I love this! Doing things for others without asking for anything in return goes against the social norm so it causes people to stop and think.
It can be abused by people and others can manipulate you into helping out, so it is wise to know what and who you can afford to help out.
I think with friends, sometimes it is best to help out giving money instead of lending. Too many times when you lend money, that person has something happen and is unable to pay back the money when they had hoped and now feels awkward and tries to avoid the lender.
It can cause unwanted tension, so like you did I think gifting someone something is the best way and if that person wishes to pay you back that is an awesome act of acknowledgement and appreciation too.
Helping people almost always leads to some joyous moments :) Keep posting great content like this!
Thank you - and yup, you're right! Check out Positivity, challenge #3: https://steemit.com/positivity/@positivity/positivity-challenge-3-10-10-2016 for a cool introduction for what I want to achieve :)
I couldn't lend it to him in the hope I'd get it back - his situation is far too difficult for me to weigh something like that over his head. Yup, you're right! And like you say, it raises unrealistic expectations of each other :)