the one who made me pay

let’s talk about possibly one of the worst dates ever.

this happened like probably 4-5 years ago, after i just broke up with the ex. i got to know h.h. from friendster and we moved on to msn chats. that time he was in Taiwan for work, at a small IT firm where he and another partner set up. it was really nice chatting with him and we often talked about how he should come back to SG soon so we can have a good dinner (we were both foodies).

so finally he did come back for a few weeks for business. and we arranged to meet. he was staying at a rented room somewhere in the north so we met at a neighbourhood mall in the area. before we met, he was telling me that he’s short of cash. apparently, even though it’s a company trip, the firm didn’t really give him allowance or that it’s really really minimal. i was very sympathetic and all, but figured that he can get by.

anyway, we went to KFC to have dinner and we stood in line to queue for the food. our turn came, we ordered together. and while the cashier was getting the food ready for us, what would you do? get the money ready to pay right? but as we stood there, and almost all of our food was served on the tray, this guy didn’t even take out his wallet! so of course, SOMEONE had to pay and i did. but still, he didn’t offer to pay for anything! i mean, i wasn’t thinking that he should pay for me. i thought that at least, we’re going dutch.

that was a bit disconcerting for me, but ok la we just sat and had dinner and chatted as normal. i’m nice like that, what can i say?

but that’s not the worst part… no, no.

before we parted, he asked for a favour from me. he asked to borrow money la! during dinner, he was telling me again how he’s barely surviving here, and that he has to eat canned food in his room most days. i mean, poor thing also la. and he just wanted to borrow like $30 or $50. again, me being the nice (albeit naïve one) did. thing about me is that i can’t say no to people, especially one who is standing face to face with me. i figured it’s not a big amount anyway so what’s the harm.

he did return the money BUT he borrowed some more once or twice after that. small amounts again but at one point when he asked again, I just didn’t reply to his sms or answer his calls and just blocked him on msn. a friend told me that he can’t possibly survive on just those meagre amounts that i lent him. we concluded that he probably borrowed a bit from a few people to get by. but who knows? the weird thing is, shouldn’t you borrow money from people you know, like friends or school mates? Not someone you just met? when i went AWOL on him, he sent me emails and msges on friendster, all went unreplied. i figured i didn’t owe him any explanation but he seemed genuinely concerned that I just went *poof* on him. lol. oh well, since I’m not very good at saying no, i do the next best thing. run away. :)

so there you have it folks. what kind of dodo would lend money to a guy on a first date right? yours truly.

p/s: he has a habit of calling me ‘Dear’ which I dearly hate! urgh.