Mr. Mortimer, an aging white man, lives alone in his home with only his nagging inner voice to keep him company. He sells Beauty Everlasting kitchenware for a living, vigorously scrubbing pots and pans and preparing vegetables to make a meal to impress potential customers. Mr. Mortimer knows that he works in a dying business, but he feels too old to try another trade. His daughter's school bills keep coming in, so Mortimer continues to try to sell his product.

One evening, Mr. Mortimer goes to the Black side of town to sell his product to Mrs. Jones and her guests. He thinks about how, because of some economic disparity that he does not understand, many of the houses belonging to Black families are in disarray from the exterior, but they often have interiors kept in good shape. As he walks into Mrs. Jones's home to prepare a meal with his product for her and her seven guests, he thinks about how her home defies the stereotype: the inside is more awful than the outside. With cockroaches in the sink and dirty furniture in the house, Mr. Mortimer feels unable to cook in the environment and is tempted to walk out, but then he thinks of his daughter Miriam and keeps going. He cooks a meal with little to no spices and thinks about his pitch: with Everlasting Beauty cookware, you get healthier, less greasy meals, eating food the way nature intended at an affordable cost.

Mr. Mortimer attempts to soften up Mrs. Jones and her crowd with glasses of whiskey. Each time he enters the room to speak to the guests, they become silent, likely uncertain how to respond to a white man cooking their meal. When they all sit down to eat, Mr. Mortimer begins his sales pitch, but only a few sentences in, he realizes none of the customers are going to buy. Mrs. Jones tells Mortimer that her husband has been out of work for six months, and another guests announces that she cannot make any purchases until Christmas. Mr. Mortimer's unrelenting inner voice calls him a broke fool, and he leaves the home defeated and without any money.