It’s amazing when strangers become friends, but its sad when friends become strangers.

I got this as one of those daily dose of forwards that make one’s day at work bearable. Reading this, I was reminded of all those strangers who are now good friends and all those ‘friends’ whom I hardly understand anymore.

Strangers-who’re-now-friends include people from blog-land, some whom I’ve never met but who know whats happening in my world.Then there are people at work. People who’ve worked with me for less than a year, but are now qualifying for the speed-dial entries. Cousins whom I meet once every 5 years , but who are now regular midnight-chat pals.

Friends-who’re-now-strangers:It makes me feel sad to think of them.

Like the friends from school/ college who are so absorbed in their lives that they don’t have time to take calls/ reply to mails. How? Why?

Like those friends who think ‘trust’ grows on apple trees. Lush and available, all year long. To be peeled and eaten, and thrown away at will. There was this friend of mine, who borrowed a reasonable amount of money nearly a year back. I had been reminding her about it every once in a while, and was always told that it would be re payed ‘as soon as the quarterly bonus was credited.”
Quarters went by without me getting any penny. I suggested she repay the money in installments, for which she readily agreed. When my wedding neared, I realized that I would need every penny I owned and more, to finance at least sobme of the events. By this time I had started giving her almost daily reminders, when she assured me that the cheque had been deposited. Another week of no money and another round of calls later I was told that the cheque had bounced. She swore that she’d return the money positively before my marriage. When I didn’t get it right till the day before the wedding, I wrote a slightly distasteful message asking her why she was behaving so strange. And that I had now lost hope of ever seeing that money. I had just about come to terms with the loss of this huge amount, when she asked me why I was ‘putting our friendship at stake’, again promising to return it before the wedding. Well, a couple of months have gone by, I haven’t heard from either the friend or the money.

I am confused. On one hand I trusted her. I understood and accepted her delays for over a year, only because I thought she had problems. What hurt me most were the lies and the deceit. I could have taken a frank,” I’m hard up now. I can’t return it till next year”. But a ” I’m not in town’ and “The money has been transferred” again and again bugs me. Once a friend, now a stranger. Sad.

She’s taught me never to lend money to anyone who’s not a blood relation, unless I’m ready to consider it charity.

Copyright 2008 by Meira