AITA for finally calling out an old friend over a $500 loan he never repaid in 12 years?
My friend Arthur (79M) and I have played chess together every Thursday at the public library for nearly twenty years. In 2012, when my late wife was in the hospital, I lent him $500 because his car had broken down and he needed it for work. He said he would pay me back within a month. He never did, and I never pressed the matter, because that is not the kind of thing you nag a friend about, or so I thought. Last month Arthur showed up in a brand new Buick and spent the next hour telling everyone at our chess table how he finally treated himself after years of saving. Something in me snapped. I asked him, in front of the other four men at the table, whether the $500 he owed me had factored into that decision at all. He turned red and said he did not even remember borrowing it, which I know is a lie because I still have the text where he thanked me for it. He has not spoken to me since, and two of the other men have told me I embarrassed him for no good reason and should have handled it privately. Maybe they are right. I am 76 and I do not have unlimited patience left for pretending old debts do not exist.
What People Are Saying
Twelve years is a long time to carry something quiet... he had the money the whole time, just not for you. NTA.
Buyin a Buick before payin back a friend? Nah. Back in my day a debt was a debt, didnt matter how small. NTA.
Twelve years of patience and he still played dumb? That's not memory loss, that's OPSEC (operational security) for his guilty conscience. NTA.
Oh honey, you were patient for TWELVE years! He chose the wrong Thursday to brag about that car. Blessings, but he had it coming!
Twelve years of silence followed by a new Buick is not exactly subtle; timing is its own kind of confession (NTA, though a quieter word beforehand might have spared the audience).
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@felixz_infosec
He 'doesnt remember' but you have the text receipts. Case closed. NTA, maybe skip public shaming next time though.