At the hill the other morning, a friend told me about one of her lady friends who is in the habit of borrowing money from her. Before the last time, all the borrowed money had been returned. The last loan she gave her friend was merely five hundred.
Surprisingly, when the friend borrowed the money she gave this friend a gold necklace as collateral. So abrupt and unexpected was this move that the friend did not know what to say or do. Recovering from the unprecedented action, she asked her whether she was supposed to keep the necklace; to which the friend nodded. So, unquestioningly, she kept it.
It has been a year now, her keeping that necklace, without any sign of her friend intending to return her the money. Not only that, that friend seem to no longer want to meet her. Thus, the last time she phoned her she invited her out for a meal and she refused the invitation giving some excuse. Sensing that it could be the loan that is preventing them from meeting as friends, she told her that the invitation had nothing to do with the money, to no avail.
Looks like she would have to hold on to the necklace and probably have to forget about her money. Her friend must have considered it good exchange. Unfortunately, there was no actual agreement to convert the loan and the collateral into an exchange. Certainly, she would not be wearing someone else jewellery, would she? Even though the price of gold has gone up, it is not hers. What if, one day, the friend wants it back?
Well, my advice to her was to just keep the jewellery and to prevent any further unhappiness over the affair, just forget the loan and consider it a gift instead.
Understanding money, I know that it is one matter that can cause a lot of happiness as well as a lot of grief. Lend it to somebody and if that somebody is greedy enough to try to forget having taken a loan and time works on the money's return with it digging into our brain, causing a lot of presumptions and leaving us uneasy at the least and mad at the worst.
There was a time, as I was heading to the supermarket to purchase something, I met this guy who smiled at me, greeted me like an old friend and wondered how I could ever have forgotten him. Frankly, I had no idea who he was. He got me to guess who he was and when I mentioned a group of friends, he said he was in that group. Then, he told me the sad story of realising how he should have never got married, that he was a the supermarket thinking of how he could buy a tin of milk for his baby. All he needed was fifty ringgit. He even asked for my phone number and said that should he be able to return the money, he honestly said he did not know when, he would phone me. However, if I do not hear from him, it just meant that he was still jobless and without any money to return.
Listening to that, uncertain whether he was the friend he claimed to be, I told myself "What is fifty ringgit between friends?" That thought cost me fifty ringgit and I was left with insufficient money to make my own purchase. So, after giving him the money, I turned back to my car and drove home. To this day I do not know whether I have been duped or I have been of help to a friend. I do not consider it a loan. It was just a small gift from me. Furthermore, I was able to thank God for being in a position to help.
When it comes to money, although I am far from being rich, my able management of it has helped me greatly to be neither a borrower nor a lender.
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