The Chalice

Another disturbing glimpse at a day in the life of pitiful bumbler Norman Krasner. Returning home from a business trip, a visibly weary Norman must negotiate the baggage check and an airport parking lot. Mundane tasks for most, but for Norman a blank canvas soon to be smeared with failure. This time Norman does rate his own theme song, in the form of a bored singer-songwriter droning out the humdrum details of Norman's life.

Norman Krasner, to all appearances an average businessman, finds himself taxed to his breaking point by a simple trip to a public restroom. Is it merely a combination of bad luck and incompetence, or has fate itself taken a hand? Will Norman even survive?

Somewhat surprisingly, Norman Krasner is not only still employed but his firm trusts him to go out on the road unsupervised. On the eve of a big meeting, Norman checks into a hotel overrun by a taxidermy convention and things go downhill from there.

Just before quitting time Norman's boss makes the fateful decision to delegate tomorrow's big presentation to his least accomplished and most accident-prone employee. Norman works on his speech throughout the night, despite several interruptions, but the next morning he delivers it with typical Krasnerian results.