Widow Brasse goes to great lengths to support her children and her elderly grandfather. Poverty and irritation are a constant state of affairs in the family, as there is not enough money to go around, even though Johanna Brasse washes clothes for strangers day after day. But as life goes, one day Grandpa Philipp is hit by a car and the widow senses a good deal. Although Grandpa is not injured, he is put to bed and given a proper bandage. All the preparations are made to extract a good deal of compensation from the remorseful driver. But everything turns out quite differently.