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.
@MadiSP4321 Not a man but I’ve been through what you’re going through and the OBGYN’s seriously didn’t care. I would highly recommend going to a more naturalist doctor if you can. This isn’t normal and sometimes it’s a matter of rebalancing hormones. I hope you can find relief!!! 💛
Every time I see a new clip from Dr. Who I think it can’t get worse. Then it does…
It genuinely makes me so sad to see what has happened to such an iconic character.
NEW: The 2023 edition of 'Freedom in the 50 States' presents a completely revised and updated ranking of the American states on the basis of how their policies protect or infringe on individual liberty.
How free is your state?
https://t.co/NZsJ4QKiLu #FreeStates
Horrifying.
Indi is literally a captive of the UK government and the hospital it controls, which has now scheduled her execution tomorrow.
This is murder.
Chris Christie just called @VivekGRamaswamy "Obama:"🤔
"I'm afraid we're dealing with the same kind of amateur."
VIVEK: "Give me a hug just like you did to Obama and you'll help elect me just like you did to Obama. Give me that damn hug, brother."
43 years ago #Today, Mount St. Helens erupted: the deadliest and most destructive volcanic event in the history of the U.S.
[read more: https://t.co/isP9dd11Z5]
[video: https://t.co/PWTmaaEhDh]
Exactly 1,602 years ago today the city of Venice was founded.
So here's a thread of some of the most beautiful places in one of the world's most beautiful cities: