The Friendship Ledger
My best friend had borrowed money from me 220 times in a single year.
Sometimes it was $50 for groceries. Sometimes it was $5,000 for appliances, cookware, or furniture.
I knew he was broke, and I knew life had been hard on him, so I never made a big deal out of it.
Then one day, while we were shopping together, my phone died. I asked him to cover a $2.50 bottle of water for me.
He said, "Your phone always dies when it is time to pay. Could you make it any more obvious that you are trying to freeload?"
It was the first time I had ever asked him to pay for anything.