Everyone is seated as they wait for the meeting to begin and Joe Bellinson’s neighbor leans towards him and says there’s something phony about the situation and that a friend of his had the same experience and it was a come-on. The man on the radio had said that there would be no canvassing and had invited unemployed New Yorkers to come to this meeting to learn about work opportunities. Joe is angry at his neighbor for making him uneasy about something he’d been excited about and he looks around the surprisingly-large office space they sit in. A man who identifies himself as Mr. Paley, the man from the radio last night, addresses the crowd from the platform at the front of the room. Joe can’t shake the word “phony” and he is suspicious of Mr. Paley. 

After the speech, he tells his neighbor he was right about Mr. Paley and Mr. Lambert, a company executive, takes the stage and discusses opportunities at his company, but the man only yells about how everyone needs money. Joe tries not to be sucked in by the allure of money and watches Mr. Lambert’s corrupt speech with disgust. Mr. Lambert reveals that he’s in the gravedigging business and a ripple of shock moves through the audience. He says that they call their gravesite a “memorial park” instead of a cemetery because people find the word “park” much more appealing and Joe becomes interested. At the end of his speech, the audience sighs in disappointment and some openly express their disgust in Mr. Lambert’s proposition. Joe and his neighbor leave with the rest of the crowd while Mr. Lambert calls after them, telling them not to turn their back on money.