Wanna be a guarantor?

Once I was approached by my foster relative. She is such a nice lady. Very concern about us and we kept a close relationship especially that we were living in the same area then. We used to send and received edible items from and to each other. We visited each other often. Only this time she came with her daughter. Acting uneasy and with a guilty look, she made me wondered. Her daughter had sheets of leaflets in her hand. They looked like a brochures of housing project and other documents.

As usual I greeted them in a friendly manner and invited them to come in. Unlike her usual way, she was hesitated in coming up with her words. She told me that her husband was not around. As a sailor he was most of the time not available for the family. His absence was always expected. I somehow knew that wasn't the topic.

With curiosity I waited for the next words from her. She handled the bunch of documents to me. Half mumbling her words, tactfully, she explained that her daughter was deciding on purchasing a house. Somehow, her then financial status was not strong to uphold her request for loan. She came to request for me to become her guarantor. I flinched. I didn't dare to say no, thinking such a nice person she was towards my family. Thank God, I decided to give myself a night to think about it. That was what I told her. I promised to call her on the very next day.

At night, I called my father, asked for his opinion. I though he would say ‘proceed’ as they were like a relative to us. To my shock, I received an immediate NO from my dad. He said, “I was declared as a bankruptcy once. It was all for being a guarantor to a distance relative”. I didn't know the story as it happened many years ago when I was too young to understand. My dad also informed that he ended suffered paying for the loan since the guarantee has then passed away. He didn't want me to go through the same suffering. He also said, being a guarantor for someone to further her study is considerable, but not on property purchasing.

On the next morning, I gathered all the strength I had and lifted the telephone. It was heavier than the last time I used it. I heard her answered my call. It hurts saying it especially to someone nice like her. I recalled my dad’s words “just tell her no, although it hurts. Its better to get hurt just this once, rather than for years”. So, I did.

Now when I thought it over, after my own loan request was once rejected by the bank, not too long ago, I am so glad for that decision I’ve made.

About my rejected loan,I didn't bother to look for a guarantor. Instead I dropped the loan request with thought “ If I cant afford it, I cant afford it'”.