Maintaining A Zero Balance

I have a habit of remembering what I owe anyone (be it money or something intangible) and I make it a point to pay it back. I hate being indebted. 

A few years back I was having lunch with a friend when this topic came up. I explained my take to him. He replied that he didn't agree with maintaining a zero balance (zero debt actually) with each individual person. He explained that in life we help some people, we take he elp from some people and sometimes we are left owing some people and have some people owing us. And that largely they cancel each other out. And that endeavoring to maintain a zero balance was a waste of time and effort.

I was not convinced by what he said. I believed that we should maintain a zero balance with each person and not just hope it's zero at the aggregate level. 

Yesterday I saw a lady,  hunchbacked, - she stopped me and asked me something. I thought she was asking for money. She pointed to the cup of coffee I was holding and asked me where the coffee shop was. I told her where it was and continued on my walk. 

That's when it struck me. How many times have I asked people for directions. And got it. Did I repay each of those people? Obviously no. And I don't feel bad about it either. I have given directions to many people. And I don't keep accounts of those either. 

I think they cancel each other out. Now in the case of giving directions I consider it too trivial and hence don't intend to maintain zero debt with EACH person who helped me. 

Maybe for my friend, even other help (of a larger kind) is same as giving directions. He just writes it off and not maintain balances. 

The difference between me and others, then, is WHAT maximum amount each of us chooses to write off. That's all. 

So what's the takeaway from all this? 
That there are 2 kinds of people - some who maintain balances for small things (type 1) and ones who don't maintain individual balances (type 2) largely. Type 1 people should exercise restraint while helping type 2 people since the latter largely don't maintain balances.