Hal smokes dope in public against his own concealment instinct — "marijuana thinking"

pivotal · 8 Nov YDAU (I-Day)

• When: 8 Nov YDAU (Interdependence Day), afternoon, Gatorade pavilion
• What: Spectating Eschaton, Hal is caught between "a strong desire to get high again for the second time since breakfast" and "a strong distaste about smoking dope with/in front of all these others" — an issue of taste he can't fully articulate, tied to keeping the habit private, esp. in front of Little Buddies. He first resolves he's "declining all public chemicals," takes only four or five small hits, then later "finds himself taking the proffered duBois and smoking dope in public without even thinking about it or having consciously decided to go ahead." The narrator names the resulting paralytic thought-helix "marijuana thinking." Documents the secret-habit's compulsive pull overriding concealment.