The narrator begins this chapter by telling us that the summer vacation is over and that he's back at home. He's going to go shopping, visit a friend's house, and go to an amusement park. He doesn't want to waste his time worrying about what he should do with his money. He wants to focus on his work. He says that the world is full of people who have "misplaced priorities" . He compares this to a group of guys who have misplaced their priorities because they're afraid of what they'll lose if they don't do what they want to do with their money. The narrator says that if he were a real man, he wouldn't worry about his misplaced priorities because he'd be judged on what he stands to lose, rather than what he has to gain.