I am loving all of the people experiencing American culture for the first time. Getting way to full on free chips and salsa is an American right of passage 😂
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.
The hydration breaks for games being played in indoor stadiums is so dumb. But hey, they found a way to sell more commercials. Corporate greed eventually ruins everything. #worldcup
This maybe totally lame & I’ll be accused of being a fake fan, but do other Americans have a second team they root for in World Cups bc they know the US will never actually do anything? Like I obviously root for the USMNT but my family is German so I also root for them. Just me?
@EricDBolton@air_corg It’s ok. I had to explain to my wife when she asked what I was laughing about that it was something a dog that I follow on twitter that predicts games posted 😂. The internet is so weird
I’m am putting most of the blame on this dork right here. Never acknowledged the Spurs playoff run until 24 hours AFTER they beat OKC and it’s this BS AI slop that has nothing to do with the team. He’s also celebrating a big lead in the third. Bad omen. GTFOH