas.

A common setting for this trope are restaurants, where the characters will be required to wash up the dishes. Even though most modern restaurants have machines to wash dishes, the unfortunate victims will invariably have to wash up by hand. Usually unexplained is how the restaurant was going to get the dishes clean if no deadbeats showed up that night.

* ''{{VideoGame/Battletech}}'' starts off this way: your mercenary company has had a run of bad luck and bad contracts, exemplified by the first mission after the time skip, where your employers double-cross you and you end up not getting paid for the work you did. The costs of running a mercenary company, in fuel, repairs, foods and other consumables, means that you're not even able to make payments on your debts, requiring you to somehow placate your debt holders early on. They also don't want you going too far, so you're forced to pick up terrible paying jobs in a four system area. [[spoiler: The debt is bought out by Kamea when you reunite, and she explicitly states that she owns you, but allows you more freedom as long as you show up when she needs you. At the end of the game, she discharges the debt entirely.]]