What weird/outrageous requests have you seen on Freecycle/Craigslist?

[amylouky]

I feel bad for the mom.  I understand the kids being in CPS, but the mom was obviously nuts.  Now, if they'd had an undercover cop offer to adopt her kid, and she handed him over.  Then I'd feel different.
I feel bad for the boy though.  The article mentioned kids plural, but only one was offered up for adoption.

I feel bad for her, too, and I really don't understand CPS taking the kids. Unless there's more to the story, she wasn't abusing or neglecting him. The weird thing is, if she were in another state where adoption advertising is legal (it's different from state to state) she'd be in no trouble at all. Yes, it's a sad situation but it IS legal to put your kids up for adoption, just not to advertise it in some states unless you're a licensed adoption agency.

I kind of thought the same thing. She wasn't trying to sell the kid. If she had called CPS and said "I'm feeling overwhelmed and like I can't handle my children" they wouldn't have taken them unless she was putting them in danger. They would have given her resources to help her cope.

Maybe it was the not taking medicines for her mental health issues part. Anyway I think criminal charges and taking the kids was a jerk move on the part of the cops/CPS.. hopefully things get straightened out for them soon.

It reminds me of a mom here in my town who snapped and abandoned her daugher at a warehouse store, very publicly, recently. The media blasted her, everyone was calling her a horrible person and mother, and I was just thinking, "that poor family needs help!"

[Slartibartfast]

Not a request, but too good not to share: http://up.craigslist.org/laf/3921535001.html

(image kinda NSFW in the US, but funny post!)

[laud_shy_girl]

I feel bad for the mom.  I understand the kids being in CPS, but the mom was obviously nuts.  Now, if they'd had an undercover cop offer to adopt her kid, and she handed him over.  Then I'd feel different.
I feel bad for the boy though.  The article mentioned kids plural, but only one was offered up for adoption.

I feel bad for her, too, and I really don't understand CPS taking the kids. Unless there's more to the story, she wasn't abusing or neglecting him. The weird thing is, if she were in another state where adoption advertising is legal (it's different from state to state) she'd be in no trouble at all. Yes, it's a sad situation but it IS legal to put your kids up for adoption, just not to advertise it in some states unless you're a licensed adoption agency.

I kind of thought the same thing. She wasn't trying to sell the kid. If she had called CPS and said "I'm feeling overwhelmed and like I can't handle my children" they wouldn't have taken them unless she was putting them in danger. They would have given her resources to help her cope.

Maybe it was the not taking medicines for her mental health issues part. Anyway I think criminal charges and taking the kids was a jerk move on the part of the cops/CPS.. hopefully things get straightened out for them soon.

It reminds me of a mom here in my town who snapped and abandoned her daugher at a warehouse store, very publicly, recently. The media blasted her, everyone was calling her a horrible person and mother, and I was just thinking, "that poor family needs help!"

There are many drugs in the drug family used for depression etc that you just can NOT take while pregnant. So I took this as she wasn't taking them because she couldn't not wouldn't.

I pod, this seems more a cry for help than bad mothering. Unless they took them away at her request or 'as other posters said' there is more to the story, I think what they did was just plain wrong.

[Sophia]

I am embarrassed to say that my mother posted an outrageous request on my behalf. 

She will sometimes help me shop.  So, if something needs online legwork to get the best price, I will mention it to her and if she finds a good deal she will tell me about it.  She enjoys helping me "spend my money".  I found a toddler car seat I wanted.  $300 retail.  I told her it looked like $200 for new was a really really good price.  She posted a Want ad on freecycle for it on my behalf.  When I told her that was a bad idea, she said, "But, other people post for expensive stuff and get them."  "Why do you think they actually get anything?"  "I don't know". 

[Amara]

Oh,oh,oh! *waves hand* I have two.

They are both in the "Wanted" section but the audacity stuns:

I need to barrow a 18 foot boat trailer for a day to transport it to my house
I am willing to pay 20 dollars

I'm living in Santa Barbara for 9 months, September to May. I want to rent your crappy old car to get to work, will pay $100/month.

I'm 31, responsible, never been in an accident or even pulled over. I'll be living in SB and working at UCSB so it's about a 10 mile commute.

[wheeitsme]

Oh,oh,oh! *waves hand* I have two.

They are both in the "Wanted" section but the audacity stuns:

I need to barrow a 18 foot boat trailer for a day to transport it to my house
I am willing to pay 20 dollars

I'm living in Santa Barbara for 9 months, September to May. I want to rent your crappy old car to get to work, will pay $100/month.

I'm 31, responsible, never been in an accident or even pulled over. I'll be living in SB and working at UCSB so it's about a 10 mile commute.

