Hello! When I was 16, I had a "best friend" whom I had known for years. We went everywhere together and had only positive experiences up until the story I'm about to recount to you. When I got my first treasured Canon A-1, my friend just went crazy with jealousy over it and the pictures that I was able to produce with it. I enjoyed letting him handle it when we were together. Then, when he got a very pretty new girlfriend, he begged me to let him borrow my A-1. I offered to either shoot pictures of her, or to accompany them while he was using it. I stood firm for 3 months on this, and he never took my offer as stated. Then, finally, he told me that could only maintain rapport with his girlfriend if he and my A-1 were alone with her. I gave in, and this was my first and last lesson in loaning equipment. After all, his family was much wealthier than mine, and they could afford to replace it at the drop of a hat--or so I thought. With my A-1 in hand, he proceeded to produce remarkable pictures of her. I got worried when I started getting copies in the mail, at the same time he stopped returning phone calls. When I'd go to his house, he was never there. This continued for a year, and I finally went over and confronted his parents about the situation. They said that he had moved in with his girlfriend almost a year ago and that they were virtually not speaking with him. But they said they would try to help. I finally got a call from him that he'd bring my A-1 back. When he arrived, he handed me a paper bag of loose camera parts, and a virtually empty A-1 body painted with psychedelic designs all over. The mirror was broken. The lenses were scratched and stained with paint. He promised me that his parents would buy me a new A-1. Of course, no one ever produced any money or new camera to make me whole. My former friend was now an enemy. The bright side of the story is that I learned an important lesson long before I became a pro photographer with a large arsenal of EOS, Hasselblad and 4x5 equipment WHICH I NEVER LOAN TO ANYONE! And I never needed any more assertiveness training after that! --Fliegende Hollander __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/ * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
