Where I Draw the Line.....

I have come up against my true test of friendship versus acquaintanceship......
......will I lend you a treasured cookbook???

I am proud to say that I would lend any of the Crafters anything in my small collection (I'm more of a freewheeling cook) at any time, even Mexico, One Plate at a Time.
But much to my surprise and subsequent guilt, to the request to borrow that very same tome,
"What would you think of my borrowing this for a month?"

I actually found myself saying ''mmmm...no, not too much."

I swear it's not because of my fondness for the Author.
It might be because of the Borrower.

Or on a more shallow note.....it's apparently the defining question for me.....can I live without it, will you return it, and perhaps most importantly, do I want to have this reason to interact in a month?
The relief...the clear line in the sand...the pride at speaking my mind...ah, but the guilt--what if you don't return it (like the college girlfriend-of-boyfriend's-friend--that was a Moosewood, and obviously I have neurotically harbored negative feelings for fifteen years), it's just a cookbook, it can be replaced; what harm would it do, will I really be using it in the weeks to come?