Comet Deathrockstar

By The Way: A world full of unfulfilled promises

.   |  Sun, 05/04/2008 2:32 AM  |  Headlines

An old friend, not a close one, arrived at my office with tear-brimmed eyes and a request: she wanted to borrow money to help cover the hospital bills for her severely ill mother.

The timing was perfect for her, but not for me.

I had just been paid for a translation job, for God's sake, for the exact amount she hoped to borrow, and I was in the middle of a work deadline.

I was about to give away my two-week translation honoraria to her when another old friend, this time a close one, called to warn me not to lend her the money.

"Her mother is truly ill. She has been around looking for money from friends. She got some, but she never returned what she borrowed," the caller friend warned.

My compassion disappeared. I decided not to lend her money (despite her begging), but I did not let her go empty-handed. I gave her a sum of money, just a token of friendship to her ill mother.

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