Just realized the Europeans will be present to watch Joey Chestnut inhale 84 pork pistols on live television in honor of our nationโs independence.
That one will break them completely.
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 โ I must report this calmly โ the basket emptied, and a new one appeared.
"Did weโฆ?"
"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 โ 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.
What Im going to hate is when these #WorldCup Tourists that Iโm following have to go home.
Like, if youโre loving the USA this muchโฆ do it legally, but you can stay.
.@ZohranKMamdani yes hello it is Danhausen ~ Danhausen needs a giant floating Danhausen balloon ready for the parade that drops pizza and hot dog to all the New Yorkers.
Danhausen may be placed in between Snoopy and Garfield.
PS ~ give the muppet who lives in a garbage can an apartment so he can get off the streets and turn his life around.
@VanLathan Becky Lynch.
And itโs just not me saying it.
Other people are saying it.
Sports illustrated says it.
Bleacher Report says it.
ESPN says it.