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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Feeling a bit humiliated by tactless friend

317 replies

bagpuss90 · 07/08/2020 07:55

This friend very kindly offered to lend me some money -when I had some lockdown cash flow problems. I’m self employed . I’d agreed to pay her back earlier this week . We were going to another friends house to sit in the garden I said Id slip her the money in an envelope then when we got a minute on our own which we would have done at some point . Six of us were there-all doing the social distancing thing. I did offer to do a bank transfer but she said she wanted cash-fair enough. Anyway we’d been there less than half an hour when she said”have you got the money you owe me please” ? This was in front of four other people -it all went quiet . I gave her the money in an envelope .
It might sound silly but I felt about “so big”. I hadn’t dragged my heels re paying it. I was paying it back bang on the time we’d agreed . We hadn’t been there hours and I’m sure I could have slipped in to her in the envelope I’d put it in at some point. Am I wrong in thinking this was at best bloody tactless and at worst slightly nasty ?

OP posts:
RedskyAtnight · 07/08/2020 12:52

Her looking for cash rather than bank transfer is strange and perhaps telling.

Er why? It's a pain for me to get to a cashpoint to get out cash, and there are some things I have to use cash for. In this scenario, on the basis I'd just done my friend a huge favour, I'd expect to be able to specify how I wanted the money back.

But then I wouldn't have lent you the money in the first place, as lending money has a bad habit of causing friendship issues. If she's a good friend, then rise above it, be grateful she lent you the money in the first place and then move on.

melj1213 · 07/08/2020 12:59

Tbh I dont understand why you were insisting on being so secretive - the fact that you had been there for a while without mentioning it at all, plus that you wanted it to be a secret exchange probably made her worried that you didn't actually have the money and were hoping to avoid discussing it until the end of the event. If you had said something early on to just acknowledge then she probably wouldnt have called you out.

With my friends if one of us owed the other and we all got together in a group then the first thing the borrower would say to the lender is "Oh I have that money I owe you" or if they didnt have their handbag because they had left it in another room or whatever "I have that money for you, remind me to give it to you later". Even if they didnt want to announce the fact they borrowed cash they'd make some reference to returning a borrowed item.

It doesnt have to be a full on announcement, but as soon as you saw your friend I dont know why you didnt at least acknowledge to her that you had the cash - even just a "Hey I have that stuff you lent me, dont leave without getting it from me" let's her know that you havent forgotten the cash and would give it to her later without announcing what it is to the group.

bagpuss90 · 07/08/2020 13:16

It was 500 quid which I think is a lot to give someone in cash particularly at the minute with lots of places not accepting cash. Was surprised she didnt want a bank transfer

OP posts:
diddl · 07/08/2020 13:24

I think it was unkind of her.

Op said that she would have the money with her & hand it over quietly.

It's obvious that she didn't want the others knowing that she had borrowed money.

Even if the lender thought that Op was being unnecessary secretive, she could have gone along with it, but she deliberately didn't.

Pleasebeaflesbite · 07/08/2020 13:28

At £500 it’s just as well you have witnesses OP.

The fact it was a tumbleweed moment is testament to the fact that her asking was inappropriate.

She was probably worries rather than trying to be horrible

Try and see it this way

Beautiful3 · 07/08/2020 13:30

She probably thought you forgot and didn't think it was a big deal to ask. She did you a favour so her heart must be in the right place.

CorianderLord · 07/08/2020 13:33

I'd have just given it when I got there.

'Oh, thanks for lending me that cash Linda, lifesaver.'

And continue with day...

Don't see why it's such a big deal?

GreenRoads · 07/08/2020 13:34

If a friend lent me £500 in the middle of a pandemic, I'd be focusing more on what a decent and generous thing to do it was than on whether the lender should have intuited my curious sense of shame about the exchange and gone along with my hole and corner ideas about handing over the repayment money in secret. Hmm

TitianaTitsling · 07/08/2020 13:40

This post is the antethesis of anything I've ever read on MN about someone borrowing money! Maybe it should go into classics so it can be linked whenever anyone posts about lending money to someone, so we know the responses can be 'you're a bitch/witch/have odd intent/only did it to make yourself look good'.

Defenbaker · 07/08/2020 13:43

YANBU, at best she was thoughtless and tactless, at worst she was trying to make herself look good at your expense. I know people like this, who like to get maximum benefit for doing any small favours - it's an ego thing.

Chances are she already told your other friends about her "kind" act anyway, so was never going to be subtle about this. I'd be seeing a lot less of this "friend".

Mylifeisboring · 07/08/2020 13:44

I think it was an attempt to embarrass you in front of your friends, the fact that you had it ready to hand over in an envelope has backfired on her and made her look ungracious and nasty.

ZoeTurtle · 07/08/2020 13:45

TitianaTitsling I was also imagining how the thread would have looked if the lender had posted to say her friend was meant to be giving her money back today, they'd been together half an hour and the friend hadn't mentioned it or made any signs of having it.

Most replies would tell her the friend was a "CF" and to ask for it loudly in front of others.

IndecentFeminist · 07/08/2020 13:49

If a friend lent me £500 in the middle of a pandemic, I'd be focusing more on what a decent and generous thing to do it was than on whether the lender should have intuited my curious sense of shame about the exchange and gone along with my hole and corner ideas about handing over the repayment money in secret

This. Presumably she is a good friend and a kind person to lend it to you, I'd be giving her the benefit of the doubt here instead of feeling hard done by.

FamBae · 07/08/2020 13:52

At least she didn't count it GrinWink

RedskyAtnight · 07/08/2020 13:53

At £500 it’s just as well you have witnesses OP.

