Albie Morrison's daughter Ann is desperate to go on a class trip, His son wants a Kayak for a Boy Scout adventure, and his wife wants a coat, but he can't afford it. He asks his boss at the newspaper for a raise, and learns he'll get one if he moves to Cleveland for four months of special training. The boss gives him an advance, so he decides to soften up his family by getting them what they want before he tells of the move. His vague references to "going away" along with getting spotted near a cord dangling close to his head in the shape of a noose, and then, fixing a stove's pilot light by climbing in the broiler, convince them that he's attempting suicide so they'll receive his life insurance money.

Albie mistakens some pills for ones prescribed and ingests them. When dad discovers what he has done Albie imagines the severest consequences and creates an uproar in the house.

Albie experiences a series of events that make him feel older then his actual years. His family protests he is still youthful and becomes worried about Albie's mental state.