Selling On Craigslist

Several months ago I posted an entry talking about all the weirdos that I have encountered on Craigslist while job searching.  You can find that entry if you click here.  I forgto to mention how annoying it is to sell items on Craigslist.  Before I moved to New York, I wanted to sell a lot of uneccessary things in my life so it I would be traveling light, plus I like to start all over some times, shake the Etch a Sketch.  I got wanted to get rid of all of my electronics, like a 100 CD Disk Changer, DVD Player and a TV.  I didn't sell these items for much maybe $10 or $15.  Now, looking back I should have just donated them to Goodwill because that money was not worth the trouble I had to go through after I sold my electronics.  These lunatics treated me as if there was a warranty on these products and I was their customer service.  I would receive emails and phone calls weeks after I sold these items.  As I was trying to start my new life in NYC I would get an email from the lady who bought my DVD player asking if I knew what kind of batteries the remote control to the DVD Player took.  I don't know you paid $10 for the thing.  Look it up online.  The guy that I bought the 100 CD Changer which I practically gave away for free would call me to complain that it would skip.  I even let the guy do a test run.  I didn't advertise these items as being brand new or amazing, but if you would like them you can have them for a small fee.  I was being treated like I was Best Buy and that I knew how to fix these problems.  I feel like you if you are willing to pay $5 on something on Craigslist you are wiling to take the risk or you know how to fix electronics.  

On a side note I feel like we live in a time where information is so easily accessible that if you have a question you can easily look it up on the phone and get your answer, so I get mad when people ask me questions like, "Do you know where we can get Italian in Midtown?"  I'm not a smart phone.  Look it up.  There are tons of websites and apps.  That lady could have totally looked up what kind of batteries that remote control took.  She didn't have to email me a week later after the transaction.  I had my friend stay with me and he kept asking me directions to places that I had no idea how to get to when he could have looked it up on his Blackberry.  I can only answer emotional based questions, like "How are you?"   

Craigslist

I recently applied for a social media assistant that has led me to believe that there are no good job listings that come from Craigslist.  I've never heard of any of my successful friends find their dream jobs on Craiglsit.  I was looking for a job that I would be naturally good at where I could work from home, hence the social media assistant position.  The job would entail blogging, uploading photos, video editing, maintaining a Youtube channel and tweeting.  I do all of these tasks on my own without getting paid and I enjoy it, so why not find a job that fit this description.  I found one job on Craigslist that fit this position, so I ignored the one detail from the job posting that should have been a red flag for me.  The job asked that you have a vegan lifestyle, which I don't.  I don't have anything against this lifestyle, but these people can be the same as fanatic Christians in that if you don't believe what they believe in then you are wrong and going to hell.  They tend to force their lifestyle on you with self righteousness.  I got a call back within a few days and set up a job interview.  I sent the lady my links to all of my projects so by the time I would get to my interview she would be familiar with my work.  When I arrived at ther place of work there was a mama cat breast feeding several of her kittens, so at that point I realized this wouldn't be a normal work enviroment, but possibly a cute work enviroment.  I was still open to working with this women.  We went over my projects and she liked my work and said that my writing style fit her writing style, salty.  I felt that interview was going along swimmingly.  She then told me about one of her projects which was happening this weekend where a bunch of us will be getting together with our dogs at the park where we will be taught the proper way to massage your dog.  In my mind I was thinking, "Are you shitting me?" but instead I say, "That sounds fun."  That was the moment where I was thinking that I might not be suited for this job.  I believe you should never work at a place where you can't be yourself.  That is why I answered her next question honestly.  The question she had asked was, "Do you eat meat?" and I replied honestly, "yes."  I thought about lying but didn't have the energy plus she could have been some weirdo who smells your breath to see if you have been eating meat.  I regretted my decision of telling the truth  because it probably cost me the job, but a few days ago I was talking to my musician friend who plays at the bar that I work at and through our conversation I found out her friend had applied for the same job and got accepted.  My musician's friend is vegan.  Well, this lady is batshit crazy like I suspected.  My friend's friend quit the job after five days of working there.  This lady works in her Pj's all day while chain smoking.  She sleeps in a closet with her chinese maid and when the lady is gone the chinese maid gets upset that you are there.  When hearing this bit of information all guilt flies out the window on myself for now following up on this job.  I've landed two other jobs from Craigslist and both times these employers were batshit crazy and probably the reason why I tend to land these jobs more than any other jobs is because the people that reply to these jobs are pretty crazy and I am somewhat of a stand out with just a bit of normalcy, although with this revelation I am going to stop applying for jobs through Craigslist, no good comes from it. This is what has happened with the two Craigslist job that I have landed.  I get the job and it doesn't pay well or at all, but I am grateful for someone choosing me.  Within a few days I realize they are crazy.  The first employer put me in a head lock and gave me a noogi.  He also put boxing gloves on me that were connected digitally to this toy that would mimic my movements, so now I am shadowboxing in front of a guy that I met two day prior while he is yelling, "You need to punch the air harder!"  The second employer was a hoarder who collected crap from estate sales and would try to sell this crap on Ebay.  She would have her employees organize the crap into boxes to be sold then the next day she would exclaim, "Who put all of my stuff in these boxes?" and then she would sit on the floor and sift through the boxes and get emotionally attached to her chachis.  I usually became really good friends with these people the same way you would explain the Stockholm Syndrome.  It's the only way to get out of this situation alive.  Then one day I would hit a breaking point and realize that my psychee can't take this abuse anymore and I stop showing up because it is too hard to call them to tell them you can't come in because they are batshit crazy.  Within a few hours I would get a phone call that I don't answer and goes straight to voicemail.  The voicemail would usually include the statements "I thought we were on the same page." and "I hope everything is okay."  I used to feel guilty about quitting this way, but I have now come to terms with it and realize that I had to do what I had to do to get out.  The one time that I have tried communication on why I didn't like working at their place of business they manage to talk me to come back to more of their bullshit.  Craigslist is now a place for weirdos to give each other jobs, sell each other shit or fuck each other or do all three.