Hello, and thanks for stopping by! It’s summertime, which means it’s time for my favorite warm-weather foods. To me, this means lots of watermelon and tons of ice cream. Though, when I asked my mom to proofread this blog, she said I should add other summer foods so that you don’t think I only eat sweets. For the record, I do love anything barbequed and corn off the cob; I hate having corn stuck in my teeth.
Since we’re talking about ice cream, I have a story to share about a recent outing with my friends. One where I ended up lending people money, but not getting paid back. I learned a tough life lesson from that experience: while it’s nice to be generous, it’s also important that your friends pay their fair share if splitting the cost was the plan. Otherwise, you can find yourself in a sticky situation. Especially when ice cream is involved.
Here’s what happened…
Check, mate
Since I’m finally old enough to hang out with my friends without a grown-up around, my parents are OK dropping me off at an agreed-upon location for a few hours.
One night, a bunch of my friends—five girls and two boys—were getting together in town for dinner. We agreed to meet at a restaurant that my friend Tracy’s mom had kindly made reservations for. (Her mom said it’s better not to take any chances when showing up at a restaurant with seven people.) Since the two boys said they were hungry, we decided to share a bunch of appetizers. Then, we’d each have our own main course. We had just enough appetizers, but the boys ended up eating most of the bread. Not a big deal since the server gave us another breadbasket. When the bill came, we could only split the check four ways. We agreed that whoever paid would get reimbursed. Since I paid for Tracy’s and my meal, we both kept track of how much we owed. Thankfully, Tracy was on top of paying me back.
“Noodle, I called my mom. She’ll send your mom the amount for my dinner.” When I checked in with my mom later, she confirmed that Tracy’s mom had spoken with her.
Phew! That was one potentially sticky situation avoided.
Playing flavor-ites
It was still early enough for us to continue hanging out. So, we decided to walk around the town. After a while, the boys said they were hungry for some dessert. Someone suggested we go for ice cream. (OK. I might have been the one who suggested it.)
There were two options for ice cream. One place that had cool ice cream flavors—like Moose Tracks, Chocolate Gooey Brownie, and Superman (that one has too many colors, even for me)—while the second option just had frozen yogurt. We took a quick vote, and the cool ice cream flavor place won.
It was about a fifteen-minute walk to the ice cream shop. By the time we got there, we had worked up an appetite.
But then the situation got sticky.
Don’t sugar coat it
At the ice cream shop, there was a big sign that said, “cash only.” A few of my friends looked at each other.
“I don’t have cash,” Joey said. She looked at the freezer full of ice cream longingly.
“Me neither,” Lynn said.
“I don’t have any money, but I’m full. So, no ice cream for me,” Tracy said. “I’ll wait for everyone outside. It’s too cold in here for me.”
As it turned out, I did have cash that was a gift from my grandparents. Not wanting to ruin the good time, I offered to pay for whoever wanted to get ice cream but didn’t have cash.
The ice cream shop was pretty chaotic. The scoopers rushed to fill orders, so the line moved fast. Joey ordered a medium ice cream and then proceeded to add a huge number of toppings to her dessert. I think she got more toppings than ice cream. Lynn just got a small cup of mint chocolate chip with no toppings. I got myself a small ice cream, too. It isn’t every day that you can find Fudge Peanut Butter Cup.
I didn’t hear what the total was, so I just handed over my money. Because the line was moving so quickly, I shoved the change into my pocket. (Not a good idea, I know!)
And then, I found myself in a sticky situation.
Dollars and sense
After we finished our ice cream, we said goodnight and went our separate ways. When I got home, I counted out the change I had put in my pocket. Based on the amount of money I originally had, I realized that I’d spent twenty-four dollars on ice cream! I wasn’t a hundred percent sure whose ice cream I had paid for in the ice cream shop. But I was fairly certain it was just Lynn, Joey, and me.
Luckily, Lynn called to tell me she’d pay back the six dollars she spent on her ice cream. Subtracting the two six-dollar ice creams from the ones that Lynn and I got, that meant one of the ice creams cost twelve dollars. Unless I somehow paid for two people, that meant Joey spent twelve dollars on a medium, extra toppings ice cream. That’s a lot for one person’s ice cream!
