Flashes of Panic

We have this box spring which wouldn’t go up the stairs to the third floor. (The matching mattress is much more flexible.) There’s no place for it on the second floor, and Iz will have it destroyed soon (dandy scratching post, it is,) so it needs to go.

After striking out utterly on Freecycle (the local list is about a third the size of the busy Amherst community, and almost useless,) I listed it on Craigslist for $10. I thought it was unlikely that I’d have much luck selling what I’d tried to give away, but Craigslist has a much larger audience.

We got one response the day I listed it (Saturday.) I dutifully told the potential buyer where we were located, and that I was available Sunday, less so on Monday, more so on Tuesday. No response. On Monday, finally, another contact: maybe Tuesday? Sure, I said, here’s when I can be home, let me know when you’re likely to come by. Once again, silence at the other end of the line.

This afternoon (Wednesday,) improbably, I got another query. I wrote back to say, yes, I’ve had someone inquire, but so far they’ve been a no-show, so come on by, and I listed some times I could be available. Be there tomorrow (Thursday) they say.

You can see where this is going, right?

The first potential buyer wrote back within an hour, asking if they could come by to pick up the box spring on Thursday.

I think the right thing to do is tell them, sorry, I didn’t hear from you for two days, so I sold the box spring to someone who actually showed up. But I have this suspicion, based on some frustrations I had getting Freecycle people in Amherst to commit to showing up and taking the stuff instead of just sending email, that the second buyer will back out as well, and we’ll wind up with a big, ugly scratching post.

Now Playing: Leave from New Adventures In Hi-Fi by R.E.M.