People Amaze Me

During the summer and this past fall, I worked at a lot of event promotions. If I haven't told you about those jobs, it basically consists of going to a concert or a convention and representing a company, passing out samples, etc. It's really easy, and it pays well. The one thing I learned, though, from working at these types of events is how incredibly greedy and cheap people are. If you are giving away something for free, they think EVERYTHING at the booth is free. In one instance, I worked at the Pet Expo downtown representing a dog-food company. We had small bags of samples to give out, but we also had large bags of food on display, as well as bags of treats. By the end of the weekend, probably half of the large bags and treats had walked away when we weren't looking. I would never, ever take something without asking first, and I certainly wouldn't assume that a 20-pound bag of food is free, especially when there were other booths at the event that were purely selling things, not giving anything away.

The reason I thought of this topic today is because I am helping my mom to sell her junky car on craigslist. I posted the ad, asking $250 for the car. It runs but can't pass inspection without work. I got an overwhelming response of probably over 30 e-mails, but it amazes me the stipulations people have when they're making an offer. Here are a few examples:

*I can give you $35 for the car. I only take them for scrap. I can pick it up tomorrow. If you don't get what you want for it.

Not only does this guy not understand the meaning of "sentence fragment," but $35 for something listed for $250?? How much gall do you have to offer that?

*I might be interested in the car but would want to have my mechanic look at it first. If needed, could you get it to

Biber's Garage
1250 McKee Rd
Oakdale, PA 15071

I can come out at 4 PM on a weekday to view the car first.

Yeah, like I'm going to take the car all the way to Oakdale to get it to this guy's mechanic so he can look at it first. Don't think so!! It's not like I'm selling a car worth thousands of dollars here. I'm talking $250. You don't get first-class service with that low of a price.

There were a few other oddball requests and offers, but I think this is one reason parents need to teach their children to NOT ask for anything their little hearts desire. Sure, if you don't ask, you will never know, but have at least a little bit of tact when you're making your requests.