USA. A Mexican restaurant. We had not yet ordered anything, and the food was already arriving.
Chips. Salsa. Unrequested. Free.
I stopped the waiter. "We have not earned these."
"They just come with the table, man."
They come with the TABLE. In my land, hospitality is a debt. Every gift creates an obligation, weighed carefully, returned in the proper season with interest of feeling. Here, the gift arrives before you have even proven you can pay for dinner.
This is not an appetizer. This is a declaration: we trust you. Eat.
I ate with the gravity the moment deserved. And then — I must report this calmly — the basket emptied, and a new one appeared.
"Did we…?"
"Refill," the waiter said. "It's bottomless."
Bottomless. They have wells of salsa. The supply lines of this nation are beyond anything my ancestors imagined.
My friend warned me. "Don't fill up on chips, dude."
Too late. I had accepted three baskets. Honor demanded each one be finished — an unfinished gift is an insult. By the time my actual food arrived, I was a ruined man.
I was not hungry. I was not comfortable. I had been defeated by a courtesy.
Generosity that arrives before the request cannot be repaid. It can only be survived.
I know the rule now. I have made my peace with the basket. One basket. Two at the most.
Who am I deceiving. There is no number of baskets I would refuse. The trust of a nation is in that salsa, and I intend to honor all of it.
@KipHenley You just referenced putting strokes. He’s not talking about putting strokes. He’s talking about reading greens. Hit the putt with whatever weird stroke you want, but you better have the right read based on how your eyes see it. Right line. Right speed. However you do it.
Had an amazing coaches training with the awesome @BlakeWilliamson yesterday to kickoff this football season. We discussed what makes successful programs. Create it. Live by it. Be the Standard! #SWARM
@MicahhParsons11 You couldn’t have picked a better person!!! Thank you the kindness you have shown my friend Clint and his family.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Go Cowboys!
@PatMcAfeeShow - Let’s get Brian Dooley to $25,000 to honor his selflessness for his teammate. I’m down for $25. #25for25#Drivefor25
Let’s get the ball rolling!!
@EMUFB
@joshkulak I remember a kid ripping the beautiful letdown 15 hours before it released so I could listen to it. Couldn’t wait any longer. Still a great album.