Craig's-list: shopping at its best

Someone at work asked me the other day, “Do you ever do that craig’s-list thing?”

Well of course. I have procured 2 washing machines (the first one I gave away after using for a few years and upgrading to a front-loader), an evaporative cooler, and a deep freezer. I have bought one car and sold two, (the car I bought was one of the cars I sold.) I sold a computer printer and gave away a monitor. I have picked up free furniture for homeless people resettling, bicycles for the local bike cooperative, topsoil, rocks, and leaves for compost. I sold Great Aunt Mary’s ladylike wicker chairs and bought a wheelbarrow. I purchased original garden art and given away children’s toys. I have searched for housing and dates for friends. I sought and found potential rides to the Midwest.

Somewhere someone is abusing craig’s-list. Somewhere there are psycho killers who stalk people via this medium. But my experience is that it brings the small-town right to the convenience of the internet. It’s like “Louie’s Swap Shop” on Saturday mornings on KOKO radio in Warrensburg Missouri. It’s like going to a yard sale without using so much gas to get there. The people you meet this way are just like people you meet in any public venue.

Have I "done" craig’s-list? What did we do without it?