I bought my own meter so I can have it when I need it. I have noticed that too many people just don't care about things. I have seen people do similar things, not out of spite, but because they didn't notice and didn't care. My rule is I NEVER loan out tools. I might bring a tool and help you out, but never give you a tool. Another thing I have noticed is that more people just don't care if you are helping them out. Its a sad trend that I have noticed is more prevalent the younger the person is.
I don't even give out advice as much anymore. People just seem to only want hear what validates their thoughts. Anything different is just dismissed.
A recent example is a coworker asking my advice about a car. He came to me because I know cars well. He had a tranny problem, and I told him not to drive it, and use his other. Did he? Of course not, cause someone else validated his thought that is would be ok for a while. He then asked me what he should do, and I told him to tow it home, and check out some shops, get prices, and also check local salvage yards. That same day he had it towed to the closest tranny shop without checking them out. They tore it apart, then told him a quote that was much too high. Then, after all the warning I gave him came true, he asked for even more advice. I told him to cut his losses and take it somewhere else that would install a tranny that you provided. He took it somewhere else, and then paid to have his pile of parts reassembled with the addition of a few new parts. Car runs, but not right, and he spent so much more than he should. He was going to just pick up a JY tranny and swap it himself, but in the end, he couldn't even be bothered to trailer his own car, and just paid for towing twice.
Another coworker asked me about his explorer that was leaning in the back. He thought it was a bad shock, but wanted my advice. I told him it was not the shock, and to take measurements and see if he can find out what was off and where. He replaced the shocks, to no effect. He then asked what I thought, thinking that it must be the springs. I told him to measure. New set of spring, and still no effect. He came and asked me AGAIN what I thought it was. Told him to measure. He finally did, and noticed a body mount bushing was gone. Replaced that, and all was well again.
