The Borrower

Don't you hate it when you loan someone something and it takes what seems like an excessive period of time for him to return it? I don't mind loaning people things, but if I am loaning you something I expect you to get it back to me within a reasonable time period. Now, each individual has his own threshold of what he deems a reasonable time period. Depending on the loaned item and reason for the loan my threshold varies, but if the borrowing period exceeds a month then I usually become irritated. The easiest example of this that comes to mind is money. I don't mind loaning people money because I've borrowed my fair share of money in my lifetime, specifically last year around this time when I was studying abroad in Scotland. At the same time though, there has to be some level of decency involved. I know of at least a few people who are notorious for either not paying people back for an extended period of time or simply not paying people back at all. He is the same person who, when you ask for your money, is "waiting on a paycheck." He's also drinking the pricey beer on the weekends or taking his girlfriend out to a expensive dinner on a random Tuesday night. Not to say that these people aren't what I would consider good people or positive contributors to society; they just really suck at paying people back. In my eyes, one should pay one's debts before spending money on the things that aren't necessary, such as exotic alcohols or fancy dinners. That's just my opinion though. After speaking with a few women I've discovered an additional example that I believe bothers women more than men, but nonetheless probably still occurs with men. This situation specifically involves the borrowing of one's clothes. From my conversations with these women, the primary annoyance occurs when they loan someone an article of clothing then a few weeks later see that person wearing the article of clothing again. You've spent hours looking for this shirt that you swore you brought up to school, but your search was in vain and you somehow convince yourself that you took it home last weekend even though deep down something tells you that's not true. Then, sure enough, you walk into the Commons (cafeteria) on a Tuesday afternoon for lunch and you see that little weasel wearing your shirt again! You don't want to confront them about it as to seems like you're being rude, but at the same time you want that shirt back. That's not unreasonable at all. My attitude is that something is borrowed for a specific purpose. Once that purpose is fulfilled, return the item. It's exactly why DVD rental stores and libraries have return dates. He needs the items back to loan out once again. Now, I understand that individual people usually don't use their items in the same capacity as a DVD rental store in terms of loaning, but they probably want the items back for personal use. I guess as long as I get the item back in the long run it usually doesn't bother me too much, but it's still something that I view as inconsiderate an annoying. I did you a favor by loaning you something and the least you can do is return it in a timely fashion. Taking that into account, I don't want this to seem like a personal attack to those who have borrowed, are currently borrowing, or hope to borrow from me in the future. Just return my stuff within a month if possible lol.

Until next time,

Zac