Turkey v USA is the World Cup’s only group-stage match where both countries’ biggest city is divided by a saltwater strait.
Istanbul straddles the Bosporus. New York is split by the East River which, despite the name, is a tidal strait, not a river.
Stay tuned for more cutting-edge, geography-based World Cup analysis.
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.
this photo is truly an artistic statement with such breadth to its imagery and symbolism. take the big fake titties and the kissy face. the dog peering from behind the door, symbolic of his wife’s proclivity for murdering canines. the way he’s surrounded by doors, a reference to his inner beauty being tucked away in the closet…
Be honest… does ANYONE actually use these words in real life? 🤣
Bamboozled
Flabbergasted
Discombobulated
Shenanigans
Cattywampus
Lollygag
Malarkey
Kerfuffle
Brouhaha
Nincompoop
Skedaddle
Tomfoolery
Flibbertigibbet
Pumpernickel
🚨 The guy on the left was arrested and convicted for illegally selling missiles to Iran during the Reagan Administration. The guy on the right is a Fox News "military analyst” who thinks Iran shouldn't have missiles. They're the same guy.