When was the last time you rented a car? It wasn’t that long ago for me. I generally have pretty good experiences when I rent but I know that isn’t true for everyone. It always struck me as odd how many additional things that rental car agencies can try to sell you. Here is a short list of different types of add-on insurances you can often get:
Collision damage waivers
Personal accident insurance (covering people in the car)
Personal effects coverage (covering property)
Supplemental liability coverage (covering third parties in the event of an accident)
Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? That isn’t all of the things you could pay extra for though. What about gas? You can either agree to bring the car back with a full tank, or you can pre-pay for gas.
Why are there so many options for the person renting a car? Money, of course. Here is a quote from a person who used to work in the business:
“Selling products above and beyond the car was essential for survival in the business. If someone walks out with a killer deal, takes the cheapest car, takes no “protection,” which is their term for insurance, takes none of the other products we offer — it reflects poorly on me and ruins my likelihood of promotion. So you learn: If you want to get ahead, you’d better sell.”
Why do people pay for extra insurance? The answer is fear. There is a fear associated with renting or borrowing something. The expectation is to return what you borrowed in the same (or better) condition in which you found it. This is certainly true for rental cars. You must bring it back in the same shape it was in when you got it.
Do you remember when people used to borrow things from their neighbors? Maybe you still do, but I don’t see it happen much anymore. People used to knock on their neighbors’ door and ask to “borrow” a cup of sugar. Remember that? (Actually the word “borrow” here is not the right one. You don’t intend to give the sugar back. The same is true for “borrowing” a tissue. What you really mean is to take a tissue, but that sounds worse so we ask to borrow it instead).
If you live in a house, chances are you own a drill. On average, a drill is used 13 minutes over its lifetime. That’s all. So why not just borrow one instead of buy one? If my drill broke on me, I wouldn’t think to ask my neighbor for the use of his drill. No, I would just get in my car and go down to the nearest big box store to get a new one. Why is that? Why not borrow a drill?
Now listen to this story in the book of Exodus. Look for the reference to borrowing.
Exodus 12:30-36
30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said.
32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.
33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.
34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.
35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:
36 And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.
That is from the King James version. Why does this passage say the Israelites borrowed from the Egyptians? To borrow something means that you intend to give it back. This wasn’t going to be the case. This may have been a translation error. And why borrow jewelry? What good is that in the wilderness? Some scholars think the real point with this lies with a back payment to the Israelites for all the hours of slave labor they provided. The Egyptians took much from the Israelites. They took their freedom, their time, and their work products. So the Israelites later take the riches from the Egyptians (the plagues, meanwhile, take other things).
When we borrow something, we expect to return it.
When we rent something, we expect to return it.
The only real difference between borrowing and renting is that you pay for the privilege when you rent. Borrowing is a gift. Borrowing requires relationship. You probably wouldn’t be successful if you went five streets over and knocked on a random door asking to use a drill. You probably would be successful going next door and asking for the same thing. The difference is you have a relationship with your neighbor. And isn’t that the point? When you borrow something from someone you are doing more than simply getting something from them for a small amount of time. The more important thing you do when you borrow something is forming a relationship. You talk to the other person for a while. You find out about what they are doing and what their concerns are. And then you return the item and talk again. Maybe a few days later your neighbor comes over and asks to borrow something from you, and the relationship strengthens.
What would happen to a rental car company if there was no expectation of returning it like you found it? What would happen in a hotel if there was no expectation of maintaining the condition of the room? Many people would trash the place. “It’s just a rental,” they might say. “It is only temporary. I will use this for a time and then won’t have to worry about it again.”
What about your time on Earth? Aren’t you borrowing that? Aren’t we either renting or borrowing everything? If everything is borrowed, then what are the expectations when we “return” things? I have heard people say things like “Heaven is my real home. Not Earth. This stuff now is just temporary.” That may be, but if this kind of thinking leads us to think less of where we are now, don’t we have a problem? Are there consequences for trashing the place, even if that place is temporary?
Our lives are borrowed commodities. Let’s use what we borrow the right way. Let’s form good relationships and make sure we return things in the same or better condition in which we got it.
God Bless