Boise Ed sends the above, noting, “It’s not that IDU what’s happening, but why is it funny that the guy has stiffed the Girl Scout?”
I’d also add that there seems to be a video camera in the background, AND the woman in pink is driving something that looks more like a courtroom typewriter than a laptop–is this a recycled strip? Yet neither Tineye nor Google Images finds it, so maybe not. Perhaps Hoest and Reiner are stuck in the past?
Comics I Don't Understand 
Don’t overthink it. It’s not a courtroom, it’s just an “important” business meeting, and the joke is not that Mr. Lockhorn is such a hopeless dweeb that he would intentionally stiff a Girl Scout (even if we all know he IS such a dweeb that he would do exactly that by accident); no, the joke is that she infiltrated a business meeting so that she could accuse him of being a deadbeat with witnesses present.
I think it’s either a deposition or arbitration. Stenographer and a camera to record aren’t at most business meetings.
Kudos to Patrick @2, an arbitration hearing seems to be the perfect solution!
@Patrick has it!
Yes, I think the joke is that they would have an arbitration hearing over something as trivial as failure to pay for Girl Scout cookies.
I’m with Patrick – this is a deposition. Two parties, two lawyers, stenographer, and a videographer. Conference room with the blinds drawn. The joke is that the Scout is taking serious legal action over getting stiffed by Leroy, and we probably aren’t meant to think about how Leroy is such a stubborn jerk that he’d rather pay his lawyer than cover a petty debt to a child fundraising for a nonprofit.
Deposition or arbitration. The joke is that both parties are taking this to extremes. Even arbitration is going to cost much more than the cost of the cookies.
@ zbicyclist – Perhaps, but who pays the fees? Leroy would seem to be at fault, and therefore responsible, but whoever said the legal system was fair?
Patrick and Andrew Millar are right, but I still don’t see how it’s a joke that the dimwit has stiffed a Girl Scout.
Patrick and Andrew Millar are right, but I still don’t see how it’s a joke that the dimwit has stiffed the Girl Scout.
@ Boise Ed (9&10) – The joke is not that he stiffed her, but rather that such a trivial matter ended up in such a complicated arbitration scene (see me@1 and Andrew@6).
P.S. One reason that newspapers no longer employ paperboys (or girls) is that it doesn’t make sense to have a 12 year old kid trying to collect subscription fees from adult deadbeats.
Well this setting seems rather arbitrary. :-P
FWIW, it was recently announced Girl Scout cookies are going up a bit in price.
This would ruin any joke – but when I was a Girl Scout (eons ago) we collected the money when we handed over the cookies. No cookies handed over without the cash! (Well, since I was not allowed to go out selling I guess could trust getting payment from grandmothers, aunts and my mom, but even so…)
I lean towards she is bringing suit against Mr. Lockhorn for non-payment.
Machine could be a stenographer’s machine which would be present at meetings/hearings to record what is being said.