The play is set in a coffee shop in a small town in Eastern Ontario. Two burley men—Clifton and Henry—sit at the counter, finishing their coffees.
Clifton (looking at his wristwatch): What time is it?
Henry (clearly bored with Clifton): Why?
Clifton (glancing out to the street): They’re supposed to be picking me up.
Henry (bored): Who?
Clifton (anxious, but trying to sound offhand): The others.
Henry (absently): Well, if they said they’d pick you up, then they will.
Clifton: I better phone.
Henry (exasperated): No, you don’t have to phone. They’ll be here.
Clifton (seeking comfort): How do you know?
Henry (bored again): Well, you said they always pick you up, don’t they?
Clifton (nervously): What time is it now?
Henry (curtly): Same as it was before.
Clifton (perturbed): It couldn’t be!
Henry: Well, pretty close to it.
Clifton (looking around anxiously): I gotta find somebody else to ask!
Henry (growing tired of it all): Why?
Clifton: To see what time they have.
Henry (angry): You always do that!! You ask me the time and I tell you and then you don’t believe it!
Clifton (calmly): I believe it. I just don’t trust it.
Henry: Trust it?
Clifton: Well, it’s always different. How can you trust that? How can you trust any one time?
Henry: Well, there’s always standard time. You could trust that.
Clifton (despairingly): But where do you find it? You can never find it!
Henry (with finality): It’s an act of faith, Clifton. You have to trust all that Absolute stuff!!
(curtain)
