Be Firm!

I have done something very firm last week. Maybe to others, I seem very unreasonable. But I have enough excuses and nonsense from one of my friends, or should I catogorize him as my ex-friend?

What happened? Well, one of my friends has asked me previously to apply a phone line under my name because he has problem in doing it. Don't know why. So I told him that as long as he paid the bills on time to me, no problem. Friend what!

At first, when I chased him for payment on his first hp bill, he delayed it for a day. I thought, "ok lah. Maybe he busy. Overlooked.' Then the horror came. The second bill came and it was an amount quite huge to me, $400 plus. So I told him to pay by certain date. He agreed. But guess what? On the date he was supposed to pay me, no sound, no picture. So I smsed him. No reply. I thought he was busy. Apparently, he dared not reply me because he had no money to pay me. So I waited for another day before chasing him again. He told me to give him more time to 'raise' the money. Finally, the money came but it was at the end of the month. Then came the third bill. Again, I told him to pay by certain date. Again, he agreed. But 2 days after the due date, there was still no money seen. So I pressed him and told him that if the money was not received by the next day before noon, I would terminate his line. He said that he did sms me to inform me that he had just received a cheque and would pay me a week after so that there would be enough time to clear the cheque. A week and 2 days later, still no money. So I chased him again. This time, no reply at all. Clever move! But I played my cards well this time. I called the telco company at night and terminate his line.

Wow! This move made him quickly sms me using his friend's hp. He told me that he had given his friend his money to transfer to me and he did not know that that friend did not transfer the amount to me. He 'pleaded' me to re-connect the line and to terminate if he did not transfer the money by the next day noon. I simply ignored this message. Then the next day, he used his friend's hp to sms me that he had made payment to me and to re-connect the line for him. I again ignored his message. Then his friend sms me to 'plead' me to help him this round and to terminate the line in Aug as agreed in July 2009. However, I did not agree.

Why should I be like a beggar, keep asking money when it is only rightful for him to pay me back? Besides, I have been giving this friend so much days' grace and he keeps giving me excuses. This is really very frustrating. If he truly regards me as a friend, he would not take me for a ride.

In my circle of close friends, I never have such encounter with this kind of person. All my friends mean what we say. When we borrow money, we always state right from the start how much we will repay each month and when we will make the payment. When the date comes, the transfer will be done. Unless we face money issue in that month, we will call the person to inform her. This is basic courtesy. But this so-called friend of mine is basically taking me for a ride until I really cannot tahan. Maybe, in his point of view, I am so unreasonable. But I really cannot be so gracious anymore.

Lesson learnt: Be firm and don't let others take advantage of me. The more ching chye we are, the more others will take advantage of us. Must be more selfish from now onwards.