 Why does Hank want to eat alone?
There he sat between the mayor and a nervous young coed chosen as homecoming queen, and looked out at the police and fire department bands, the National Guard, the boy scouts and girl scouts, the Elks and Masons. The head of the American Legion and the chief of police, who had escorted him on this trip from the square, didn't ask to go in with him. Which was not what he'd considered at all important on leaving Walter Reed Hospital early this morning; which was something he found distasteful, something he felt beneath them both. Once he could communicate this, the strangeness would disappear and the First One would again become good old Hank.
 His family is not treating him like a normal person. Hank just wants to feel normal.
 Aunt Lucille won't shut up about the Ladies' Garden Club.  His family is not treating him like a normal person. Hank just wants to feel normal.  His family is talking too loudly at dinner, and there are too many people in the room. Hank is experiencing sensory overload.  His family was watching him eat like an animal in a zoo. Hank just wants to feel normal.