JUNE 2008 - FRIENDS WITH MONEY
Q: Last year I reignited a friendship with two sisters who I have known since childhood but had lost touch with. We had all moved to London at the same time and became really friendly. We spent six months living in each other’s pockets, going to dinner, partying together and even going on holiday together. Recently things became rather strange. It started with the sisters slowly pulling away and cancelling arrangements until it got to a stage where I simply didn’t know where I stood as we had gone from being really close to really distant. When I confronted them they said they had only befriended me as they felt sorry for me and they hadn’t expected that six months down the line for me to be hanging out with them all the time. I am really upset and on top of that I feel really used as I would often pick up the bar bill or dinner for all of us and I even covered the costs of the flights and accommodation for them on the last holiday we went on as they had cash flow issues. They promised to pay me back as soon as they got their student loans but since our falling out they aren’t even answering any of my texts or emails about it. It is a fair amount of money (around £2,000) and I want it back not so much because I need it but because of the principle involved.
A: Mark Twain once said “the holy passion of friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money”
