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.
Mitch gotta be thankful Fox end of game play distracting everyone from fact he played Wemby 44mins, Keldon 18mins to Carter’s 5 and watched a 20pt lead evaporate to 4 before calling a timeout. A lot of shit went wrong, but that 2nd half was some of the worst coaching I seen.
Two things ...
1) I have no idea how De'Aaron Fox doesn't force the Knicks to foul him there at the end.
2) I think the refs blew a pivotal call with 1:02 left—pretty sure Castle wasn't out of bounds.
"It's become very clear that there are quite a few steers down in Austin & not very many bulls..
Sark should have known when he opened his mouth that he better be ready to pack a lunch..
We're ready to spot the ball..
You name the place & we'll be there" ~ @CodyC64#PMSLive
Sark:“We could go undefeated with our 2s and 3s playing the schedule”.
McGuire: play us with your ones we will pay the buyouts
Texas Fans: wait wait wait *insert excuses why we can’t play*
@Underwood_szn I was watching this game at my in-laws house. When the ball was at its peak, the tv went black. When the tv came back on 10 seconds later, the team celebrating.
Hitting the playoff game tying 3 to force OT in the same game you threw an alley oop to your literal son is more impressive in and of itself than 6 rings.