vancouver CL U87 - OUCH

[rydberg]

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/msg/1188834865.html


Don't leave gear at your girlfriend's house.

[scott macdonald]

Maybe he can replace it with one of those Karma mics.

[valverec]

That's fucking awesome!

[ott0bot]

haha! That is really, really funny for some reason.

[Mach Schnell]

Hell hath no fury......

[Mix413]

Nothing funny about it. Regardless of the circumstances, you can't sell someone else's property. In essence, by selling the mic, she has stolen it first and most certainly would be subjected to criminal charges.

[valverec]

It happened in Canada, so who knows what the law would do in this case. Personally I think the guy had it coming. Cheating on someone with their best friend is about as low as you can get. Much worse in my eyes than selling his mic for peanuts.

My wife enjoyed the story too.

[Aj]

Ok, before we get too excited... this has all the earmarks of a classic urban legend making yet another appearance. The basic gist is - in order to extract revenge, spurned lover places classified ad to sell unfaithful boy or girlfriend's prized possession at unbelievably low price.

Sometimes it's a '57 Corvette for $200 dollars. A more updated version might involve a 52" flat panel television for 50 bucks (which the ex-hubby invariably spent all their time watching). The spurned lover doesn't care that they could get far more money for the item... they just want the pleasure of telling their ex how little they sold it for.

This "U87 for $100" has all the details and nuances of that exact urban legend. Spurned lover? Check. Prized item? Check. Lover knows item's true value? Check. Classified ad? Check. Sold at a ridiculous price? Check.

Versions of this "spurned lover sells prize possession" story have been floating around since at least the 1940s. They appear periodically in advice columns (think Ann Landers); on radio shows; as scenes in movies (wasn't there a scene where John Cusack buys a rare record collection in High Fidelity?); and even in newspaper stories, which adds a certain authenticity (despite the story still being a fabrication).

I've never heard of a legend being told via Craigslist, but I'm not surprised. So I'm almost positive that's what this is - yet another person getting some laughs spreading an urban myth, this time with an audio geek twist. In fact, it's probably some audio geek like us who did it. They may even be reading this thread! (And if they are: "Hi! It was funny! But feel free to post here and 'out' yourself... that will be even funnier.")

For more on this particular urban legend, visit this thread on Snopes:

http://www.snopes.com/love/revenge/porsche.asp

Urban legends have a cultural purpose. They often make some sort of cultural commentary, or give general societal advice. This one seems to be a cautionary tale warning us not to spend too much time on our hobby/profession/etc. at the expense of giving attention to your significant other. (Notice how the Craigslist ad is very clear about this part - "Here is a lesson for you boys", etc.)

Also, people spread these stories - and think they are true when hearing them - because it's fun to believe they might be real. But think about it... if you really wanted to get revenge on your boyfriend by selling his expensive stuff, you would sell it for what it's worth, then tell him you have no idea what happened to it ("You must have taken that with you, honey") - and KEEP THE MONEY. Or at best, you'd sell it for the real worth, and just tell him you sold it for cheap. (And obviously, if this really happened... the boyfriend could use the Craigslist ad as evidence and just call a lawyer and/or the police.)

And while we're at it... you'd have to be more than a little dumb to break up with a girl (on the phone no less!) by telling her you were sleeping with her best friend WHEN YOU"VE GOT A $3000 MICROPHONE AT HER HOUSE. I've known a few less than genius engineers in my time, but none are that stupid. However... I can think of plenty of audio guys who would post something like this on Craigslist for fun while drunk .

There are plenty of other hints this is fake - someone was at the door "in under 10 minutes" (really? that fast?) The poster says they live in an "appartment (sic)", then says "come and get this out of my house." And finally, "she" mentions how people who respond to the ad have "told me it was worth $3000." Really? People trying to get an amazing deal told you what the thing is actually worth? Really?

Anyway you slice it, it's not logical that this would actually happen. Ya know? Anyway... I'll take my wet blanket and go home now.

Aj

[roygbiv]

good analysis, hadn't thought about it on the 1st read, but you make some persuasive points.

Wait a minute - you aren't Dr. House, are you?

[Aj]

[FlowersForHuman]

...dude...that chick is hilarious and now shes single...