[321Mike]

I had a similar experience. A friend and I went out to San Francisco for a wedding and shared a hotel room. We agreed he would put the room on his credit card and we would settle up when we got back home. The second night we're there, he decides he wants the TV in a different location so he tries to move it. He was quite drunk and the result was a smashed TV. The hotel wound up charging him $600 for it. We get home and I go over to settle the bill and he asks me for $550. He explains that the total bill, including the TV, was $1100 so my half is $550. I wasn't even in the room when he broke the TV so there was no way I was paying for half. We argued and I wound up walking out without paying him anything.

Later, I started thinking about why he would ask me for the money I clearly shouldn't owe. He seemed to spend pretty freely and had a nice apartment so I always assumed he was in good shape financially. Then I thought that maybe he was an idiot with money and was spending money he really couldn't afford. Maybe his wife didn't come to the wedding because they couldn't afford an extra plane ticket (I had previously assumed it was because she just didn't like his college buddies). Maybe he split a hotel room with me because he was broke, but didn't want to seem that way. I started to imagine that maybe he couldn't pay his rent this month if I didn't give him the $550 and that's why he was being such a jerk.

I called him up and told him I would give him the $550. He was happy and told me to stop by the next day. I went the next day and gave him the $550 feeling like a really good friend for helping my buddy out and saving his pride. He took the money, said thanks, and then took me out to the garage to show me something and this exchange occurred:

Douchebag: Check it out, I bought a Harley!
Me: Umm, why are there two?
Douchebag: My wife said she might want to learn to ride so I bought one for her!

At that point, I did not punch him in the face and take my money back, but I have always wished that I had.