Lenders at the Borrower's Mercy: Just Say NO

PSA:  Do not part with material things you cannot afford to lose. I repeat, refrain from loaning, giving, or fronting money or items you cannot afford to lose...

*dusting off hands*  THERE!! Now the word is out. Now there will be no more beef, no more tension, no more jealousy, awkwardness, resentment, hate, travesties or demonic rituals due to unreturned loot or merchandise. No need to thank me...and hold ya applause.

Shit, yeah right, and as you read, someone is handing over their Christian Dior shades, their most prized DVDs, their car, their TomTom and a whole shitload of other stuff... especially MONEY. And in their hearts they truly believe they will see these items again. Well... won't they??????  No one really knows and that's how we immediately set ourselves up for disappointment as we watch our merchandise wave its final goodbye. Realize these are all material things. Things that can be damaged, lost, blown or stolen. And before those possessions leave your possession, ask yourself, Am I ready to lose a lifelong friendship over some cash.... my car.... a DVD??



Take a peak into a personal experience of mine:
So I'm at the airport headed to the A when I see this guy who clearly is excited to see me. And as I stare at this man with absolutely no recollection of where I kno him from, I put on the "hey what's going on" front like he was my long lost friend. Thru convo I was able to pick up on the fact that I met this guy ONCE thru a friend and we all had shared one short afternoon in the mall one day. Ok so whateva, he and I are both now headed to the A. We agree to hook up and hang out, exchanged numbers and hopped on the plane. So in the A, he's staying an hour or so from where I am and I journey to go pick him up. I drive back an hour in the direction I already came from and we go meet up with some of my friends. Midway thru the nite, laughing, chilling, having a good time, this man decides he's ready to leave. WTF?!?! I told him, taking him back to his hotel was outta the question afta I jus drove 2 hours out my way (yes, I kno I'm too nice sometimes). So he decides he jus needs a ride downtown Atlanta. Ok cool. Oh I failed to mention he brings along his TomTom navigation system which works wonders when you're in a foreign place driving 2 useless hours for someone who had no means of transportation. Ok so when we arrive at his destination, he says, keep my navi and give it back to me in Jers. If this was a sitcom, the scene would freeze and I would look at the camera and say "Huge mistake". So I agree. Fast forwarding, I pack the device in my carry-on, head to jersey and hit dude up to set up a meeting spot and time. We meet, I hand it ova, we share a couple laughs and I pull off. 2 minutes later, he calls and tells me its broken. (Must have happened in the overhead compartment on the plane).  The screen is cracked and it won't cut on. DAMN!! So the next day he calls telling me to pay for it or buy him another one. This is when I look around to figure out who he's talking to. With a bit of sass, head jerking and fingers snapping, I tell him he was my vacation's inconvenience, he offered the navi up and if I didn't have to play taxi, I could have taken him and his thing back to his hotel when the nite was over!! But listen, I'm not a jerk, so I told him I would go half on a refurbished navi since it was both our faults and the thing was hardly brand new. However, with me changing my numbers the way I do, I haven't spoken to this man since terms were agreed. Soooo...... Hey dude, if you're reading this, I got ya punk ass 60 dollars!!

People be really losing sleep over unreturned crap. Just stop lending out your rent money!! Stop making your insurance company mad as hell 'cause your neighbor crashed your car. Stop ticking off your girl who can't understand why the DVD rack looks so skimpy. Oh and if you're acting like you're balling and someone loses your shades in the club, ball out and buy another pair. Unless hawking someone and bullying 'em works better for you. *shrugging shoulders*  Charge it all to the game. (Which means to just take the L).  Or next time someone asks to borrow something, think to yaself, will I absolutely die if this isn't returned??  And if the answer is YES, you tell them NO.  Just remember fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, then I must be a damn idiot...

SB: Yes, the borrowers should be held accountable. But as a lender, you have control. Ask for collateral, get it in writing, or jus tell them to beat it. No matter how close your relationship is, it's ok to say NO. Who do you always see on Judge Judy?? Close relatives and best friends. EYEListen.