Power

I've tried to post a Craigslist ad to sell Graycie the campervan three times, and each time the post has been flagged and removed. The first time I thought it was a mistake. The second time, I posted to a forum (populated by people who apparently spend their days offering their wisdom on why peoples' posts are flagged and removed - amazing), and they scoffed at the price I was asking.

I posted it a third time, with a line at the top that said, "This posting has been flagged and removed twice already. If you're flagging it, please send me an email and tell me why." Sure enough, I get an email from someone that says it's because I'm "charging" more for the van than it cost new. That's all.

I replied that it was of course my choice to set the price as I saw fit, and if no one wanted to pay that price, the van wouldn't sell. Sounds simple enough to me. I then asked if he had any experience with these vans, as I had done my research and set a fair price. I didn't hear anything back, but my posting got removed a third time, so apparently he/she was unconvinced.

This troll has made me very frustrated, but I'm done with Craigslist as an avenue to sell the van. I am flummoxed and bewildered that apparently one person can wield so much power that he/she determines whether I can list my van for sale. I mean, really, it's a free classifieds site, the price I set is my business, I really don't understand why this person cared so much.

But it's done. I'm going to advertise in the local papers, and put a sign in the van and park it out front (now that it's not in danger of being ticketed for expired plates). I was tossing and turning a bit last night over this - the strange sort of powerlessness that I felt, and how easy apparently it is to bring someone's ad down on Craigslist. I mean in theory it's a great system. Flag the smut, the postings that are in the wrong place, the stuff that's not supposed to be sold on the site, fine and dandy. But this was so arbitrary, and I still can't picture why this person would care, although I did think maybe he/she was also selling a van and wanted to oust the competition. Nah, couldn't be...

So that's my Craigslist story. To them I say PPPTHTHTHTPPPPPBBBTT!!!

In other news, today's the epic hike with Mr. W. Preemptive Advil has been administered. Sally the dog saw me get out my backpack, and it's really hard to tell her they have a "no dogs" policy on the hike, and that we'll hike on Saturday morning. Sorry, pooch.