have you ever borrowed a secret? of couse you can! you must already know that you can most certainly beg for one; you can steal one if you are lucky or you can just simply borrow one. it becomes yours temporarily and you can do with it the same that you do with most borrowed stuff and then return it to its rightful owner. or not. since not all borrowed things are returned anyway.
the problem, if i can call it one, is that you need to make sure that what you are borrowing is actually a secret and not just something that has been unsaid or untold for a while. the difference between the two is subtle, but then, aren’t all differences so?
anyway, let’s assume that for the moment, you have managed to find a secret and you want to borrow it, for reasons of your own of course, (rarely do people borrow things because they actually need it, you know that!), the next logical step is to, of course, ask politely.
“umm, can i borrow your secret, please?”
“hmmmm….”
“of course, i will be careful with it and return it as soon as i can.”
“ok…but….”
“thanks!!!”
so now you have a secret. its yours. for better or worse. to have and to hold. in sickness and in health. until death do you part, of course. so you can keep it on your bookshelf, if you possess one, or wherever else it belongs, show it off to people, saying always that you ‘just borrowed’ it from SoAndSo. and when you are done with it, or get sick of it or when SoAndSo calls reminding you to return it, you dust it out and return it dutifully. Politeness says that you must actually be immensely grateful for having been lent it, even if you don’t mean it, but of course, nobody listens to Politeness anymore. He is just too quiet and people just plain ignore him sometimes. but that’s another story.
“thank you! i really liked your secret. sorry if i kept it for too long!”
“oh, its fine! i didnt really miss it anyway.”
“well, thanks anyway”
“sure, anytime”
and you go back to your old life, with its old secrets until you find another one worth borrowing and all will be well.
now, what you cannot do, unfortunately, is buy a secret. not because it is not easily available, but because ownership laws prevents it from being commercially sold. people may have the same secrets sometimes or everybody’s secrets just get mixed up and we will have a tough time trying to get unstuck. it is a difficult, but not impossible, matter to resolve. one day, hopefully, we will.
here, i’m obliged to add a note about what happens if you lose a secret when you have borrowed it. now, since the matter is delicate and ‘case’-sensitive, the first thing you do is inform the owner of its loss, however painful or embarrasing. you should also try looking for it. but, remember that this is a grave offence, since, like i’v already said, you cannot buy one to replace the one you lost. so, for goodness sakes, don’t lose it!!!! it is irreplaceable!
you should also be aware of how to conduct yourself if you are lending a secret. if you don’t want to lend it, refuse politely.
“i’m sorry, but it’s too precious and i can’t afford to let it go.”
“oh, but i’ll be careful with it, don’t worry”
“yes, of course, i trust you, but it’s just that i don’t lend my secrets to anyone. i’m really sorry.”
“yes, of course. it’s fine. no problem.”
but, if you do decide to lend it, remember that people may not treat it with te same care as you did. prepare to receive it back with damages sometimes. or not receive it back at all.
there arises a little confusion about the status of a secret when you have borrowed it. does it become yours? can you use it as yours? well, yes and no. for instance, you cannot say, “here is my secret”. but you can, however, say “here is SoAndSo’s secret. i just borrowed it for a while. isn’t it great?”
all this talk of borrowing and lending secrets reminds me of this one time when i lent a secret to someone. it was the one that says “i love you”. well, long story short, i have’nt got it back yet.
