A New Yorker works at a hair salon with her boss, Ronnie, who always plays the radio too loud and dances around, even while cutting hair. She is constantly surrounded by noise; even at home in her apartment she hears traffic noises, babies crying, women yelling outside, and her neighbor singing at the top of his lungs at all hours of the day. The most quiet she gets is on the subway to and from work, where the train's screeches turn into white noise and no one talks, even when the train gets stuck for an hour or sometimes more. The woman often recognizes the people on the subway, notably a beautiful black woman who always dresses in red, but never talks to them or learns their names. She imagines that if the train were stuck for long enough, she would take charge of the situation, making sure everyone who needs a seat has one and maybe even leading everyone in a song.

One day, a man with a dark tan and wavy white hair comes into the hair salon and tells the woman that he writes movies for Hollywood. While she washes his hair, the man tells the hairdresser about the last movie that he wrote, and the woman, familiar with the movie, responds by telling him that she disliked it. She then asks the man what he's done since his last movie, and the man laughs and tells her about his divorce and drug addiction. While the man is talking about the new script he's just written, the hairdresser admires his hair, thinking that it looks like the hair of an angel. The writer invites the woman to his meeting with a director later that afternoon, but she declines and wishes him good luck.

That night, the woman is on the subway home from work when the train gets stuck. Some passengers make awkward conversation, but for the most part, everyone sits in silence and waits for something to happen. Right as the lights go off, the hairdresser catches a glimpse of the woman in red. Feeling emotional after her long day, the woman begins to sing "I've Been Working on the Railroad," and a few passengers join in.