Six or so months ago, I lent someone a DVD (The Second Coming, with Christopher Eccleston and Lesley Sharp, written by Russell T. Davies - well worth a watch).
Well, when I say 'lent', I mean, they were round my house, saw it, and said, 'Ooh, can I borrow this?'
I normally have a zero tolerance policy of lending stuff due to bad experiences of never getting things back. But in this case I trusted the person concerned and said yeah, go on.
I didn't see that person for a few months after that, but when I did, I said, 'How did you find The Second Coming?'
They replied, 'Oh, I haven't watched it yet.'
I thought, seriously? After three months? If I borrowed something I was keen on I would watch it almost right away. But I said, Oh, OK.
Three months later, i.e. last Saturday, I bumped into this person again, in the pub.
'How did you find The Second Coming?' I asked.
They replied, 'Oh, I still haven't watched it.'
After six months?! Suspecting they had lost it or given it away, I said, 'Well, could I have it back now, as it's been so long?'
They scowled angrily at me and said, 'Huh! Do you want me to go round my house and get it for you?'
As they lived just around the corner from the pub, I said, 'Well, yes please, actually.'
They stormed off and I sat there feeling small, then angry - why should I feel bad? - and when they returned they slapped the DVD down on the pub table and stormed off.
So I got my DVD back but lost a friendship.
So was I being unreasonable? Surely when you borrow something, you should return it? Borrow - return. Borrow - return. Simples.