LOL! Ten mile commute?  In San Diego? How many minutes would that commute be? I'd say 30 minutes minimum. So at least an hour every weekday, 20 hours a month for $100. Cheaper to take the bus.

[Amara]

Actually it's in Santa Barbara so yes, the 10-mile commute is quite likely. But what left me hysterical was his idea that someone would rent their car out to him for just over $3/day! (And that's after calling their car "crappy." )

[Luci]

I'm living in Santa Barbara for 9 months, September to May. I want to rent your crappy old car to get to work, will pay $100/month.

I'm 31, responsible, never been in an accident or even pulled over. I'll be living in SB and working at UCSB so it's about a 10 mile commute.

Actually it's in Santa Barbara so yes, the 10-mile commute is quite likely. But what left me hysterical was his idea that someone would rent their car out to him for just over $3/day! (And that's after calling their car "crappy." )

My dad would have done this. He was not allowed to drive anymore, but kept his reasonable (not crappy) car for his grandson to drive when he flew in, and often mentioned that it was a shame the car was just sitting there. So if the grandson was not going to be there, and there was always a month's warning, Dad would have probably rented it for the price of the deductable on his auto insurance after checking with his agent. (Dad was still pretty savy in his 90s.)

[siamesecat2965]

Not Freecycle or Craigslist, but the local paper where my  mom lives. they have a section where people can ask questions, complain, praise, or seek info or "things" Stuff like can anyone recommend a good gutter cleaner, painter, etc., or where did so and so who used to be at x salon go? and so on.

many times, people ask for stuff, much like Freecycle. Sometimes looking to purchase, which is fine, but many times just looking for free stuff. in some cases, if its something that someone may want to get rid of, and doens't have any value, i'm ok with that. I've seen requests for old magazines for scout craft projects, and I see no issue with that.

What I hate are the requests from people for expensive things, things that might not be necessary. today was one - someone posted saying they are a single mom, and they need household items, a laptop and stereo with speakers. Sorry, but the last two fall under "nice to have but not a necessity" in my book.

[cwm]

My sis is a single mom and needs a laptop. Otherwise she can't get on the computer. Sproglet will unintentionally trash the desktop tower when it's on the floor, and there's no desk that's safe from her for the keyboard. She'll pull at all the wires and has even nearly broken the monitor. A laptop or iPad is the safest way Sis has to use the internet because it's small enough that she can put it up out of Sproglet's reach, all the parts of it at once, and get it down when she needs to use it. She can't go to the library because Sproglet hasn't mastered the quiet part yet, or the sticking close when she's in a new place.

A stereo with speakers, though, is over the top.

[Twik]

Well, technically, one does not "need" a computer.

[Elfmama]

Well, technically, one does not "need" a computer.

Not for casual entertainment, no.  Elfqueen, however, does need a computer.  She works from home, and high speed internet access is vital for her, since much of her job requires it.

[artk2002]

Well, technically, one does not "need" a computer.

Considering that more and more things in life are going online, that's an outmoded way of looking at this. Want ads in the newspaper are no longer good ways of finding jobs. Many jobs require online applications. Internet cafes cost money and in the long run, having your own computer may be more economical. Libraries may have computers available but that access has its own issues.

Computers are rapidly moving from "nice to have" all the way to "necessity." I'm sure that people made the same argument about the telephone 100 years ago.

[squeakers]

My sis is a single mom and needs a laptop. Otherwise she can't get on the computer. Sproglet will unintentionally trash the desktop tower when it's on the floor, and there's no desk that's safe from her for the keyboard. She'll pull at all the wires and has even nearly broken the monitor. A laptop or iPad is the safest way Sis has to use the internet because it's small enough that she can put it up out of Sproglet's reach, all the parts of it at once, and get it down when she needs to use it. She can't go to the library because Sproglet hasn't mastered the quiet part yet, or the sticking close when she's in a new place.

A stereo with speakers, though, is over the top.

I'd say sproglet needs some training because I know kids can be taught from a very young age what the word "no" means.  Cats.. not so much 

[VorFemme]

I can see asking if anyone has an old laptop because a student can't afford one or needs something for a  project (learning to repair a computer, learning programming, or learning to use Linux for office tasks - as examples) and I have given some away... on Craigslist.

But I do mention the specs of the computer and its age when I am offering it - so if 256mb and a 2gb hard drive aren't going to work - the person knows before they arrange to meet me.

And the person who wanted me to hand them a Windows 8 desktop when I told them that it was XP, had no hard drive, and could be upgraded with more RAM - but that *I* wasn't going to do it....we met in the parking lot of a local electronics superstore so that they could pick up whatever they wanted or needed....instead I got "attitude" about how I hadn't delivered a computer that matched what they thought I was bringing to them... 

I checked my emails when I got home.  I don't know what they were griping about, unless they were supposed to meet someone else entirely....at the same time and the same place.