George is too nervous to ask a woman out, but he gets over it and calls her when his coworker calls him a "wuss". On Saturday night, George and Jerry both charm their respective dates, Carol and Donna. George turns down Carol's invitation to come up for coffee, as it is too late at night, and then immediately regrets taking the invitation literally. Jerry brings Donna back to his place, where they cuddle and agree to meet again. The mood is soured when Jerry nitpicks a TV commercial for Dockers cotton pants, and refuses to back down when Donna defends the commercial.
The next day, Jerry is still fixated on the commercial as a dealbreaker, while George is still kicking himself, to the point of taking antacids. Jerry and Elaine suggest he is overreacting, and encourage him to call back. Kramer offers a joke for Jerry's act about drivers who do not yield to ambulances, but Jerry turns him down.
George kicks everyone out of Jerry's apartment so he can call Carol undisturbed. He improvises a self-deprecating, noncommittal, and rambling message on her answering machine, and immediately predicts doom. Elaine is reminded that her brother-in-law once went so far as to hide a compromising message on the recipient's machine, to swap tapes.
Days later, Jerry and Donna are reconciling when George, then Kramer, arrives and identifies her as the defender in the Dockers commercial. Discomfited by being gossiped about, and still standing by the commercial, Donna leaves; Jerry considers this no significant loss. George confesses that he has been leaving daily messages for Carol, and finally flew off the handle on the last one—only for Carol to call back, eager to meet again, as she returns from a trip.
George needs to swap the tape on Carol's machine as soon as she gets home, but, lacking the nerve, goads Jerry into doing it by calling him a wuss. They prepare both a regular and microcassette, and plan signals to avoid being caught in the act, such as singing "Maria" or "Lemon Tree" aloud. When Carol arrives, they make up flimsy excuses for George waiting for her with Jerry; for Jerry to use her bathroom; and for George to whisk Carol aside privately. They get away with the swap, but their efforts are wasted, as Carol had already heard George's messages and took them in good humour.