Re: International debt.
 

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Re: International debt.
 

I would. Next week someone might bring you a goat!
Have you ever heard of 'pay it forward'? People who do will rarely get ripped off. But people who know the price of everything often know the value of nothing.
I've given more than I've got at times...and other times I've been given more than I've given back. Overall it's a balance. You soon pick out the greedy B*****s who'd deal you short every time and you find don't have as much time for them.
Right now I'm in one friend's debt by quite a long way. And I'm looking to catch up....But I will:-)

Re: International debt.
 

nice to hear Angie, but isnt that how it should be with friends
too many times I have helped people, including a couple of relatives, given up time and money and barely got a thank you, to find never around when I needed help.
It is small wonder that some people appear to be standoffish but really nice when you get to know them
once bitten twice shy

Re: International debt.
 

Yeah, a good friend pulled me out of the crap. I'll always owe him too.

Re: International debt.
 

WTF would I do with a goat...give it Bil's grapefruit:rofl: coffee with goats milk...nah. Suppose |I could bathe in it.

I think there are some community exchange schemes running in the UK. My daughter is in a child sitting one.

Re: International debt.
 

3 syllables.

Bar
Bee
cue

Re: International debt.
 

I have a relative who offered to clear my garden in England a few years ago. ...for 200 quid. At the time we really needed the help so I accepted. And because it was near Xmas, We were coming to Spain that year, and he has small kids and not much money I gave him the money upfront. He did about 4 hours and left the rest to me. Then my husband forgave him and gave him our (really nice) Sofa when we left permanently in exchange, he said, for a little favour. Guess what. That favour was never forthcoming. That's twice. Once more than I usually allow;-). No I'm not soft, but I do believe in trusting people once.
The great thing about exchanges of favours is that the government don't get to double tax you on it (VAT and then income tax).And with veggie bartering there's no Supermarket markup, So a favour is worth double or even treble what it appears to be worth! A penny saved is two pence earned!
And Free oranges taste better Jacky.

Re: International debt.
 

mmm sister moved house and went over to give her a hand. new house and needed curtain rails to be fitted so I spent hours drilling holes and putting up for her.
her husband was floating around then vanished with his brother (over from Canada "for the move") when they came back they both had a couple of tinnies in their hand, sat down and watched me.
I finished the job getting more and more angry. Made myself a cup of tea.
Then went home.
sister dropped hints that she wanted a door bell fully wired to mains etc - sent her one for christmas - one of those wireless ones with batteries.
gggrrrhhh!

Re: International debt.
 

I was brought up mainly by my Mother, Dad worked very long hours, she always taught me to trust people until they prove otherwise. It was the worst advice anyone can receive and has cost me dearly over the years not only financially.
I am still the same it is too ingrained for me to change now, at least now I am living amongst people that are open and honest even if some of the questions they ask do come as a shock at times.

Graham

Re: International debt.
 

I know where you are coming from, one of the perils of being an electrician was that people expect work for free or complain if they have to pay. Once did a lot of work for a "friend" spent many weekends and then gave her a bill for just the materials. She went through the list complaining about how much each item cost, I do believe that she had expected me to nick it all from work and then charge her nothing. Of course my stupid mistake was was in not then adding my time in. I never spoke to her again but then why should she care she had a good job done at a very knock down price.

Graham

Re: International debt.
 

Helping others does not necessarily mean that they as the individual in need owe you anything at all. I do not mean if money changes hands but giving someone your time and skills. All my life I have helped others, given them my time, done hours and hours of voluntary work and not thought about being paid back or of people owing me anything.

However, my Spanish friends support over the last 21 months have more than paid me back for all the hours that I have given to others (in UK) in the past.

Rosemary

Re: International debt.
 

I have every respect for those who volunteer their time, knowledge, experience and at times soul to assist others, especially those who cannot help themselves, whilst even paying for their own cup of tea. That is part of a righteous and caring society.
most professionals, plumbers, electricians etc are more than happy to help those who cannot help themselves when that is made plain.

However, there is a big gulf between those groups and those who take take take the micky. it can be made worse by supplying and fitting kit bought at trade and passed on with no mark up or a wiggle on the VAT.
problem is they go round telling their friends how you "did a good job" for them and you start getting enquiries from them :thumbdown:

is it small wonder there are so many "brain surgeons" down the pub in overalls ?

Re: International debt.
 

If no-one did anyone any favours, it would be a hard old world. It's the basic problem with altruism, that people abuse the system.

However, as Angie says, favours are worth quite a lot, so it isn't a simple, one for one exchange. Any one does me a serious favour, I carry that for ever.

Abusers are to be shunned, so don't repeat the mistake. All in all if you are sensible and learn to recognise the hallmarks of the abuser, exchanging of favours works well.

Re: International debt.
 

The biggest problem is that the people who abuse your trust and make false promises have an affect on you and you might hesitate before helping someone genuine and trustworthy. Takers and grabbers of this world are very clever at gaining things so they are quite hard to detect at times, our gut feelings may so NO but if we cannot rationalise this we end up saying Yes and regretting it.

Rosemary

Re: International debt.
 

Yeah, get abused often enough, and it does put the iron into your soul.