A wealthy upper-class woman, Remedios, is being fitted for a new dress by two sisters, Herlinda and Dora.
Although struggling to make ends meet, Herlinda and Dora are able to survive on their profits by not registering with the government, which would require them to pay taxes on their earnings.
Herlinda tries to bribe the census-taker with money with the hope that the shop's information will not end up in the department of tax collection.
The census-taker is frustrated with the inability to acquire the information from the sisters and we soon learn that he, too, is a victim of an economic depression and is only trying to make ends meet himself.
The play's central themes are: Voces De Hispanoamérica Antología Literaria Rachel Chang-Rodriguez, Malva E. Filer 3rd Ed.