Ha my neighbor has a smooth way of borrowing ten dollars.
He’s owed me $20 for a few weeks now – I’m not overly concerned about it but also am not going to forget about it.
Today he popped round and asked me how much fuel I had in my truck. I didn’t know where this was going so I told him the truth, about 1/2 tank.
“Ok”, he said, “let’s put some gasoline in it.”
So I figured, cool, I’ll get my $20 (or close to it) in fuel.
Filling up 1/2 tank is about $35 these days so I told him we’d just put $20 in and we’d be ok, he’d not owe me any more money.
“No, no”, he insisted, “go ahead and fill up on my card and just pay me the rest back in cash.”
So I figured, cool, I’ll get a full tank. I have to fill up anyways so this isn’t a prob. And I’ve got cash in the wallet for emergencies.
Tank fillup = just a tad over $35 (I know my truck).
I go to give him the $15 difference in cash… (-$20 owed + $35 fuel)
“Uh”, he stopped me, looking at the extra money still in my wallet, “I’d really really be happier with $25, and we can be square this Friday, is that ok?”
Heh heh this guy is smooth. So -$20 (old balance) + $35 (fuel) -$25 (new balance) = $10 to his favor at the moment.
So I figured, cool, heck I wasn’t expecting even the $20 back, so if I’m down by only $10 instead that’s still ok.
Maybe in a few weeks we’ll be down to $5? Haha
He eventually abandoned his apartment. I didn’t get my $10 back in cash. However i did inherit his left-over camping gear. That’s worth ten buckaroos at least!