Sep 28 2008
The free lunch.
The old man and I sat at the greasy spoon, relishing in the conversation as much as just getting out together. He had enjoyed the ride; the day was pretty, the kids were off my hands. We nodded at friends we knew, but most of them were his friends, and they stopped by to chat. Finally the cook came out, shook his hand and asked about his wife.
“Still the same,” said the old man, shaking his head sadly. “I go in to see her, but she won’t talk to me. I just can’t take care of her at home, but I think she’s mad at me because I can’t take her home.” His lips trembled as he fought back the tears.
None of our words of comfort could provide a balm to his tortured soul. And as I got up to pay my bill, I saw the cook reach over and put her hand on his, smile, and say, “You don’t have to pay, of course.”
“Wow!” I said to him later as we got into the car. “She sure likes you.”
He smiled, but his face had a far off look. “Well, let me tell you about that,” he began. “About three years ago she called me and asked if she could borrow $23,000.” I gasped. “And, of course, all my money is tied up most of the time, so I told her ‘no.’”
“What did she need that money for?”
“Well, our hometown talked her into owning the local bar down there at the end of the road,” he said. I nodded. My husband and I had hosted our groomsdinner there. “And she wanted to buy her way out of bankruptcy.” I winced. The subject was getting close to home, because my husband and I had just done that with our own business. He paused, then continued. “A few hours later, she called back and asked to borrow $2000. I asked her why the number had changed from so much, and she said that she had just learned that it was far easier to ask ten people for two thousand dollars and get it than it was to ask someone for twenty-thousand.”
“What happened?” I prodded.
“Well, of course we loaned it to her, but there were some fundamental things about that business that just wasn’t working, so she ended up bankrupt. Well, she bought that little cafe that we were just in a little later, and now she’s trying to get back on her feet.”
“And your money?”
“Well, shortly after your mother’s stroke, she came to me with all the money, and told us that she couldn’t live with it if Mom died before getting that loan back.” Tears came into both of our eyes as he said this. “And I never pay when I go eat there. She never paid me any interest, but it doesn’t matter.”
That story stuck with me both with the kindness shown in a business deal, and the wisdom she used in getting the loan. It also made an impact on me in that you can not always buy your way out of bankruptcy. Considering how tight the lenders are these days, I wanted to bring up that nowadays a business owner might need to seek additional funding from creative sources. May this cook’s humble idea rest in the back of your mind should you ever be in that situation.
