Taking Liberties

I heard the funniest story earlier this morning from my property agent.
She came to visit me for breakfast and we were discussing homes and the market and the usual blah blah, when she started telling me about a client she had last year.

Turns out there was a client who she sold a home to, and the wife was at the last legs of her first pregnancy. During one of her visits to this family, the husband asked if she'd please do him a favour.
Now for most of us a favor involves picking up a set of keys from somewhere or dropping someone off or maybe even looking after your dog while you're away for the weekend.
Not for our intrepid expectant father.
Oh no.
Here's his idea of a 'favor'.

He wanted to know if my agent friend would kindly have both himself and his wife keep her number on speed-dial, just in case the wife went into labour and needed someone to rush her off to the hospital!
Seriously?
Isn't that something you'd ask of a friend or family member?
Who asks their property agent to be on standby just in case a baby decides to stick its head out of a vajayjay and say howzit to the world unexpectedly?

Which got me to wondering about the strange 'favors' we've all been asked at some point or other in our mundane lives.

Like the time my friend asked me to turn his home lights on and off for the week he was away on holiday, except he forgot to mention that in order to get from his gate to his front door, I would have to brave 2 vicious dobermans. Of course I didn't bother with his lights as my legs were more important to me at the time than his TV and household contents were.
Or the time I was going down to Durban for what was then the Gunston500 beach party, and my neighbor asked if I'd take a parcel with and have it dropped off at his sisters. I said yes and didn't mind at all until I saw the address on the box. She lived near the Wild Coast, which is as close to Durban as Paris is to Zimbabwe. Ok maybe a bit closer, but you get my point.

I can't conclude this post without mentioning an incident that happened during my college days.
A guy I knew asked if I would give his girlfriend a lift home since she lived in the same suburb as I did, and he lived in the opposite direction.
Except when he brought her to me, this is how he phrased it:
"Thanks for helping out Kaloo... And please look after my bitch."
I stood there gobsmacked, and she raised her eyebrows but never said a word.
Needless to say, the 45 minute drive to her home was rather uncomfortable. I kept hoping she had a puppy in her bag. That would have made it less awkward. Of course she didn't, and years later when we were dating (call it my community service year) I bought her a puppy.
I don't know why I felt the need to, and she never understood my gesture.
At least the puppy survived longer than the relationship did.
I hope.