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.
@NHLtoHouston@mshap2@friedkingroup@HoustonRockets@celtics@Padres NHL rink has to be in/near downtown to be sustainable for Houston fans and for opponents’ traveling fans. It will be an even bigger challenge to not share an arena with an NBA team. This is not the NFL, which can put a stadium just about anywhere around a metro area and cash in.
Sign this petition to save the ice rink at Memorial City Mall! We need MORE rinks to support hockey & figure skating in #Houston, not fewer. The owner is eliminating a wonderful (& cool in the summer!) third space in our community.
#SaveMemorialCityIceRink
https://t.co/8Xtv4Rk4r0
Things getting even bigger in Texas? 👀
Taking the category over by 34% of votes, Houston was voted as the next location where players would want to go if the NHL were to expand #NHLPAPlayerPoll
Now that #stlblues season is over and the tank didn’t happen, let’s review:
✅ Hofer a No. 1
✅ Elite top line
✅ Mailloux development
✅ Youth ice time
✅ Strong finish
✅ 3 first rounders
❌ Depth scoring
❌ Defensive zone play
❌ Poor start
According to my back of the napkin math, looks like the highest possible draft pick for #stlblues could be No. 8 with a loss (and help in other games) and the lowest pick would be No. 11 with a win (pending other games).
Plus No. 15 from Detroit and No. 31 from NYI (nee COL).
Tilman Fertitta
Cal McNair
Jim Crane
Mark Cuban
Richard Kinder
Robert F. Smith
Dan Friedkin
Bert Beveridge
Michael Dell
Jeffery Hildebrand
Randa Duncan Williams
One of you. Two of you. Any of you. Please.
#BringNHLToHouston