It started with a picture.
Someone had taken a photo of Phantom and two other ghosts, Johnny and Kitty they were later identified as, sitting on a rooftop doing the strangest of things.
They were eating food.
Of course, people went nuts over this. No one had thought a ghost was even capable of eating food. Especially the Fentons, who just could not fathom the idea. After a few days to get over their shock, the two ghost hunters came out and managed to flag down Phantom during one of his flights about town.
Intrigued that they weren't trying to shoot him for once, Phantom had lowered to the ground to hear them out.
That was the first time the Fentons had an interaction with ghosts that didn't involve violence. It was also the day they learned how different and complicated ghosts really were.
The change that came next came as a surprise to a lot of people, but after finding out their teen hero needed food and realising he had no way of buying any, some places offered their services to him and any other ghost who needed it, free of charge.
There were a few bumps here and there and things they needed to work around before it could be considered a stable practice, but it was progress. The Nasty Burger was the first establishment to find a healthy balance, which, considering how that came to be, was not a surprise. It turned out that Phantom loved their food, and was a frequent customer once they started their, 'Ghosts get a free meal a day' campaign. He never missed a single day, and with the place already being a popular teen hang out and teens being his biggest fans, plus the owner being a huge supporter of Phantom's, his feedback was often asked for and given.
Some ghosts required more food than others, and for a while they tried to find a way to fairly determine how much food which ghosts got. There were people who complained that the ghosts were being fed at all, saying that they didn't pay and even with the restrictions it felt unfair. Until Phantom brought up the fact that it's not like ghosts could have jobs to earn money, and the owner had an epiphany.
A reward system started soon after that. It started with little jobs, ghosts who fixed their dishwasher or provided power in a blackout were given extra food as payment. Then there were bigger things and more routine things until some ghosts had legitimate jobs, working for the Nasty Burger. Ember provided entertainment some nights, without the hypnotism of course, and Sidney started working at the register, as it turned out, he was great with people and money. When those situations came up, the ghosts transitioned into being given actual pay like any of their other workers. It was the most human any ghost had been treated in that town and it was in a fast food diner.
It was a difficult change that received a lot of ridicule from those who weren't as accepting of ghosts, but those involved felt it was all worth it when Phantom came in one night to see his friends hard at work in a ghost accepting environment and nearly cried with joy.
The success of the Nasty Burger's integration of ghosts inspired other businesses to try a hand at it. Several months later found numerous businesses opening their doors to ghosts, both as customers and workers.
There was still a lot of work to do before ghosts could be considered a part of society, but it's closer than anyone thought they could get, which gave them motivation to try.
I don't really know where I was going with this, and I feel like I could flesh out the idea a bit better given more time so I may revisit this idea later.