Friendship is worth less than $1,000 (#107; Topic M)

For my Monday's Power Point presentation (#106), I needed a projector. With the library giving conflicting answers (yes, we have one; no, only the main library has one), we decided to borrow one to bring to the library to be sure. A friend and fellow resident in our retirement community first agreed to loan me his, but later called to say that it was loaned to a relative of his in Philadelphia. Another friend and fellow resident allowed me to use his projector the last time I had a presentation, but he made it clear that it was the last time, so I decided not to approach him. Eventually, I downloaded my material to a memory stick and beamed through a computer-projector combo owned by the president of Zheng He Society of the America. This incident reminded me of one last July, when my wife and I were in Paris to attend the 9th World Xiangqi Championship. The all-inclusive registration fee was 1000 Euro -- cash only, no credit cards nor US greenbacks. This caught me by surprise, as I exchanged merely 800 Euro for the trip. For the remaining 200 Euro, I decided against approaching an acquaintance, a Hong Kong resident and an officer of the World Xiangqi Federation whom I first met in Hong Kong during the 8th WXC two years earlier and who invited me to be in Paris this time. Eventually, the hosting organization relented and allowed me to pay the 200 Euro in US dollars. In both instances, the stake was but $1,000 or less, but I was either rebuffed or elected not to pursue for fear of being rebuffed. I charge this reluctance to my painful recollections. When I was in China, my father, a prosperous industrialist, was generous with his money. Later, I learned that when he needed money, no one came to his rescue, not even his younger brothers whom my father supported unselfishly. These recollections taught me never to borrow money from friends -- and, luckily, during my 50+ years in USA, I never had to do so. Thus, I was frankly disturbed that borrowing a projector would be so difficult, almost akin to borrowing money. Following Monday's presentation, I decided to buy one, which costs but $999.99, to spare me the indignity of being rebuffed in the future.
Posted at 11:23 pm, Saturday, March 18, 2006