I wonder if the friend has witnesses that she loaned OP the money in the first place? Probably not, since OP is so secretive about it.

Here's the post from the friend's perspective

"One of my friends had a cash flow problem during the early lockdown, so I agreed to lend her £500, on the basis she paid me back as soon as she was able. I was a bit wary about lending the money as you always worry about whether you will get it back, but figured I would trust her as she's a good friend. She's now in a position to repay the money so we agreed that she would give it to me when we next met up - in a mutual friend's garden for a socially distanced gathering of a few of us.

I got to the gathering and everyone said hello; host then spent a bit of time walking us round the garden and pointing out various things to us. The friend didn't mention anything about the money. At this point I was getting a bit nervous about whether she was actually going to pay up, so after we'd all sat down I just said "oh, did you have that money you owed me?". She handed it to me in an envelope (phew) but she's now telling me I was totally tactless and nasty the way I asked, and should have waited for her to quietly slip it to me. AIBU to think she should have just given me the money straight away and perhaps be a bit more grateful that I was generous enough to lend it to her? I certainly won't be bothering again.

jessstan2 · 07/08/2020 14:03

@Daisy12Maisie

It may have stressed her out you hadnt given it to her straight away. She was probably worries rather than trying to be horrible.
You just don't do things like that! The woman knows the op who said she would give her a discreet envelope, there's no reason to think she wasn't believed. The time to be concerned would be at the end of the gathering if the envelope wasn't passed and even then, should not have been expressed in front of others. It was a private matter! I feel embarrassed just thinking about how she blurted out what she did.
monkeymonkey2010 · 07/08/2020 14:04

we’d been there less than half an hour when she said ”have you got the money you owe me please” ? This was in front of four other people -it all went quiet

she did it deliberately to make herself look 'big' in front of others - and to make you look like you're unreliable, creating impressions in others minds that you can't be trusted when it comes to money......

wildcherries · 07/08/2020 14:06

She lent you £500. You should have given it to her when you arrived. The fact that she wanted it in cash doesn't make her shady or a bitch. Being humiliated and secretive is your issue. Probably best not to ask again. Agree with IndecentFeminist and RedskyAtnight'posts above.

Yeahnahmum · 07/08/2020 14:07

Some friend she is...

morriseysquif · 07/08/2020 14:09

The OP said she would slip her the money when they were on their own and the friend did the exact opposite and asked for it back in public.

The friend did it to humiliate you, at least you know now who she really is.

Viviennemary · 07/08/2020 14:18

I think she was worried you had forgotten or would try to fob her off with an excuse. Is she had no reason to believe that then she was out of order.

jessstan2 · 07/08/2020 14:19

@bagpuss90

It was 500 quid which I think is a lot to give someone in cash particularly at the minute with lots of places not accepting cash. Was surprised she didnt want a bank transfer
Well she didn't, that was up to her but the issue is you had the money to give her and she had no reason to suspect you wouldn't.
LadyMacbethWasMisunderstood · 07/08/2020 14:19

She might be a bit socially inept.

She might have been overly anxious.

She might be an absolute cow.

You are best placed to know which it was.

It sounds like the situation was less than optimal. But not the worst thing ever.

If you think your friend was deliberately trying to show you up then I’d cut / reduce contact. If you can allowed for it being a bit of poor judgment in the heat of the moment then I’d just move on.

starray · 07/08/2020 14:25

I don't think it is anything to be embarrased about. She was kind enough to lend you the money.

ConfusedDotCom123 · 07/08/2020 14:25

I think it’s very hard to trust people after reading what goes in the heads of strangers in the internet and how situation gets analysed with such absolutism leaving no room for mistakes or error of judgement.

Imagine this was a forum, where a man complained saying “my friend asked me for the money back loudly In front of my friends, mates what do you think?”

The only reason why we over analyze is because the dynamic between women have become such that so much passive aggressive behaviour plays under the scenes.. misogyny or whatever had led to that in the female dynamics.

But we ARE playing into misogyny and feeding and not allowing it to move forward by being so reactive to this dynamic.

Being reactive is always irrational.. over analysing. Trying to be hyper sensitive so we don’t fall victims. The endless victim hood mentality.

The correct attitude is to be “responsive” when necessary, and just unphased when not.

Many of us have all mastered the art of claiming to be victims. It’s part of our socialisation, and so many OPs here can narrate what would be a story that would really make them look hard done by.

This is one of the situations where it is absolutely NOT necessary to dwell.

I agree the “behaviour” isn’t great. I agree for many, including myself it would be hurtful.

But not everything that’s hurtful is precalculated and deliberate.

That’s why, discussing direct with the person without those long novel-long stories in our head, is the way forward.

The OP and her intentions are as unknown as her friend. It could be a misunderstanding where both have unknowingly contributed to it..

But what bothers me is the influence this kind of forum has on the thinkng of many of us.. in always always assuming the worst possible scenario with such absolutism.

For what it’s worth, this mentality might increase the mental health issues of people with social anxiety. Drive them to isolation and to develop paranoia and trust issues.

Because we are bound to have friendships with mishaps like this one. And to always have a long story attached to it about the intent of the person is terrible...friendships become no longer worth it.

Please , if you are someone with social anxiety, please note that it is worth being friends with someone who “excuses others” even when they’re hurt and who talk directly to others they’re hurt from.

OP you are contributing to this by not just going to her directly and confidently asking her why she said what she said. M

It’s unfair that after she put effort to lend you money, you wouldn’t communicate to resolve misunderstanding or at least clarify.

If you did and she doesn’t appologise THEN start thinking