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 question is not whether these cameras can sometimes help police.
The question is whether the government should track everyone’s movements just in case they might want to search them later.
That answer should be easy.
#DeFlock#Privacy#Flock
https://t.co/CxSRffBkcz
@LPchair Hi Evan, I think this is well meaning, but a waste of money. Print media is a failing media. Even the older folks that are members of my American legion post have gone digital to the point that it was no longer cost effective or reaching them in a meaningful manner. Go digital
Today is Roaring Kitty's 40th birthday
In 2019, he put $53,000 into GameStop from his basement in Wilmington, MA
Every hedge fund on Wall Street told him he was wrong
Then January 2021 happened:
• Melvin Capital, Citadel, and Point72 were all short GME with billions
• GME goes from $5 → $483
• Keith Gill's $53,000 becomes $48,000,000
• Melvin Capital loses $6.8 billion. Gone within a year
Then Congress called him to testify. He told them "I did not solicit anyone to buy or sell the stock for my own profit" and walked out a free man
He disappeared from the internet in 2021. Came back in May 2024, posted one photo, and GME opened +50% the next morning
He showed every retail investor that the big guys aren't untouchable
Happy birthday @TheRoaringKitty
@danushman By all means Mr big brain, HELP us lol. Assume I’m your frustrated friend 😂. I’m not a software engineer, or even a vibe coder, but I’d like to be able to utilize these damn tools efficiently
Just another reason you should disregard laws designed to make you unable to defend yourself. Piss poor response out of the bystanders here too. Grow a pair and take that bastard out! Apparently the man being beheaded is in the hospital in serious condition, not dead. Shocking