I have used Craigslist once in a while. Each time it's been to buy or sell an object. On two occasions, the person who was going to buy what I had for sale never responded or showed up with the money.
It may be a case of 'buyer's regret', but I think of them as too chicken to say, you know what, I changed my mind, or I wanted you to lower your price, or for whatever reason. I won't dicker. I won't. I price the items I am selling at a reasonable price because I want to get RID of it. I'm not going to get rich from its sale. But I'm not going to give it away, nor am I going to lower my price because the buyer thinks of it as a 'game'.
I usually peruse the 'housing wanted' part of Craigslist. Why, I don't know. You read some heart rending stuff. Times are very hard, even thought the Recession Was Officially Over in 2009. That's bullshit. The only ones who made it through were the rich, and they're getting richer every day..on OUR backs. Us suckers, who thought we were middle class, and now realise we are poverty level.
But you also read some ads for housing that tell you the person really has no clue whatsoever what he or she is asking for. It is usually a person in the early 20's. A Millennial, I guess you call them, someone who was born in the late 90's. Both this generation and the one before it, (they call themselves Generation X) were born and raised in a system where everything was done for them. These kids, as I'll call them (because in most cases, they're still children in their mind and ability to care for themselves, if not in age) were coddled from day one. They were provided everything, they were treated as if they were kings and queens. Self esteem was more important than learning how to read and write. No computer game was beyond their reach. Television shows were about them. Documentaries were dumbed down to the point where my cats could learn the topic. Their attention spans are so short that they cannot read a book. It has to be sectioned into little, easily absorbed bites, with sidebars explaining in little bitty words what the main section is about. They can't create a sentence. They can't say anything without the word 'Like" in it. They cannot spell. The onset of texting means that they must shorten anything they write into vowels: i.e. ("for instance", for you who don't know what i.e. means) "U" for you, "4" for "for", and of course, b4 for "before".
Kids are given phones at the age of 5 or earlier. I see toddlers in shopping carts with a smart phone in their face, playing an electronic game.
What this is doing to that plastic brain, god only knows. It's not stimulating it to think, that's for sure. The kids I"m writing about can't think, either.
Which brings me, in a roundabout way, to this rant.
When you read the housing wanted ads on Craigslist, it usually goes something like this:
Looking for a place where I can chill, listen to music and hang out with my friends. I can only afford to pay $450 a month. Wifi and internet are a must. I have a rescue pitbull and a pregnant girlfriend who needs a place to stay. I can't pay utilities, my car needs to be fixed so right now you need to be on a busline. It would be cool if you let me grow my medical marijuana in the house.
(by the way, I've written the above in English. It seldom appears so literate)
This kid doesn't understand that electricity alone costs half of what he's willing to pay. He doesn't understand that houses cost money: mortgage payments, insurance, property taxes, and maintenance costs add up to several thousand dollars a MONTH. Utilities include water, gas, recycling, garbage pickup that are not free by any means.
He doesn't understand that many neighborhoods have covenants that not only cost money, but also dictate how many pets and what kind are allowed (which usually means no pitbulls, no matter how ((dubiously)) "sweet" the thing is.). The kid has managed to get a doctor's note, I suppose, in order to grow weed, but we all know that is bullshit. It's just the kid wants to smoke weed. When the kid is looking for cheap housing, he doesn't WANT cheap housing. He doesn't want a $450 dollar room. He wants the whole house, with all the amenities.
The amount he quotes is all he wants to pay, because he isn't working. Where he's getting the cash, I don't know, but it's not enough to make him worth taking in. The kid doesn't think. He doesn't realize that his dog, his marijuana, and his girlfriend ALSO consume water, electricity and room in the house.
Does he understand that growing weed in the house entails using an ENORMOUS amount of electricity? That weed needs humidity, and humid houses are moldy ones?
Does he understand that many insurance companies will not insure one's house when drugs are being produced in them?
Is he prepared to buy renter's insurance? Does he understand that the room he wants to rent does NOT include storage space for all his 'stuff'? Is he willing to sign and abide by a lease? To pay first and last months rent? A pet deposit? That many places will not allow pitbulls? That the home may not have a fenced yard?
Literally, what this kid wants is what he had when he was still under his parent's roof. He wants someone else to pay for everything. But now that he's over 21, he's an adult and so he can 'do what he wants'...grow weed, take in a pitbull, get a girlfriend pregnant. He wants all the so called 'privileges' of adulthood without actually having to PAY for them.
And the sad thing is, he's so stupid, he's been so protected from reality, that he really, truly doesn't understand any of this. He sees the world as if he were still 8 years old: things magically happen. Food appears in the refrigerator and cooks itself. The house cleans itself. Laundry fairies pick up his underwear while he's out. Money grows on trees and Daddy harvested. If he wanted something, he was never forced to 'earn it'..all he did was pitch a fit, throw a tantrum, and voil a', Mommy and Daddy caved in. He doesn't realize that the reason he can't find a job is that IF he has a resume, it's so badly misspelled, and so poorly targeted, that the company he emailed it to tosses it into the recycle bin without bothering to read it. Cars are just THERE, you know, they put gas in there own tanks, pay their own insurance, and the auto mechanics do all the work for free.
After a while, when the kid realizes no one is contacting him with an open invitation, he grows resentful, and sometimes lashes out. But usually, what he does is: move back in with Mom and Dad.
In a way, I feel sorry for these kids. They're so woefully and pitifully unprepared for the real world. They have testicles and ovaries that are pushing them, THAT they understand, and cater to, but otherwise, they are as helpless as fish out of water.
But I sure in hell am not going to help him.
