Pak Pinjam

There's a guy here in my neighborhood whom I call Pak Pinjam, which means Mr Borrower. He is also the guy who regularly brings food for the dogs. They are not my dogs, but they are generally camped out on my front patio in the morning and the evening, waiting for their food. I guess they figure it's a nice place to eat. The dish brought them is usually rice with chicken feet and a little soup. 

But that is beside the point. 

Pak Pinjam comes from time to time not only with food for the dogs but with a request for money from me. Not for the food, of course, but because he continually needs money for some reason. Neighborhood gossip has it that he gambles, but this cannot be proven. In any case, he always kind of whispers and bows and says that he needs X amount of Rupiah, which he can return to me on the next day. But he never returns the money on the next day, or on many days after. 

I don't know why I keep falling for this. For one thing, the request makes me feel embarrassed somehow. Embarrassed for him, perhaps? Or just embarrassed that anyone would stoop so low as to be asking money from other people, especially a person he doesn't really know or have a relationship with. I don't think I've ever spoken with the man other than when he asks for money.

This last time it was 500,000 he asked for, about 27 USD. The promise once again was that he would pay me tomorrow. 

He did not pay me tomorrow. He did not return any of the money until about a week later, when he gave me half of the loan. Now, some weeks on, I am still waiting for the other half. 

The curious thing is that he shows up every few days and assures me that the money will be "transferred" that very night, which I take to mean that someone for some reason will be transferring money into his account, if he even has one. But then that doesn't happen, and I can't help but wonder why he even says this. I mean, I've heard about three times now that the balance of the loan will be transferred to his account by the end of the day or by tomorrow, at which time he will repay me. Why does he say this? Or better yet, why do I loan him money in the first place?!

At this point, I'm not really figuring on getting the money back at all. Perhaps I will live and learn this time. Perhaps not. If the return is tardy, it has still been returned. But still, it is the principle of the thing, you know? How does the old saying go? Neither a borrower nor a lender be.