When a Chipotle Burrito Becomes a Social Bridge

My friend Marcus has a burrito spreadsheet. Not metaphorically. An actual Google Sheet, color-coded by protein, tracking his Chipotle Rewards points against a projection curve he built this spring. He's 24, employed, and when I asked him why, he said, "Because the app makes it fun." Then, quieter, almost embarrassed: "And because I know three people at work who do it too. We compare."I've been thinking about Marcus for weeks now, because Chipotle has updated its rewards program with something called "Rewards on Repeat", a redesigned in-app experience with, per Chipotle, more frequent rewards and greater flexibility. Which is corporate for: we figured out that your lizard brain really, really likes tiny dopamine hits, and we're going to keep pulling that lever until your wallet falls out.And yet. Marcus isn't wrong. He is having fun. And he is talking to coworkers he otherwise wouldn't talk to. Which means something interesting is happening inside a transaction I assumed was purely…