Give whenever you can

(Writer's note: This story was first published years ago...The house-mate in this story is now a successful accountant with residences in UK/Shenzen, China)

It was the classic case of putting off the job until the very last minute… The assignment could had been written earlier, but I waited until the last week before it was due to write it. As it is with most people, I abhorred being bothered during this particular period of writing assignment - I call it my ‘exclusive’ moment.

It so happened that at this very time, a house-mate asked for my assistance with her assignment. Predictably, since I was in my ‘exclusive’ period - I rather unkindly told her off …

As it happened, my assignment was only ready at noon on the day it was due and I missed the only bus to Glasgow that day which was scheduled to depart an hour earlier. So I returned home after handing in the assignment, feeling glad albeit terribly exhausted.

As soon as I opened the door, I heard her cried “You’re back? Please help me - I’m not done yet!!”. I went to her room, grinning at the door - “Well, I’m done..”. The grin lasted only a second - I immediately realised that she was almost in physical pain... There were notes scattered on her unmade bed, unwashed mugs with coffee stains on the cluttered table - the room was a complete mess and she was in the middle of it looking frightfully awful.

It hit me as I spent the rest of that evening helping her with the assignment how selfish I had been. Not that I didn’t know the fact that she was far weaker in English than me. The golden rule as a friend is to give whenever you can - and I didn’t. Worse - she was indeed in need and I neglected her when I was most needed. I thought having my own assignment to think about was a good reason - but looking back, I know now that was a mere excuse. I could at least go through her work once, point out what her mistakes were and all. But I simply went and told her off.

My point - next time someone asks for your help, stop for one moment of thinking about your own need and empathise with the person asking for your favour. You never know how much doing so will enrich your life until you’re done with it … Like getting the satisfaction of knowing your house-mate did well and you played a minor part in it…