JULY 1 — The following are excerpts from a recent GoogleTalk chat conversation. Names have been changed for privacy.

Ezra: This girl banged my car last week. Her car was pretty badly damaged, but as for mine, only the number plate was broken and that cost about RM20 to fix, which is what I told her. But now she’s not returning my calls or texts.

Lulu: Wow, really? But it’s just RM20!

Ezra: And here I was thinking that she was a decent person. It is not so much an issue of money but one of principle, right?

Lulu: How was she like when you spoke to her?

Ezra:  Very polite, actually... she even apologised for knocking me and everything. Hence I thought she was a pretty decent person. Turns out she’s quite a cheapskate over just RM20. It’s sad to think that there are people like that.

Lulu: I wonder why there are people who act like that. Maybe because they thought they can get away with it if they ignore it long enough? Some people think along the “out of sight, out of mind” lines. So did you fix your car already?

Ezra: Not yet, it only happened last week and I’ve been procrastinating. My friend said maybe the girl is the type of person who thinks that because it’s just RM20, which a relatively a trivial sum, she can get away with it.

Lulu: I have to agree. Maybe she thought that since it’s such a small amount, you won’t be chasing her so hard about it because it’d be more trouble than it’s worth for you. But that raises an interesting question, though. Are we nice to people every day because we really are nice inside, or because we have to?

Ezra: Hmmm, that is a good question. Maybe it is because I’m a stranger to her. So in her mind, she does not have to care about my car’s damage since the damage to her car was far worse.

Lulu: Like I said, maybe it’s also the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality at work. When you were right in front of her and rightfully upset at her, she reacts accordingly. Now that you’re no longer in front of her and with only the phone as a means of contact, she doesn’t feel that pressure to react anymore.

Ezra: But I wasn’t even mad at her, really. I was very calm and very friendly. I even said, “Take care” when she left. Do you think we should give people the benefit of the doubt anymore?

Lulu: I think that’s a very subjective question. Depends on our respective personalities, the situation at hand, etc.

Ezra: My last accident, which was also not my fault, was with a woman who took my phone number. The next day, her husband called me up and asked me to meet him at a workshop.

Lulu: So what happened after you met him?

Ezra: He paid for the repair of my car. It wasn’t much since it was just a slight dent, probably cost him RM50.

Lulu: That’s very nice of him. It’s not as much about money as about taking responsibility. A matter of principle, like you said. How strongly we stand by our principles defines who we are, because otherwise we live without conviction.

Ezra: Very true. If I was in the same position, and no matter how much it hurt me to part with the money, I’d do it. Plus there is a thing called karma.

Lulu: Haha. Yes, God gives us eye for eye. Personally, in Islam we’ll get what we deserve in the afterlife if not in this world. That story does make me think, thanks for sharing it.

Ezra: You’re most welcome. But it’s good to be wary of people lah. Don’t be so trusting.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.