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.
WEMBY JUST DROPPED A BAR:
"The lack of experience is a strength of us...because we could do impossible stuff because we don't know it's impossible" 🥶
(h/t @ohnohedidnt24)
It’s an ABSOLUTE HONOR to be back in this GLORIOUS city..
WE LOVE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DAHN HERE..
🗣🗣USA USA USA
🎶THE EYES OF TEXAS ARE UPON YOU🎶
THERE’S A SPOT IN THE SEC CHAMPIONSHIP ON THE LINE TONIGHT..
AND THEY’RE STILL SINGING #CollegeGameDay
You can’t “fall in love with A&M and the 12th Man” and then go take that job. Clearly this was just a job for him. You don’t truly love Texas A&M and what it represents, and saw ‘em off after every game, and then go take that job. Unless this was just a job for you. 👎🏼
🚨 BREAKING: Erik ten Hag stays as Manchester United manager, decision has been made.
Ten Hag has been informed after final decision by INEOS.
Contract talks will also follow, as @David_Ornstein has reported.
Ten Hag will be Man United manager for next season.