A laboratory researcher stands beside a gurney where an experimental patient, with wires and hoses attached, lies asleep. The researcher explains that people have asked for advice on how to wake up, so his lab is investigating reactions to loud noises and bright lights. He then takes us to a man asleep in bed at home, and an off-screen narrator takes over as the man wakes, rises, stretches, brushes his teeth, dresses and heads for work. The lure of more sleep, the twinges exercise brings, the absence of toothpaste, the temptations to dawdle while dressing, and a broken shoe lace conspire to make the subject late. Will it all work out?