No good deed goes unpunished

My neighbor doesn't have a computer or home internet. She uses her phone for email and social media. This old-school approach has led her to ask me on more than one occasion to order items for her online. Usually, it's some home decor item or a gift for a family member. It's not a hassle, and I'm happy to oblige since she gets me things at Costco. I got rid of my Costco membership when it seemed like every trip I was renewing my membership since I was only going once a year.

The neighbor is having her bathroom remodeled, and a week ago she asked me to order a shower head/system. She sent me a picture of it, and I tracked it down and was a little shocked to discover that the 12-in size she wanted was $800. I told her the price and asked her if that's what she wanted and she said yes. So, I ordered it. I was not worried about her paying me because that's never been an issue. Before you think you know where the story is going, she paid me that day with eight crisp benjamins. I immediately became a playa a playa.

The problem arose when the contractor arrived this week and opened the box to discover that some part was damaged. Now I get to play monkey in the middle dealing with the manufacturer. I had to send them pictures of the part and coordinate the shipping. A replacement part is due to arrive by FedEx today, and I hope that will be the end of this obligation.

Today, an employee who was on my previous team at the client reached out and asked if I had sent her something through snail mail. She said she knew I had sent her something because she gets the daily delivery notification from USPS and she saw the envelope with my return address. She got married a few weeks ago, and I sent her a card with a $100 gift card. I don't know what the protocols are with something like this, but I figured it's the thing to do. 

The problem is that she saw the image a couple of weeks ago but she never actually received the card. She thought maybe by now it had been returned to me for some reason. I told her it did not, and I also verified her address, which was correct. 

So now what do I do? What if she never receives my card? Since she knows I sent at least a card and probably something else, I am stuck. Am I obligated to send her another card and another gift? 


oh my gosh i hate being in the middle of such good-deeds. 

you can't even get out of it once you're in the middle and things go wrong. well at least you did say that you'd rather be stressed multitasking a bunch of things rather than bored!
2021-11-04 14:03:37
abrahamKim
 Based on how the last couple of weeks have gone (last week billed 67 hours), I just might be re-thinking my philosophy.
2021-11-04 15:01:18