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.
@vaelor0 Wish he did more with his money like provide internet to those without, or create vehicles that are reasonably affordable or push for the advancement of multi-planetary civilization through insane technological advances. But yeah, free healthcare
@BernieSanders This cuck has been in congress longer than most of us have been alive and talks a lot for someone who hasn’t done a single thing he consistently rambles on about
Stanford scientists may have just killed the $65B knee and hip replacement industry.
They made a breakthrough that could regrow aging cartilage and reverse arthritis.
Here's the breakdown:
@jonbrooks Low appraisals, on top of an inspection report that the seller doesn’t want to accommodate in any way. So, why bother fighting when you can go 2 doors down where a seller will remedy any issues noted and pay half of closing costs?