Groveclearer

In New Mexico, every waitress asks you the same question before you eat. "Red or green?" I thought I was being asked to pick a side in a war. In Japan, every kid gets put on the red team or the white team for sports day, starting at age six. It goes back to two samurai clans, one red and one white, who fought each other 800 years ago. You stay on your team. You do not switch. So in Albuquerque, when the waitress said "Red or green?", I took a breath and said, "Red." She wrote it down. No follow-up. The next day in Santa Fe. "Red or green?" I'd already pledged. "Red." On the third day, the man at the next table had green chile on his eggs, and it smelled so good I nearly stood up. But I couldn't switch. I had given my word. I sat there holding the menu, fighting myself. The waitress watched me for a second. She didn't ask a single question. She just said: "Get Christmas, baby." Christmas means both. Red on one side, green on the other. 800 years of samurai history, and nobody back home ever thought of that. Later I found out "Red or green?" isn't just a habit. In 1996 the New Mexico Legislature made it the official state question. A whole state has an official question. And the best answer is "both." When I paid, she patted my shoulder. "Out here, hon, you never have to pick a side."