Mr. Burns' assistant, Waylon Smithers, nearly works himself into a nervous breakdown and is forced to go on a vacation. Fearing that whoever fills in for him in his absence might replace him permanently, Smithers places Homer Simpson in the job, figuring that there's no way the plant's worst employee could possibly be a threat. Homer approaches the job with enthusiasm, but finds that much of his day is taken up with being insulted by Mr. Burns. Finally, one day Homer snaps and punches Burns square in the face. To everyone's surprise, the punch actually whacks some decency and humility into Burns. When Smithers returns from his vacation, he finds that his worst fear has come true: Burns no longer needs him. Together Homer and Smithers concoct a plan to prove how valuable Smithers is to Burns, but when the plan backfires, Smithers and Homer get into a vicious fight and accidentally send their boss flying out the window. Later, while laid-up in bed with broken bones, Burns rehires Smithers as his assistant and Smithers sends the Simpson family a fruit basket to thank Homer for saving his job.