Broken promises and flipcharts

My dad had a saying that certainly rings true despite it being over 30 years since I still heard it as a teenager and thought “what is he on about”?

He said someone will walk a mile to borrow something from you, but cant cross the road to give it back..... never did this saying ring more true than yesterday this is the story.....

Texts: LJK to MK - do you have a flip chart in your office
MK – LJK – Yes
LJK - MK Can I borrow it for a few hours, I am in meeting rooms above a bar and they dont have one.
MK - LJK - I will ring you....

So I did ring and got the version of events of first born that made me say YES. How I got the flip chart to him went like this.....

After some subtle distractions to a couple of work colleagues in the form of a round of drinks (tea of course this is a work situation) I wedged the door open and carefully carried the flipchart stand down in the lift 10 floors. 5 mins later first born came round for it, I said the following and even as the words left my mouth I wouldn’t have gone to betfred and put money on it for one second, but it didnt stop me going through the motions...

This needs to be back here tomorrow, if it gets lost of stolen or broken you have to replace it.

He assured me in front of the receptionist (so i do have a witness) that he would collect it from Bachanalia at 9.00am and deliver it to my building so I could place it back and no one would be the wiser....... this is what happened next

He didnt come home that night, he didnt come home the following morning and I rang left messages on email and mobile, then finally he rang at 9.55am, to say he was now at home and could I go to Bachanalia and just say I was a work colleague of his and had come to collect the stand. This wasnt what we agreed at all.

I told my work colleagues I was going to get milk for the office as we had run out and trotted off to bachanalia, I was enormously lucky that a member of staff was outside and about to have a cig break, she showed me up 6 flights of stairs to the flipchart which had been unused ! I carried it down the 6 flights again and over uneven terrain in the rain back to my building, back up in the lift and in the hall, where it was now 10.10am and a meeting was due to start at 10.15am in our meeting room and possibly requiring the flipchart........ as you can imagine I am now exhausted, perspiring and just as I think I have got a way with it a voice says, “Maria, what is the flip chart doing out there”......

First borns biggest worry in all this was in his words “dont tell the girl at bach your my mum or anything, I was trying to hit on her and I dont want all that “Oh he’s my boy” type of conversation going on ......

My biggest worry, was getting the flipchart back in the meeting room before it was missed.

I have learnt a valuable lesson

I managed it and exactly 5 minutes after I replaced the flipchart in the meeting room, two visitors arrived and the meeting went ahead.

It certainly was a close one.........

If first born were anyone else I dont know that I could have forgiven him, as it stands I almost do, but there were lessons learnt...