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.
I know people looking for Underwood to LSU, but I feel I personally spent the whole year willing the demise of him and Michigan and don’t know if I want to bring that over here.
@mackattack2003@WeeksWhit Ah yes, the age old phenomenon of one man can’t control his emotions about another man leaving him, so we find a way to attack the women surrounding him.
@BrooksAustinBA@cajuns_raginn Even worse is what they could have turned a blind eye to all for the sake of winning. It’s just going to make Ole Miss as a whole look terrible.
I don’t know where Lane Kiffin goes, and I don’t think he will actually leave OM, but his demeanor is giving not fully committed to Ole Miss. I would be pissed if I were their fans.
@USPS
Line almost to the door
One person working
Mail only comes about 4 days a week
Medium box shipping $22
Nothing ever arrives on time
But don’t understand why you’re struggling.
@RebelSportsTalk@PGuy77 I think there were an estimated 60-70k present at LSU…for a day game in a busted season. Y’all had 67k yesterday and it was a record.