My sister hit me up the other week asking me to cover $2,000 for a dress. Her reasoning? “You make more money, it’s fine.”
I lost it. I told her flat out I couldn’t do that. She started crying on the phone, which honestly made me want to hang up and ignore her calls, because it sounded more like a demand than a plea. But something felt off.
Later that week, I found out she’d actually lost her job and had zero savings. She wasn’t trying to scam me or manipulate me, she was genuinely desperate. So I ended up lending her a much smaller amount than she asked for, just enough to get by.
And here’s the wild part: she paid me back in full within two weeks. Didn’t tell anyone. Just quietly handled it.
It hit me hard. I went from being furious to realizing I probably judged her way too fast. She didn’t want a handout, she just needed a little help, and she respected me enough to pay me back.
Has anyone else ever misread a situation like this and totally jumped to anger? How do you deal with that initial “ugh, no way” feeling while still trying to be supportive?
