juan_gandhi | Jul. 26th, 2007

Last weekend I was getting rid of an old circular saw, and old drill, and old cordless telephone; posted them on craigslist, and immediately started getting mails regarding the whereabouts, like this:
> > Hi, > > If saw is still available I can be there in a few > > mins. Live in SJ (Willow Glen). > > Tx, Erik (408) 564-6663 > >
I answered everybody; 10 minutes later the drill and the saw was gone. Then came an suv with a man and a woman on board; they were so distressed not to find th saw and the drill that I offered them to take the telephone; so they did.

Later that day I got these craigslist instructions:
erik lewis a usuario 22-jul Dear Vlad, Next time you have something you wish to pass onto others in the CL community please consider this: 1) Either post it as first come first served 2) Know if you reply to a person who is interested in your item with your address the interested party is lead to believe the item is theirs. My husband spent over an hour of his time & money in gas thinking he was coming to pick up your item only to find out it was passed on. So, I thought I would send you a note on some protocol if not common courtesy. We sell & give away with CL alot and see some folks may not be as nice as my husband when they feel mislead (truly!). Lisa

Of course it is not obvious to me how people spend hours driving from Willow Glen to Santa Teresa, it is about 5 miles... maybe they were lost... sorry.

So, amused, I answered:
And I gave away about $80 worth of equipment. You think I also had to help the receiving side save on gas? Maybe next time you save on gas and go to a store to buy the stuff you need? Do you think I owe you something? I can sell you my bicycle cheap, not advertising it on craigslist (my wife forgot to take a picture of it).

Then I received the following screaming letter:

screw you asshole, you gave me your address to come and get it and when I got there you said "wow it was very popular it is gone" I don't think you owe me anything except maybe saying sorry!!! Your an asshole I hope you die a violent death, make it painfull as well. Let me know so I can piss on your grave fuck head!!!

Look at how carefully worded it is. No threats. Just a humble hope. And a request for information. That's a politically correct screaming letter; even pissing is planned not against my dead body, but a piece of land on a cemetery - a minor offense, I guess.

Then he sent it to me again, this time in red color ("scarlet letter")

What could I do. I just answered:

sorry.

I wonder if the couple still plans to wait for my violent death and the subsequent funeral, and they'll come and both pee on the grave? That would be a spectacular event; I'll have clowns on my funeral!