Mr. Ratburn's class goes on field trips to several of the students' parents at work to learn about careers. Francine is embarrassed by her father's job as a garbage man and tries to cover it up by informing her friends that he is in a secret organization and just pretends to be a garbage man for cover. However, Francine eventually decides to admit that her father is really a garbage man when everyone sees that he built a playground out of things he found at the dump. Muffy is allergic to the new carpet in her house, so she stays with Francine while the carpeting is being removed. During Muffy's stay, Francine cannot handle Muffy's spoiled attitude and Muffy cannot deal with the less-than-wealthy condition in which Francine's family lives.