The chapter opens with the narrator explaining that he's going to the mall on a weeknight to buy some new clothes. He's bummed that he has to rush out to buy a new pair of pants because the school clothes he was wearing were so nice. He doesn't think it's a good idea for a kid to complain about how small he is over the water. The narrator says he'll buy the kid a set of pants as an apology for complaining all the time. He tells the kid that it'll be easier for him to just go home and complain about his size than to try to teach him how to be a jerk. The kid says that's fine, he just needs to get used to the idea that he can't complain about anything. He says he doesn''t need to apologize for his size, since he can just get on with his job. The guy says that they're done shopping and they have one last stop to make before they head home. The