Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Why Listing Our Moving Sale On Craigslist Might Not Have Been the Best Idea I've Ever Had.

Melanie from Mailbox Journey recently posted about a hilarious Craigslist-related incident that happened to her recently and it reminded me of the near-heart-attack-inducing incident that Craigslist caused for us this weekend.

We had planned a Moving Sale for last Saturday and posted it on Craigslist.  I was watching the weather and basically the whole week was looking like this:

On Friday, I decided to call it and updated the Craigslist Ad to say that the Moving Sale would be postponed to the following Sunday due to the weather.

That same day, someone rang our doorbell, because they wanted to "preview" the items for sale.  
*I was totally and completely unprepared for this.  I had no idea that this might happen.  All of the stuff for sale was in my basement.  No way in HELL was I inviting someone into my home and INTO MY BASEMENT (where there is only one egress, I might add) to preview the junk I'm trying to get rid of.  I almost died.  Is this what people do?  What did they think I was selling that they needed to "preview" it?  But I digress.

I told him I was sorry, but we were postponing the sale to the following Sunday (and he acted like the new date was no good for him, but I mean, what am I supposed to do?!) and that I couldn't show him the items, because they were "in storage."  He proceeded to grill me about the items I was selling; "How old are the chairs?"  "What are they made of?" "What kind of wood?"  At one point, I couldn't believe I was still engaging in conversation with him about this.

Finally, I told him I had to get back to work and maybe I'd see him the following Sunday.

I decided I should lock my door and put up a sign on it in case any one else wanted a "preview" (I still can't believe this is a thing).  The sign was very clear and blatantly said, "Moving Sale Postponed to Sunday, 7/7, due to weather."

The next morning, which would have been the morning of the sale, we went grocery shopping and got back home around 10:30 am.  We were bringing bags into the house from the car and left our front door open (but the storm door was closed).  I was sitting on the living room sofa on my laptop with my feet up on the coffee table with my husband in the next room and I hear someone just open my front door and walk in.  

Now, we have a functioning doorbell.  Why this individual chose not to ring it or even use his hand to make a sound on the door (which people typically refer to as KNOCKING) I may never know.  We have a mirror hanging in the foyer, so I was basically able to watch him walking into my house from where I was sitting.  

Apparently, this is what came out of my mouth:
"Umm...what is going on right now?...Uh...omg, someone is...HELLO?...wait. NO, NO, NO, NO, get out of here... right now!"

In retrospect, at the point when I said, "Hello?" I think this individual thought I was inviting him into my Living Room.  I don't know.  Nothing about my expression or tone was welcoming.  But I also didn't get up off my butt, which is very interesting to me.  It basically means that I don't have a fight OR flight reaction.  I basically just become paralyzed with fear, where the only thing that works is my mouth.  Great.

So, this guy is standing in my Living Room and I'm still sitting on the sofa (with my feet up on the coffee table).  I did sit up straighter, like I was more alert, but I simply was frozen in place.  What's weird is, it never occurred to me, even for a second, that this guy was here for the sale.  The thoughts that ran through my head went something like this:
  1. Why is this man here?
  2. Why did this man walk into my house?
  3. Why is he ignoring everything I'm saying?
  4. Is he mentally ill?
  5. Does he think he lives here?
  6. Is he lost?
  7. Does he have a gun?
  8. Is he going to attack me?
  9. WHY HAVEN'T I MOVED YET?!
Right in between mental questions #4 and #5, I started to panic internally a little.  I realized he wasn't responding to any of my comments - he was just kind of standing there in my entry way looking at me.  I was SO CONFUSED.  It wasn't until my Husband came out of the side room and said, very calmly and sternly, "Sorry, sale is postponed to next week," that I put two and two together.  Up until then, I really thought for some reason that we were the unfortunate subjects of a visit from the latest mental asylum escapee.  

I also kind of put together that maybe there was a language barrier issue.  I'm still not really sure on that, but I don't understand how anyone from any culture could just walk into someone's home without knocking or anything.  I mean, he walked into my living room and caught me completely off-guard.  I'm just glad I wasn't sitting there in my underwear (which I've been known to do).  If I were in his shoes, I would have been MORTIFIED.

Anyway, he seemed to understand what was happening when my husband was sort of directing him out of the house.  I guess the guy was confused by the fact that I never once got out of my seat.  This is actually the most concerning thing to me.  I still can't believe I just sat there.  

I also don't understand why he thought the sale was INSIDE our house?  Maybe because of the weather?  I don't know - so little of it makes any sense to me.

The guy turned out to be harmless and everything was okay, but we locked our door for the rest of the weekend.  

Moral of the story:  I will not be advertising my address on Craigslist again any time soon - which one would think I'd already know not to do.  I don't know why I ever thought this would be a good idea.  

3 comments :

  1. I plan to NEVER give our new address out to Craigslist. People are so weird. I've had so many weird encounters with that site, that now I just give things out for free and put them outside at our apartment.

    I can't believe he just walked in! I'm surprised he didn't just start picking things up that he wanted to buy.

    P.S. Thanks for the shout-out! :)

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    1. I just about wanted to die. I still can't get over the fact that he just walked in either!

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  2. Hahaha! This post was hilarious! I also have never heard of a "preview" - who knows! (Found you through LiveLoveDIY via Pinterest) Can't wait to see the posts about the progress on your new home - we are hoping to move soon and I can't wait to get some projects started!

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