When Arty Mac, a low level bookie turned Upper West Side doorman, decides against policy to help a tenant access the freight elevator, an unlucky power outage leaves them trapped in the dark basement for several hours. Without electricity or a way out, Arty passes the time by recalling a day back in the summer of 1996, which also resulted in terrible timing. The fateful afternoon he left work early to propose to his insatiable girlfriend, Lulu. On his stroll through the Village to her apartment, chance encounters with people from his past, as well as with the occasional passing vixen, impact his fate in unforeseen ways. Will his karma catch up with him sooner than he thinks?