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 Braves complaining year after year about the first-round-bye layoff only to be bounced by the Padres in the Wild Card round is a special kind of schadenfreude.
Billy, this is Brandon Marsh. He's an outfielder. He is one of the most undervalued players in baseball. Great with kid’s & grandmothers. Clutch.
His defect is that he looks funny. Like a swamp creature. Always wet. Big beard. He barks. A lot. Too much. I mentioned the wetness?
#Lions OT Taylor Decker: "I did exactly what the coach told me to do. I went to the ref and said 'report.'"
He also says its his understanding that HC Dan Campbell explained this exact situation to the refs before the game.
(🎥 @nolanbianchi)
Shower Food Review 61: Giant Chipotle Burrito - This was the 1st time eating in the shower where I felt fear. But I managed to finish half with almost 0 collateral damage. If there's something you want go for it. No one on their deathbed thinks "At least I played it safe." 8/10
The real cities in America are New York, Chicago, Philly, Miami, Baltimore, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Oakland, Houston, Seattle, and Detroit. Every other city is some degree of fraudulent.