" BORROW, BORROW, RETURN TOMORROW...."

Once there was a family that borrowed almost everything. 

If the father needed a lawn mower to cut the grass, he would borrow one from his neighbors. And if the mother needed eggs for baking, she would just borrow them from the lady next door.

Even the children borrowed things. The little boy borrowed a bicycle from his friend when he wanted to go for a ride, and the little girl borrowed dishes and dolls and everything else she could. It seemed that even their dog came home with things that did not belong to him.

But the trouble with all this was, the family would never take things back. They would never return them. It was not that they were bad people, and wanted to keep everything - no. It was just that it didn't seem important to return things right away. After all, they could take them back tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that. But they never did.

So the man next door had to ASK for his lawn mower back, when it was time to cut HIS grass - and he found it had been left out in the rain. The little boy across the street had to come over and get HIS bicycle - it was just left lying in the driveway. And the little girl's friends who had lent her dolls and toys, never did get all of them back - some were lost.

People in the neighborhood were disappointed with the family that borrowed everything. They didn't mind lending things to friends and neighbors. That was alright. But they expected to have their property returned promptly and in good condition.  Wouldn't you?

Now it so happened, that the factory where this father worked was closing down and moving to another town.

"All you men will have to move," the boss told them, "if you want to keep you jobs. I will give you time enough to move and find a new house."

The man who borrowed everything went home and told his wife. "Well, we must pack," she said. "We can borrow Mr. Laffin's cart to move our things. I'm sure he won't mind."

But when the neighbors heard about this, they came and took back everything the family had borrowed. They took back their garden tools; their pots and pans, this and that, and almost everything else. When the man and his wife had looked around, they had very little left.

"Well, I guess we really don't have much of our own, after all," the man said. "We borrowed almost everything."

"Never mind," his wife said. "It will be less to move, and what is left will easily fit into Mr. Laffin's cart. You go and borrow the cart," she told her husband, "and you children go and borrow a trunk for your toys. Then we will be ready."

But when the man who borrowed everything asked for a lend of Mr. Laffin's cart, for only one day, Mr. Laffin said no. "I'm sorry," he said, "but you never return things promptly. This time I have to say no."

And wherever the children went, from door to door, nobody in the neighborhood would lend them a trunk. Everybody said no. It was not that the neighbors were mean or selfish and didn't want to help. It was just that they didn't trust this family anymore. You just can't lend things to people who wouldn't return them. You never knew if you would get them back or not.

The man came home and sadly told his wife - no cart. And when the little boy and girl returned, they said that nobody would lend them anything. In fact, at one house, the neighbor's children sang: "There goes the 'Borrow, Borrow, Return Tomorrow Family!"

"That's not very nice," their mother said, with a sigh. "But I'm afraid we deserve it. We will just have to walk to our new house - and carry what we have. There is not much left anyway."

"That will be pretty hard," the father said, "but you are right. We borrow too much and we never take things back and now nobody will help us anymore. You can't blame them. That's what happens."

The children looked disappointed, but they listened to what their father said. Something was certainly wrong.

"I think we have all learned a lesson," their father said in a serious voice. "And in our new neighborhood we must try and be different. We will not borrow things from people all the time, and if we do borrow something, we will take it back promptly and in good condition."

Everyone agreed. That was the right thing to do. They didn't want to be "The Borrow, Borrow, Return Tomorrow Family" anymore.

And, they never were. .....................................................................................The End

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