Recently retrenched from his technician post after the IT company he works for filed for bankruptcy, Guido finds a blue-collar job as a warehouse forklift operator, but is promptly fired for his ineptitude.

He spends his days drinking at the local bar and harbours an unspoken affection for the waitress, an Albanian immigrant named Rina.

Deeply in debt and four months behind on rent, Guido goes to the credit company and asks to work for them without pay as a means of settling his dues.

He impresses Guido with ostentatious displays of money, such as offering a generous tip to a waitress at a self-service restaurant to break the rules and bring them some food.

Despite this, Guido has doubts about the morality of his job, such as the night Franco encouraged him to beat up a debtor in the same way he had been attacked before.

Guido returns to the bar and finds out that Rina has left the city, ostensibly in search of a better life as they had discussed earlier.