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.
@mindyisser Multicultural legally but never in a million years communist like you just stated. That is lame and nothing like this country is founded on. Learn some history.
@shaunvlog_ You should check out the Scottish Irish Highland Festival in Estes Park for the 50th anniversary September 11-13th! It won’t disappoint 🏔️ 🏴
Let me explain why I think Freddy resonates.
Lots of Europeans visit the USA as tourists. They visit New York City, or Washington DC, or Hollywood, or Las Vegas, and if they visit natural beauty too, they go to really crowded places like the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone.
So while they see our cultural and natural icons, they are mostly in blue cities and they therefore also see the decline, the homeless, the drugs, the dirt and the rude, rude Americans.
But Freddy is not doing that. Freddy is driving, and he’s doing it through the heartland, where people are kind and polite, the skies are wide open, and the bounty of Buc-ees and Bass Pro Shops are overwhelming.
Freddy is not seeing fentanyl and decline.
He is seeing the real, hopeful, patriotic, kind America that European tourists rarely traverse.
And he loves it.
That’s why Freddy is a phenomenon.
@gofishh77 Majority of our food is crap. Go to a Whole Foods or other natural grocery store.
Dont buy our garbage. Europeans have much better quality food.
@jeffhunt And the registered independents who get to choose either Democrat or Republican will screw it up for Republicans by choosing the least likely to win in the general election.
@rabbitSZN2@EricLDaugh There are two overhead lights. The harsh light for Trump (intentional by the cinematographer) and the soft one for the press lady. Trump is tall, and you are blind.
@XVanFleet I loved visiting Monticello with my family. I learned a lot, but it does take extra personal research to learn that Thomas Jefferson’s brother was also around and is not mentioned by the tour guides.
@johnsteph1@XVanFleet There is no documented proof of this. His brother Randolph was around as well. DNA only shows they are related to Jefferson. Could be either of them.
I believe all lives matter. However…
What was done to Iryna Zarutska was beyond heartbreaking. Afterwards, the savage who stabbed her said “I got that white bitch.” Also, while she was bleeding out, the people around her did nothing.
What was done to Henry Nowak was legitimate injustice. The cops were way more afraid to be seen as racist than they were to enforce the law.
Besides, wearing this shirt would piss off the right people, so I think it’s funny.
Reason I don’t wear a Black Lives Matter shirt is because no one wearing that shirt would give a rat’s ass if my black conservatarian ass died. Speaks to a larger problem than just “black lives.”