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.
@DontAtMeDD Horseshit. We watched him play Nebraska.
I cannot believe how many people are willing to bet their character perception and reputation on this guy. It’s truly unbelievable.
🚨 WOW! Dr. ALVEDA KING just said it PERFECTLY on Capitol Hill
"I still have a dream. I dream that one day we will move beyond black power and white power and embrace GOD'S power and human dignity!"
"I reject the notion that Americans who hold traditional Christian beliefs should be treated as THREATS or TERRORISTS simply because we disagree with a prevailing political thought!" 🙏🏻
"I dream that Americans will one day see each other, not as enemies, but as neighbors. I dream that we will hear each other, see each other, and recognize that every human life has value from the womb to the tomb and beyond."
"We are as scripture teaches, one blood, one human race. And if we remember that truth, we can build a future worthy of the sacrifices made by those who came before us."
"We must speak out for truth and against the forces that would manufacture hate, fear, division, and violence simply to line their pockets and further their political ambitions."
"God bless America, God bless you!"
🇺🇸🇺🇸👏🏻
This is Todd “Let’s Roll” Beamer, who died heroically while trying to retake United Flight 93 from Al Qaeda terrorists on 9/11. His final resting place, is in Cranbury, NJ — where he was living with his wife and children before his murder. Cranbury is located in NJ-12, where the new Democratic nominee for Congress is Adam Hamawy.
Hamawy was a close associate and translator to Omar Abdel-Rahman, aka the ‘Blind Sheikh,’ an arch terrorist convicted of masterminding multiple plots against targets in NYC — including the World Trade Center. Hamawy testified at Adbel-Rahman’s trial, as a defense witness.
It has also been reported that Hamawy traveled to Bosnia to volunteer at an organization that was later unmasked as an Al Qaeda front group.
One of Hamawy’s loudest and most high-profile supporters and endorsers has openly declared that America deserved the 9/11 attacks.
Hamawy is now the prohibitive frontrunner to represent Todd Beamer’s district in the United States Congress.
@tlp39766 Well, Tom, I guess we can’t win every year. Probably two national championships out of the past three years of CWS play is an okay record. See ya in the fall.