Saturday, February 04, 2012
One day last year I went around to my neighbour and announced that he would start paying my mortgage with immediate effect, and that he had no choice in the matter.
I explained that as we were living in a semi-detached property, one half his, one half mine, that we were effectively under a shared roof, so our debt was ‘kind of shared’.
Incredulous, my neighbour remonstrated for some time, citing stuff about fairness; generally whiney stuff. I assured him that I had checked with my creditors and the local authorities, who had assured me that should he not take on my mortgage then the whole house would collapse around our ears. My neighbour checked with the authorities, who reassured him that it was indeed the case should he not take on the responsibility I had outlined.
My neighbour, having become resigned to his new fate, went into his local bank with a heavy heart; remember, he is quite whiney and ill-informed about these matters. He explained to the bank manager that his salary only allowed him to pay one mortgage, but that he had now taken on another, quite large mortgage, as the authorities had ordained it so.
The bank manager, conforming to the orthodoxy, noted that my neighbour couldn’t support another mortgage, but gave him new terms to cover both his and my mortgage.
My neighbour was required to review his living expenses to meet his new obligations.
He now walks with a decided stoop (the whinger).
His children have been informed that they aren’t going to college or on holiday again. They don’t eat out any more (and less in), and have sold their car. He cancelled his health insurance, but that’s ok, he can rely on the public system.
I don’t know what I would do without a good neighbour like this. And some people say the spirit of giving has deserted us in modern Ireland?
Declan Doyle
Co Kilkenny
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