Borrowing

If you borrow money from your brother, pay him back with interest.

I remember borrowing a lemon from a neighbor. A few days later, my father asked me if I had returned it. "Not yet," I said. "Do it now," he insisted. "We have lots of lemons." I took a lemon and was headed for the neighbor's home when my father called me back and asked, "What are you doing?" "I am returning the lemon." "Well," he said, "the noble thing to do is to return two or three lemons." She was overjoyed because it is so happened that she needed the additional lemons for her food.

In many countries it is customary when borrowing a pan or a plate to return it filled with fruit, pie or cookies. I remember once when we borrowed our neighbor's car while he was on vacation for a week. My father returned the car after putting new tires on it. We were happy at being able to use the car, and our neighbor was happy with his new tires.


-Torkom Saraydarian
(The Sense of Responsibility in Society)