And People Wonder Why I'm Always Reading Labels

Not Quite Ready for the Evil Plan Laugh

My husband and I have been singing the praises of the "free" section of Craigslist ever since it helped us quickly get rid of the swing set the previous owners of our house left in our yard. But the other day, he shared with me an article that talked about the dark side of the section.

Apparently, some folks are not only advertising their own stuff, but their neighbors'. They get tired of seeing the dirty old couch on the porch or some such thing, so they post an ad saying, "even if no one's home, go ahead and take it, it's free."

He meant to tell me this as a cautionary tale, i.e., in case anyone shows up at the house saying they want to pick up whatever we listed for free on Craigslist, and he hasn't told me that he's listed something, not to give it to them.

I think I missed the point, though. Because my first thought was, what of McCrochety's can we advertise for free? Unfortunately, the only thing he keeps outside is his minivan, and I don't think anyone would just take that. And even if they tried, he watches out his window, so he'd see them.

I guess I'll have to go back to my original plan of sending a drum set to the new owner of my old condo.