Gerald Tilby has begrudgingly accepted a dinner invitation from his younger and quite boorish, new-in-town boss. Adding insult to injury, Gerald watches in excruciating silence as his tipsy wife encourages his boss to continue a vicious ribbing sure to sting Gerald for days to come. Yet, with what could have been a demoralizing hands and knees fork retrieval expedition under the table, an encounter moments later in the kitchen with his boss' wife empowers the crafty genius of Gerald's mind to rise above the occasion, reducing what could have been an embarrassing cycle of intimidation into child's play.