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.
When the Knicks were coming back into the game, Dylan Harper ruined the momentum and kept the Spurs from blowing the lead.
The last shot Dylan Harper took was with 10:10 in the fourth quarter.
Terrible coaching.
@ByStephenM@edeweysmith Champagnie got cooked almost every possesion and they started doubling Brunson which led to open 3s. Mitchplayed Keldon over Harper when Castle went out and sparked the Knicks run. Kept Fox in the last defensive play instead of calling TO or getting in a bigger body to rebound.
Mitch on Keldon in Game 3:
"I thought he played with really good energy. I thought he tried to rebound himself into the game and play good team defense, and that's what we need from him. We know he can score the basketball, and that will come with just minutes and opportunity, but his ability to rebound for us on both ends and be a strong team defender is what we need him to do."
What did I just watch!? 🤯🤯
Shai wasn’t touched, and just flops & flails onto the floor!! He’s flopped three or four straight possessions now.
WHAT IS THIS, @NBA???????