"All things considered, Greg decided that Chunky Comics was off to a pretty good start. And before lunch was over, Greg had hired Ted to become the first sales agent for Chunky Comics, offering him a nickel for every two copies he sold. So Greg was still hoping to reach that goal of selling one hundred units the first week.
But business can be a lot like life—full of unexpected events. And thirty-three minutes later, standing in the hallway next to the music room, Greg and his new company got a shock."
The protagonist of the story is a boy named Greg Kenton. He is one of those kids who are pretty much good at everything he tries. One of the things he has tried is creating his own comic book. So successful is he that it grows into his own company, Chunky Comics. At this point in the story, Greg's magic touch is pure gold. His fellow classmates love his comics and his business is expanding. This quote outlines the situation in which Greg is finding success both creatively and commercially. The philosophical intrusion here sets up the central conflict driving the narrative. The unexpected event in this instance is another comic book. Not only is it, not one that Chunky Comics sells, but it is also one created by Greg's nemesis, Maura Shaw. Making the situation even worse is that Maura's comic book is, in Greg's opinion, a rip-off of his own.
"Greg realized that he’d been thinking of the kids at school that same way, as targets. He was the hunter, and they were the prey. And what did he want from the School Committee tonight? A hunting license. He wanted permission to aim his comic books at every kid in the school."
Greg is attending a meeting at school designed for the purpose of convincing the principal to allow him to sell his comic books to other students on school grounds. He finds out that success is relative when he learns that kids spending their own money to buy consumer products actually contribute thirteen billion dollars to the world economy. This figure has a tremendous impact on Greg's perspective. First, he realizes that what he thought had been a very successful entry into the capitalist enterprise is just a mere speck in the overall economic fabric of society. Deeper down is Greg's realization and appreciation of the predatory nature of the capitalist enterprise. This is the moment that Greg begins to understand the reality of leisure capitalism. In order to sustain sales of items that are not necessary for survival, one must approach business with the idea of convincing consumers to continually buy things they don't actually need. This quote represents the moment that Greg comes to understand he has been operating Chunky Comics purely on the basis of greed.
"Except . . . instead of just school supplies, we can sell our comics there. And . . . and other kids could sell things there too. Because lots of kids have good ideas. And the store can be like a business. A real business. Except . . . any kids who sell stuff at the store have to give . . . fifty percent. Fifty percent of all their profits has to go to something that helps the whole school. Because that way, it’ll be half for profit, and half for learning."
Greg's epiphany about how greed is the grease that keeps the machinery of non-essential leisure economics turning has long-term effects. His original strategy was to convince the school to open a store allowing him to sell his comics. After undergoing an ideological transformation, Greg has transformed his entire business strategy to base it less on selfish greed and more on using the revenue to help society. What begins as a plan to expand his comic book sales to enhance his own bank account becomes a plan to help others sell their ideas. More to the point, he also sees a way to transform the selfish greed of others into a plan to help the school itself which means helping even those students without commercially viable ideas.
