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.
10 years ago today, LeBron James wore this Undertaker shirt, and gave us a classic meme as he and the Cavs trailed 3-1 to the Warriors in the NBA Finals 😎
The rest is history 🏆
Reporter: are you excited for the World Cup here in Boston?
Scotsman who's been drinking since 5am at airport: oh aye, but the flight ran out of beer halfway over the Atlantic. We have higher hopes for your pubs.
Reporter: & for your team ...
Fan: well let's get to the pub 1st
Isiah Thomas on former NBA players holding LeBron out of the top 5 players of all time:
“Guys are jealous, they get envious…. They intentionally ignore the obvious. When you intentionally ignore the obvious it has to come back to jealousy, envy, or straight up BS. This man got every basketball record on the books, if he ain’t in your top 5, you’re full of sh*t”
(via @RunItBackFDTV, h/t @NBA__Courtside)
Los mexicanos invitando al reportero brasileño a tomar tequila, hacen el ritual del shot, le pegan un bigote falso y después le dice a su mamá que está bien JAJAJAJAJA.
México es el mejor anfitrión del mundo.