Welcome to bizarro-land...
The setup: Browsing, Craigslist, I find an ad for a 15 gig iPod going for a mere $175. Delighted, I e-mail the seller. Extreme weirdness ensues. Here is our discourse in its entirety:
Me: Hello!
I am very interested in the iPod you've listed on Craigslist, if it hasn't already been sold. What payment type would you prefer, and are you able to ship to Portland, Oregon?
Thank you,
Maggie Grove
margaret.grove@reed.edu
Ron Fronberg: Hi,
At this time I do not want to ship the iPod.
ron
Me: Hello,
Would it be possible to ship it if I paid the shipping costs? I would be willing to buy it immediately.
Thanks,
Maggie
Ron Fronberg: Hi,
At this time I do not want to ship the iPod.
ron
Me: Hello,
May I ask why not? It seems rather odd that you'd turn down an offer to pay the full requested price for the sake of a shipping cost that would probably come to less than $5.
Maggie
P.S. - I'd appreciate a response other than 'At this time I do not want to ship the iPod.'
Ron Fronberg: Hi,
I do not want to ship the iPod.
ron
How weird is that? What is wrong with this person? Not only does his conversational ability seem to consist only of 'Hi', his name, and 'At this time I do not want to ship the iPod', but his reluctance to ship the iPod is in and of itself pretty damned strange. Additionally, I like that when I requested a response other than 'At this time I do not want to ship the iPod', his response changed to 'I do not want to ship the iPod.' Apparently removing temporal clauses has a much greater effect than I initially thought...
I'm beginning to doubt that he actually HAS an iPod. Perhaps he is a vampire, and is using this fabled 'iPod' to lure tender young adults into his cavernous lair. I have no idea. In any case, I'm guessing that I will be receiving nothing from the cunning Mr. Fronberg on this day...
However, I did find a 20 gig iPod on CL going for $200 sold by somebody who seems sane and apparently wants to ship the iPod at this time.