The have-nots usually borrow from those who have. Edward had a no-borrowing policy. He refused to borrow even the smallest thing. From experience, he found out if he borrowed something, for sure it would break, and he would have to repair it and fix it up better than when it came to him.
We had a neighbor who liked to “borry.” Edward always had a big shop, well stocked with everything he needed to repair the many mishaps that happen on the farm. “Jim” would come over and “borry” some air from the compressor, and “borry” some tool while he was there. When he finally returned it, he would usually bring back something else that we didn’t even know was “borried.” If the livestock trailer went out, it usually came home needing to be cleaned out. Sometimes he would have to go begging to the neighbor, to get back one of the things he needed to use. He had a trencher he loaned out to be paid by the hour. If a guy trenched from here to Esbon, it would still only have taken about two hours. Right!
Ralph had a neighbor who asked to borrow quite regularly. Ray would borrow the cultivator and bring it back with all the shovels needing to be sharpened. The hay rake would come home with teeth bent or broken out of it. Since Ray only owned five cows, he would come and borrow Ralph’s bull for a few days, and just lead him down the road with a halter to visit his cows. Once Ralph asked Ray if he could borrow his manure spreader.
Ray answered, “No, I don’t loan my things.”
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