What do you predict Tom will do?"Contents of the Dead Man's Pockets" by Jack Finney

For the author of "Contents of the Dead Man's
Pockets," Jack Finney, Tom Benecke illustrates the delicate balance of what people set
as their priorities as opposed to what is truly meaningful in their lives.  Tom's moment
of truth on the ledge of his eleven-floor apartment causes him to realize that he has
been wasting valuable time on climbing the business ladder when he should have been
fostering his relationship with his wife.  Faced with the possibility of dying and
losing any opportunity to be with the woman he loves, Tom mourns the death of time that
he has created, and he resolves to save his life by valuing the time he has been
given:

All
they'd find in his pockets would be the yellow sheet. Contents of the dead
man's pockets, he thought, one sheet of paper bearing penciled
notations--incomprehensible.

When,
fortuitously, Tom lands inside the apartment, he simply places the paper where it had
been, and "shakes his head wonderingly," indicating that he is amazed at what a risk
he has taken simply to earn a raise.  It is a changed man who takes his topcoat and hat
and open the door to go out only to see the yellow sheet "sail out into the night and
out of his life."  With the sheet gone, Tom simply laughs
at his previous ridiculous thoughts and behavior.

That the
author writes of the yellow sheet's being "out of his life," and that Tom laughs
indicate his complete change of attitude.  Clearly, his priorities have changed and Tom
will devote more time to his marriage.