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.
FONG BOMB: Rivals' @SWiltfong_ has logged an expert prediction for Indiana to land Five-Star Plus+ WR Monshun Sales🔴⚪️
Sales is the No. 1 WR in the 2027 class.
Read: https://t.co/4gH0AJjePl
#Jets GM Darren Mougey says they asked a lot of college WRs during the combine, visits, etc, who was the best CB they went up against, & if they faced D'Angelo Ponds, they all said "Ponds"
"You got to see him do it, & that's the thing, he's done it. He's been very productive, & been productive at a high level against good competition. He's just been a productive football player despite the size limitations. He finds a way to get stops. He covers guys. He's one of the better tacklers in this draft, regardless of position, so excited to have him. Good football player. Winning program."