Jul 8, 2014

Judging a Craigslist Book by its Cover

So, after my amazing Baker dining table and chairs find, I might have gotten a little cocky with my Craigslist abilities.  I have been hunting for a decent china cabinet for super cheap that I can transform with some paint.  I missed out on a beautiful antique one that was stored in someone's barn, offered at $45.  I should have jumped on it.  Anyway, I found another one that was poor picture quality, but only $75.  I decided it was a hidden gem, and I needed to look at it.

Morgan was quite leery of the whole endeavor, but came along with me to check it out Sunday.  Therefore, we also had both kiddos with us as well.  We pull up to the address- a house which is hidden from the (not-so-great, but not awful) road.  Morgan states that, once again, he does not like the look of this.  A young man, who looks like an Appalachian version of someone on Breaking Bad opens a chain link gate for us to drive through, then locks it behind us.  Morgan freaks out, then calmly tells me to go on in, while he sits in the car with the kids.  I felt my bravado deserting me with each step forward.  There was probably eight cars sitting out front, and a woman who tells me that she just has to kennel the dogs, then I can come in.  I spy another person fooling with the dogs, and the Breaking Bad fellow helpfully adds "one of them dogs is real aggressive, but the rest is good."

This gives me my exit strategy.  Every fiber of my being is telling me that no hidden gem is worth going in this house.  While backing toward the car, I start blabbering about how I'm real scared of dogs, and was bit as a kid.  I can't be around them at all, I'm sorry, I have to go, etc.  I jump into the car, much to Morgan's bemusement.  The lady is hollering at me about how she's kenneling the dogs, so what's my problem.  I have to hop out, open and close the gate, all while a sweet pit bull is sniffing me.  I forgot to act scared of the dog, but I was so ready to get out of there without my tires being shot at that my general fear was probably apparent.

Now, the thing is, I totally judged a book by its cover. The woman's e-mails were coherent and not rife with misspellings.  However, sometimes you gotta go with your gut.  Morgan was rather triumphant at his better judgment.  We both agreed that I probably need to take a break from Craigslist for a bit.

Oh, but I haven't gotten to the best part.  About 20 minutes after a turned tail and ran, I get an email from the seller.

That was extremely rude. I've worked my schedule today around you looking at this hutch. Its people like you that give good dogs bad reputations. I could have easily kenneled them. Thank you for wasting my time.

In my defense, we agreed me coming out to see it about an hour or two beforehand, so there wasn't much advance planning involved.  However, there was nothing I could do but apologize in reply, and acknowledge that I should have mentioned my "dog-phobia".  Buddy was very disappointed in me when I got home.  His mama- the dog-reputation sullier.

So no more Craigslist bargain hunting for me for a while.  At least until I find some wicker furniture for the new porch. . .

7 comments:

  1. Impressed with your excuse on the fly not to go inside! I'd probably have gone inside against my better judgement and regretted it later. And the hunt for the perfect hutch continues...good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am a go with your gut gal too. Glad you got the heck out of dodge, just in case. Come visit. I know we can find you a hutch here. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. you went way farther than i would've gone....i love how you said you had a dog-phobia!!!! hahahaha..this story totally just made my morning samma...thanks friend

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have a platitude from a tea bag, of all places, taped to my refrigerator - Your intuition is your best friend. Good job sticking with that gut feeling!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Girl, I've seen that Oprah. Trust your instincts. You could have been doggie dinner. Or worse. I'm always sketched out by Craigslist shopping but I can't resist a bargain.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It is always best to follow your instincts! Glad you didn't go in. Maybe they were nice, but what if they weren't? Better safe than sorry.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Omg, this cracked me up and made me virtually high-five you all at once.

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from y'all, so drop me a line!