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.
It's 2002. We're spinning crazy town's debut album the gift of game. In a few moments I'll vibe way too hard to the song butterfly and be lightly stabbed with scissors by a girl on the school bus.
The Guardian’s panel has chosen the 100 greatest novels of all time and has put BELOVED second. That is among the most ludicrous aesthetic judgments in the annals of Western culture. Embarrassing tokenism.
@AnaKrivolapova It lacks a sandwich with mozzarella sticks in it exploding all over a company car on a 14 hour there and back type drive, but it has artistry to it. Not bad at all. 7/10.
@AnaKrivolapova They are all very good no doubt if a little hard to read sometimes. Contrary to popular opinion though, submission is not his best, it's Map and the Territory hands down. Platform and serotonin tied for second.
@bradkelly@tinndfishmonger That's the cover I ended up with after I wandered into a lady porn store thinking they sold regular books. Ended up cornered in a conversation to order it lol.
No joke probably the best book I've read, or at least the one I was most locked in with, the past few years. Do yourself a favor and go get it. Never seen a more beautiful setting with shit dripping off the walls.
@bradkelly I have to build from prints daily and even the jankiest hand drawn/written prints from the 60s are easier to work with, more detailed and everything is easier to do and use once it's built. Wouldn't doubt that extends everywhere else, new builds suck lol.