November 19, 2012

Twice Bitten

So I posted another free ad in Craigslist, this time to offer a pile of gravel free for the hauling. I'd like it out of my yard, and people are always looking for "clean fill" (judging from the signs I see on my travels).

You meet the most interesting people on Craigslist! As I have chronicled herein. Based on proposals I have received in the past that are clearly scams, suggesting that I ship large, heavy items great distances, that I accept personal checks or money orders for amounts IN EXCESS of what I'm asking for the item (and sending back the difference, minus some amount for my trouble) I have begun to stipulate that I want to deal only with locals and only on a cash basis (when money is changing hands). I don't understand how somebody can scam you when you're already giving the item away, but, I'm sure there are ways.

My ad for the gravel read, in part, as follows:

2. Don't play games ... be a real person with the ability to load and haul gravel. 
3. Be local ... tell me roughly where you're coming from so I know you're a real person.

Pretty unreasonable, right? What could I have been thinking? Fortunately, an anonymous correspondence has shown me the error of my ways, pointing out that I'm a "jack ass."

How dare I attempt to impose such draconian terms on this transaction!

I'm weird, I know, but I believe that there is such a thing as mutual benefit. You need gravel and have time and energy ... I have gravel and need space where gravel used to be ... maybe we can work something out. 

But for some people, I think there's no such thing as "free enough."