In the middle of last year, a couple in East Croydon hosted a lovely lunch for me. When it was time to leave, the man gave me a gift bag containing bottled water and an envelope. “You always want to pass us a glass of water, so let us give you a bottle.”
We laughed at the joke. When I got home and opened the envelope, I saw £200. I knew the lady first, so I called her, and she put the phone on speaker while I thanked both of them. I didn’t expect to receive such a gift, but they said it was the little they could do to thank me for coming.
If you know how much tax people in this country pay and the stress of owning a business or working a high-paying or low-paying job, you will understand why I couldn’t stop thanking them.
When the call ended, I sent a lengthy message of gratitude to both of them individually on their phones.
Four days later, a friend doing her Master’s in Manchester sent a WhatsApp message complaining of being very low on cash and experiencing difficulties with finding work. I requested her account details and I sent £100 to her. I didn’t get any acknowledgement from her until I texted two days later to ask if she had seen the money.
These were her exact words, “Oh Beck I saw it but I was busy. I expected more from you shaa, you are bigger than this. How is your day going?”
I don’t exchange jokes with this person, so it was hard to understand why she acted this way.
I reread the message looking for thank you or some form of appreciation, but my eyes didn’t see any. I was glad she received the money, so I moved on and forgot about her reaction. She never chatted or said anything to me again till three months later.
She came again to ask for money. I told her I would send £200 to her. I sent £2. She called about five times and left two voice notes, trying to let me know I made a mistake. I told her I would check with my bank and let her know if anything happened.
That week, she sent daily messages to check on me and know if I was alright. It became apparent to me she knew what she was doing. I ignored her.
If you have tried to make money and hit hard times, you will appreciate people who are generous to you. But sadly, social media has made some young people think making money is easy.
