Neighbour drink spilling accident

I was reminded of one accident that made me forever careful when borrowing a friend's stuff. It was 1996 in Richmond, Virginia (yes, 13 years ago).

That time a friend lent me his storybook about dinosaur. I couldn't recall whether it was a storybook or an educational one, but one thing for sure was that an interest in reading had largely been cultivated by Mom since I was small.

This neighbour of mine was initially reluctant to lend me the item, but in the end he gave it anyway (much to the coaxing of her Mom).

Then it happened.

I accidentally bumped into a jar and spilled orange juice into that book, which instantly soaked it wet. Mom and I who witnessed that incident quickly paid more attention into the book than the spilled jar.

Unfortunately, what had happened had happened.

So there I was, back at my neighbour's house, with Mom on my side giving me full encouragement so that I myself could make the formal apology. They didn't show any sign of anger, but this friend of mine surely did show a sign of remorse...why had he chosen to lend an untrustworthy friend an important item anyway?

It didn't shatter our friendship though.

Several weeks later, he bought a handheld gaming device (I couldn't recall what it was called, since those are the days before the Gameboy-era).

To my surprise, he didn't show any reluctance when he offered to lend me his device.

But unfortunately, it was her Mom who had lost trust in me.

She came over to my apartment, and politely demanded back the device to me and my Mom. It was all done in good manners of course, since my Mom and his had a quite cordial relation.

I was disappointed. A lot.

But truth be told, it was a lesson to be learned. If someone had lost trust in you because of your own fault, you only have yourself to be blamed.