Derek Moniz

Lead by example. Be humble. Hold nothing back. Texas Ex 🤘🏻Consultant @PwC. @fallriver_ma born & raised now call @austintexasgov home.

[Derek Moniz @DerekMoniz]

@ThormanSandiego @HardRockBet Come on… let’s get serious we are beating OSU in week 2 and then the Championship runs starts from there (baring injuries)

[Derek Moniz @DerekMoniz]

@foundring1 Bro… the Croatian player himself said he felt the ball touch him after the game. You’re fighting a battle that doesn’t exist. lol

[NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 @japan_nobunaga]

In America, a young man at the coffee shop extended his FIST toward me, and I stood before it with no protocol whatsoever.

A closed fist. Offered gently. Hanging in the air between us. Patient. Expecting.

In my training, a raised fist has a short list of meanings, and none of them end in friendship. But his face was open and pleased — he had just handed me my order — so I understood this was a CEREMONY, and that I was failing it in real time.

I did the only correct thing I could think of.

I clasped his fist in both hands, as one accepts a precious gift, and bowed over it.

He laughed — kindly, I want that on the record — and said, "No man, like this," and guided me: knuckles meeting knuckles. One soft tap.

Then his hand sprang OPEN as it withdrew, fingers spreading, with a quiet sound:

"Pssshh."

THE EXPLOSION. There is an EXPLOSION at the end, America. Completely optional. Completely essential. And not one document in your entire country warns a foreigner about it.

In Japan, our greetings have been codified for centuries. Depth of bow, position of hands, duration — written down, teachable, examinable. Your greetings MUTATE FREELY between coffee shops, and every citizen somehow knows all current versions: the fist bump, which is respect; the high five, which is triumph; the handshake, which is a contract — see Kenneth — and the bro hug, which is a handshake that collapses inward into a single back-pat, and which I am told I am not ready for. I agree. I am not ready.

The fist bump is the haiku of the set. Minimal. Perfect. Two warriors touching armor.

A man does not ask the fist what it wants. He answers knuckles with knuckles, and detonates on schedule.

I returned the next day. Same young man. His fist came up immediately, eyebrows raised — a test and a welcome in one.

Knuckles. Tap. "Pssshh." Both of us. Full explosion.

He turned and announced to the entire kitchen:

"HE'S GOT IT NOW."

The kitchen CHEERED, America. Three strangers in aprons celebrated my education before the milk steamer finished.

I bowed to the room. The young man bowed back. Badly. With enormous heart.

Cultural exchange is complete when both men perform the other's ceremony wrong, together, on purpose, every morning at 7:40.

We are at that stage now. There is no higher stage.

[NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 @japan_nobunaga]

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.

[Derek Moniz @DerekMoniz]

@Timcast What if you’re just an absolute dumbass…

[Derek Moniz @DerekMoniz]

🤘🏻

[Forbes @Forbes]

The University of Texas at Austin joins the #ForbesNewIvies, blending a 27% acceptance rate with a reputation for producing elite talent. From the LBJ Library to a legacy of leaders like Neil deGrasse Tyson, Longhorn graduates remain highly sought after.
Read more: https://t.co/PhlACbNpPx

[Derek Moniz @DerekMoniz]

@ThormanSandiego @Novig We’ve been in there for 2 season only lol

[NASA @NASA]

We see our home planet as a whole, lit up in spectacular blues and browns. A green aurora even lights up the atmosphere. That's us, together, watching as our astronauts make their journey to the Moon.

[CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ @CBSSportsGolazo]

GOALKEEPER ANATOLIY TRUBIN SCORES A 98TH MINUTE GOAL AGAINST REAL MADRID TO SAVE BENFICA'S #UCL SEASON WITH THE FINAL TOUCH OF THE MATCH! 😱

IMAGINE NOT LOVING FOOTBALL 🤯

[Derek Moniz @DerekMoniz]

@Jeff_A_Martin

[Derek Moniz @DerekMoniz]

@GopherInsight Forgot a major category

NFL Picks last 5 years 2020-2024:

LSU - 50
Minnesota - 18

[Derek Moniz @DerekMoniz]

@KegsnEggs Forgot a major category

NFL Picks last 4 years 2020-2024:

LSU - 50
Minnesota - 18

[Derek Moniz @DerekMoniz]

@BFW Som go them are getting it… lol

[Derek Moniz @DerekMoniz]

@UnnecRoughness

[Senator Mark Kelly @SenMarkKelly]

When I was 22 years old, I commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy and swore an oath to the Constitution. I upheld that oath through flight school, multiple deployments on the USS Midway, 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm, test pilot school, four space shuttle flights at NASA, and every day since I retired – which I did after my wife Gabby was shot in the head while serving her constituents.

In combat, I had a missile blow up next to my jet and flew through anti-aircraft fire to drop bombs on enemy targets. At NASA, I launched on a rocket, commanded the space shuttle, and was part of the recovery mission that brought home the bodies of my astronaut classmates who died on Columbia. I did all of this in service to this country that I love and has given me so much.

Secretary Hegseth’s tweet is the first I heard of this. I also saw the President’s posts saying I should be arrested, hanged, and put to death.

If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work. I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.

[Derek Moniz @DerekMoniz]

@BFW But did it hit home or not? lol you left the guy hanging…

[Derek Moniz @DerekMoniz]

🤘🏻

[Jared Shult @jared_shult]

Nah I do both. Aggies are 7-0 btw

[Derek Moniz @DerekMoniz]

@TheoVon You’re a hack.

[Derek Moniz @DerekMoniz]

@ACTBrigitte #Classy

[Derek Moniz @DerekMoniz]

@on3 @YouTubeTV I just signed up for the 5 day free trial and 49.99 for first 3 months specifically for Texas vs OSU and college football in general. Will cancel on Friday if this is not figured out. I will also find a way to never supper @FOXSports & Fox in general in anyway possible