About two months ago, a coworker of mine asked if she could borrow my portable power station. We had a big storm predicted in the area and she said her apartment loses power pretty easily. I felt bad and told her she could borrow it for the weekend.
The storm passed and everything was fine, but she never brought it back. At first I assumed she just forgot. I casually reminded her at work the next week and she said she’d bring it the next day. She didn’t. Over the next few weeks I asked her a few more times and each time there was some excuse, she forgot it at home, she was busy, she’d bring it tomorrow, etc.After about a month of this I started getting a little frustrated. It wasn’t cheap and I only lent it because she said she needed it temporarily. Last week I found out from another coworker that she had actually taken it on a camping trip and had been using it regularly.
That annoyed me because it felt like she had no intention of returning it. Yesterday I stopped by her desk and asked for it again. She said she’d try to remember. I told her I could just stop by her place after work and pick it up so she didn’t have to worry about bringing it in. She reluctantly gave me her address, and when I got there she tried to say she was still using it and asked if she could keep it another week. At that point I said I really needed it back and took it with me. Today at work she told a few people I showed up at her home and demanded my property back, and that it made her uncomfortable. A couple coworkers say I should have just waited a little longer to avoid making things awkward. But from my perspective I already waited over a month and asked several times.
So now I’m wondering… AITA for going to get my own property back after she kept putting off returning it?
Tell your coworkers that they can pay the rental fee or lend their own