- On the eve of his 49th birthday, Mr. Sloan gets annoyed with people perceiving him as old; with an outbreak of polio, everyone is on edge about contracting the disease; Abe begins to experience memory loss.
- Life's short.
Mike, Sr.'s approaching 50. He doesn't seem to be happy about it. Ruth is organizing a surprise birthday party for him at the roadhouse. Usually Judy's night off she learns she has to work on account of everyone else being out. Then she learns that the party is for Mike when she runs into him at their table. They pretend not to know each other. Judy is unnerved. Jeff lets the cat out of the bag about them being on the train together on the way to Detroit. Mike attempts to apologize Judy for pretending not to know her.
Abe's worried he's losing his memory like his father did because of his age and behavior both his wife and mother notice.
Anne's sick. She has to be taken to the hospital. It's polio. The Metcalf/Kahn household is quarantined for a week. The whole town is on pins and needles. Mike offers Judy his personal physician should she finds herself in need. Caroline is scornful of Gina and her daughter who may have gotten the virus from Charlie. She tells her that's what she gets for being with other people's husbands.
The Polio scare pushes Mike to live his short life and insists on going to the roadhouse to pick up his gloves (which he may have left on purpose) so he could go back and see Judy. It's convenient since the whole town is avoiding the roadhouse since both Al and Jeff worked there. Mike persuades Judy to have a drink with him and to dance with him, proclaiming "Life's too short".
Abe just seems to be overwhelmed. Anne's better and allowed to go home (in a wheelchair). She seems to not care so much about right way to do things anymore, because "life's too short."
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