Grrr...

I have a friend in SF. He's one of the "theater pals". While he's an extremely talented performer, his life off the stage always seems to be a complete mess. He's the one in our group that can never seem to pull his shit together. Can't hold down a steady job, moves around a lot, can't keep a girl (boy?) friend... he's handsome and charming and I always find myself concerned for his well being. A few years ago, i knew he was in yet another financial bind, so I hired him to do some work around the house. The plan was for him to install some overhead lighting in our living room. I paid him, but all he ended up doing was removing a light fixture in our dining room, moving a fixture from our bedroom into the dining room to replace it, then replacing the fixture in the bedroom. He never ended up finishing the job of doing the overhead lighting in the living room.
ANYhow... this friend called me last week and - lo and behold - he had another sob story about needing money. Now, this guy is currently engaged and when we saw him over the holidays he and his fiance were all atwitter over the wedding plans... reception at a country club, wedding dress shopping, etc. They even asked if I'd consult on the dress and shoes (she "really, REALLY wants a pair of Jimmy Choo's").
Now, neither one of them is an orphan and while i'm sure they don't "come from money", I would imagine that they'd have other options when it came to asking people for money. I guess the call caught me off guard... when he let me know that he may need to ask me for some money (a "loan"), I told him that I'd do what I could.
Well, I received the inevitable follow up call on Friday. He indeed DID need to ask for money. Now I find myself completely UNinterested in helping him out, and I'm at a loss as to just how to tell him this. I WANT to ask him what the hell is up with him and his fiance that they need to ask ME for money - I mean, even when we lived in the Bay Area, we only ever saw him maybe three times a year at the most. I WANT to ask him if he actually thinks that I believe that he'll somehow find a way to pay me back. I WANT to remind him of how I basically paid him in full for a job half done.
I WANT to just ignore his calls.
ugh.
Any suggestions?

West SYYYY-EEEEED!!!

we went to dinner last weekend over in the Willy St. area... kinda' boho/Haight St.-ish. Little place called the Weary Traveller. As we were checking in with the Maitre' d, one of the patrons noticed that Matt had on a tie and decided to comment, then he noticed that Mike had a tie on as well and I guess that just threw him over the top. (Now, keep in mind that they Matt and Mike both had on jeans, their neckties were loose - more of an attempt at fun accessorizing than a lifestyle message). Anyhow, this guy just wouldn't stop...
"A tie??? A fucking TIE??? You TOO???? GREAT!!!
"Where do you guys live? Probably the West Side. (eye roll)"
"Great! Now we're going to be overrun by you Upper Management people."
At first Matt kinda' tried to engage, but when he realized this guy was nothing but an asshole, Matt immediately went silent.
On and on he went until finally he said,"They should start checking passports here!"
Now, this guy was NOT smart enough to make such a multi-level insult. I'm sure he was only referring to our being from the "West Side" BUT I saw it as an opportunity to rake this guy over the coals.
"LOOK. YOU need to shut your mouth NOW. I'm really sorry if the fact that we have full time jobs and dress like adults offends you, BUT the fact that you feel it necessary to question our citizenship in this country offends ME. Shut your fucking mouth now or I'll beat the shit out of you AND your girlfriend."
"uh... um.. wuh... um...."
"Yeah... that's what I thought. Loser."
He tucked his tail between his legs and skulked away as everyone in earshot glared at him. He and his companion were seated a few minutes later and that's the last we saw of him. Thank Buddha.