Joey, who is a perfectly nice person, casually said “thanks” when she got her ice cream. But she didn’t offer to pay me back. It didn’t seem like she didn’t even noticed how much she was spending on ice cream. Even though we’re friendly, how was I supposed to nicely remind her that she owed me money?
Let’s just say I wasn’t feeling any “almond joy,” nor having “mounds” of fun paying for all of Joey’s toppings.
Feeling so a-loan
The next morning, I asked my mom for help.
“I think Joey owes me money, but I’m not comfortable asking her. Can you call her mom and ask for the twelve dollars?” I looked at my mom with my “please-help-me-out-of-a-jam” puppy dog eyes.
“Don’t you want to handle this directly with Joey, though? I mean, once I cashed your check, the cash became your money.” Now that I was older, my mom thought it was important for me to be more independent. Usually, it wasn’t a big deal. But now, being independent was annoying. I wish my mother could just make things easy by asking Joey’s mom for the money. That would be the quickest way to get me out of this jam.
“It would be so much faster if you did it, though.” I tried my “I’m-being-sincere” smile on her next. My mom shook her head “no.”
“It’s your money, Noodle. That means it’s your responsibility.” Ugh! I hate problem-solving. How was I going to unstick this sticky situation?
Forget-me-not
I decided to call Tracy and ask for guidance.
“Joey always buys things and forgets to pay people back. She’s kind of an airhead like that,” Tracy said. “But once you tell Joey how much she owes, I bet she’ll pay you back.” That was good to hear. But I still felt uncomfortable asking Joey for the money.
“So, can you ask her for me since you’ve done it before?” Maybe Tracy would be able to unstick this situation.
“Noodle, it’s your money. And for once, I don’t have to deal with Joey’s absent-mindedness.” Argh! Tracy wasn’t going to get me out of this sticky situation either.
I had no other option but to ask my big sister Jill for advice.
A cents-less act
Jill knew who all the kids were, but she had the benefit of being a few years older than I.
“Did you treat this girl to the ice cream? Like, was it a gift?” Jill asked.
“Well, not exactly. I thought everyone knew they should pay me back. Both Tracy and Lynn offered to pay me back immediately. Joey was the only one who didn’t.”
“So, what are you afraid of? That Joey will think you’re a nag? Or that you’re not a generous person?” Ooph! Jill’s questions were tough.
“Well…kind of. But Joey should know she owes me money!” Now I was getting defensive. How was being the only one prepared with cash end up causing me more harm than good?
One fell scoop
Jill sat me down and looked me straight in the eyes. “The way I see it, you have two options: you can either let the twelve dollars go and hope that Joey will pay for something you buy in the future. Or, if you can be direct. Especially if Joey didn’t think you were treating her. It’s OK that you ask to be repaid for the money you lent someone. If you owed someone money, wouldn’t you want them to tell you?” As much as I didn’t want to admit it, my sister was right. Though this still didn’t make the sticky situation any less sticky.
I decided to ask Joey for the money when I saw her next at school. But I’d be super breezy about it.
“Hey Joey,” I said as casually as I could. “Do you think you could pay me back the twelve dollars I spent on your ice cream the other night?” I was tempted to add that I had just gotten the cash or that I didn’t have a lot of money saved, so every penny counted. Jill told me not to make excuses for something I was owed. “Just be direct,” I heard Jill’s voice in my head.
Joey slapped her hand on her forehead. “Oops, sorry. No problem,” Joey said. “I’ll bring the money in tomorrow.” Phew!
Now I just had to hope Joey would remember to bring the money in (which she did). Though after this experience, I’ll definitely be more careful about lending and spending my money in the future. I wouldn’t ever want to go down this Rocky Road again (Get it? Rocky Road is an ice cream flavor.)
Until next time, be your best you.
Do you have any stories about learning an important lesson from an experience? Please share them with me in the comments section!
