Image Credit – pinterest.com/Googles Images
Debt.Loan.Borrow.Lend are all words that pretty much mean the same thing, right? Or so I think…
The word, by the way, is Yoruba in origin and means ‘someone who owes’ but in this context, I will be talking about it Naija style. We have often had one colleague, friend, or even family friend who wants a small loan of usually minute amounts. Then they promise to pay afterwards but there lies the problem – they never pay either because they do not have the funds or forgot (honestly) that they owed you. That excuse can fly with everyone, including me. BUT…
The other kind is what I cannot fathom, they borrow money, cars, keys to an apartment and even a makeup kit and expect you to have a sudden bout of selective amnesia like the give-and-take session never occurred and that one irks people like me more. Now you being the nice person that you are, asks politely for the loan to be paid and then you hear comments like, ‘You still want the money back?’, ‘Haba, that small N30 na im you dey ask me’, ‘I thought you gave me for free, among others, and then you start to lose it not necessarily because of the amount of the money or item borrowed but the fact that human beings like to think they can play smart especially when they meet a nice person.
After hearing this acquaintance of mine complain about this one colleague of his on this terrible habit, I asked him what his next plan to retrieve the N50 owed was, and he said he wouldn’t ask for the money again as he would regard it as bad debt. Now, I will have you know that the same ‘onigbese’ who my very nice friend told about a co-operative contribution he was coordinating with a few friends from church suddenly wants in! I can’t help but ask this question though, are people really this shameless these days?
Have you had any experience with this sort of people? How did you handle the situation?