We have two additional bedrooms we haven’t shared any pictures of, mostly because they are currently just used for storage and not really fit for viewing. One of them contains a bed that the former owner, Crazy Myrna, left when she moved out. It’s a fine bed. Full size, with a faux wrought iron frame and canopy. It’s just way, way too big for the room. If it had an actual fabric canopy on it, the blades of the ceiling fan would slice into it. So it just doesn’t work for us.
I decided to post it in the “free” section on craigslist. I suppose we could have sold it, but I really just wanted to get rid of it and I thought free would be the fastest. And it seemed pretty fast. Within minutes, I had five responses. Within a half-hour, 20. I decided to use the “first come, first served” principle and emailed the first responder. He said “I can pick it up RIGHT NOW!” I said hold your horses, you can pick it up when my husband is home from work. In the meantime, I will take it apart and get it ready to transport.
His wife called a little later to make sure the canopy material in the picture was included because her daughter had really wanted a canopy bed with a pink canopy for a long time and this would be just perfect for her. She told me her husband would be here to pick it up in an hour.
Ten minutes later, the husband calls and starts asking questions about the mattress. How old is it? What brand is it? How thick is it? Is it a nice mattress? Um, are you forgetting that it’s FREE? It’s a fine mattress. It’s not a luxury mattress, but it’s FREE. It’s not a fancy brand like Tempurpedic, Serta, or Beauty Rest, but it’s FREE. It’s not a 12 inch thick pillow top, but it’s FREE. So after 2 hours of back and forth regarding the logistics of his pick up of the bed, during which time I passed up on multiple other offers, he decides to pass because the mattress is not new or a brand name. Earth to Mike S.: no one is giving away brand new Craftmatic Adjustable Beds on craigslist!
Ok, I am calm now. Sort of. I guess I am just irked because he didn’t say, “I’m interested, I’d like to take a look at the bed, and I have a few questions.” He said, “I want it and I will pick it up RIGHT NOW!” It seems to me there is a contract there. I offered to give him a bed. He accepted that offer. In reliance on his acceptance, I dismantled the bed and brought it downstairs to the front door. Reliance is a species of consideration. Geez, will I ever stop talking/thinking like a lawyer?
Now that the guy had breached his contract with me, I had to get rid of the bed sitting in the entry way. I decided to abandon the first come/first served principle in favor of looking for responses which seemed to indicate that this person could really use a mattress. Not some yuppie couple from Walnut Creek who want a fantasy bed for their daughter, but someone who maybe is sleeping on the floor and could really benefit from a mattress, even if it is off brand and not a pillow top.
I chose a college student moving into a new rental home. She picked it up two hours later and didn’t once ask about the brand name. In fact, she was really thrilled with the bed, and couldn’t believe that Crazy Myrna had left it or that we were giving it away. The pick up was kind of an adventure. I had just put a pan on the stove to preheat, and I totally forgot about it while I was helping her with the bed, so smoke alarms were sounding and Steve couldn’t manage to get them to turn off by flipping the circuit breaker. She will have an interesting craigslist story to tell her friends, anyway.
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as do you-lol