A man from New York reflects on his life, interested in how his most poignant memories seem to be when he failed. His first memory is from when he was a teenager. When he was living in Rochester, he and his friend Freddie Bassett were going to a band concert with a few girls. The man borrowed the family car and picked up the two girls first. When he went to get Freddie, he saw how nicely his friend was dressed, and out of jealousy, he made fun of Freddie's pants. This made Freddie lose his confidence and spoiled the evening, irreparably damaging their friendship as well. The man also remembers a time shortly after graduating from college. A coworker of his, who was about the same age, had recently been fired for something petty. When they passed each other in the street, the man chose to pretend not to see his coworker and kept walking. When he was much older, the man was traveling in New Hampshire when he stopped at a service station. The man began talking to the operator, and they discovered that they had both grown up near Long Island. At the end of the conversation, the operator offered his hand to shake the man's in farewell, but the man was too flustered with his wallet that he gave the man his money instead. When the man was a young boy, his father worked in gold mining for a while in Colorado. In the town they lived in there was an assayer and goldsmith named Mr. Shubin, who had been particularly nice to the boy. One Halloween, the boy and some other children went to Mr. Shubin's house to prank him. They set up a trip wire and called Mr. Shubin to the door. When he fell, most of the kids ran away, but the boy lingered for a second. When Mr. Shubin asked him to help him up, the boy ran away. Feeling guilty, the boy avoided Mr. Shubin after that. Several weeks later, Mr. Shubin moved away. Looking back at all of these instances, the man realized his failings, and why the memories have haunted him for so long. He now sees that they were moments where other people needed help from him, and he failed to help them. His friend had needed assurance, his coworker had needed a friend, the service station operator had needed reassurance of a connection to his past. Mr. Shubin, who was an outsider in Colorado had needed someone to relate to. This realization did not help change the man's behaviors, however. A few days ago he was in the train station and saw a man who was excited about where he was going. But the man was too preoccupied with his own business that he upset the traveler. Recalling this, he concludes that there are some things he cannot help and that it is best not to worry too much.