Unable to call the plant because his fingers are too fat to dial a telephone keypad, and too heavy to drive or skateboard, Homer resorts to hitchhiking. Drivers refuse to pick him up because his bright muumuu and excited jabbering make him seem like a lunatic. After hijacking an ice cream truck, Homer arrives at the power plant during a workout program and reaches the shutdown button. He falls onto the gas storage tank, blocking the release tube with the oversized lower half of his body and preventing an explosion. Grateful, Mr. Burns gives Homer a medal for bravery and offers him any request he chooses. Realizing how his obesity has made life hard for his family, Homer asks Burns to make him thin again. After a failed attempt at calisthenics, Burns agrees to pay for Homer's liposuction.