Technology and Me: The Ebay Edition

So, recently I discovered ebay. Did you know that it's totally awesome? I haven't sold anything, so I can't really speak for that, but buying stuff on ebay rocks my world. If you haven't heard of it, just go to www.ebay.com and do a search for pottery barn quilts, vintage Christmas ornaments, mid century typewriters, or whatever it is you're interested in. You won't be sorry. And when you do end up purchasing something--especially if you actually WIN an AUCTION (which rarely happens to me)--then you get the pleasure of occasionally interacting with people from all over the country.

For example, I bought something on ebay and unfortunately there was a little shipping glitch, i.e., my order got sent to someone else and their order got sent to me. Well, the seller was extremely decent about it, calling me immediately to report the problem. We were chatting on the phone for quite some time. I learned that he lives in Arkansas. I learned that he'd recently experienced a winter storm, that he was in the process of cleaning out his gutters, and that he may also have been drinking too much or have suffered a stroke. It was hard to tell from his voice, which was very slurred and slow. Normally I wouldn't bring up such a tacky detail, but you have to know how he sounded for effect. Listen, I'll probably have a stroke some time, so I am not judging in any way, okay?

Anywho, so we're chatting and all of a sudden, he says "I am a cat . . . owner. And these d#$% Canadian geese have figured out the . . . cat . . . door!"
"Oh," I say, chuckling, "that's funny."
"No, it is NOT funny," says he. "I . . . mean it's sort of . . . funny. But it's also--oh, d#$%! OH--!"

He dropped the phone and, I couldn't believe my ears, but in the background I heard a goose honking. Honking. And in addition to all the honking, there was a general sound of chaos: pots and pans banging, slurred cursing, etc. I sat there with the phone to my ear listening and laughing for a while, until I finally shouted into the phone "well, I guess I'd better let you go so you can take care of all that. Um, bye."

Two minutes later, he called me back. "I a. . . pologize for . . . that. These Canadian geese are just so . . . ." The phone dropped again, and again there was the honking, swearing, banging and chaos in the background.

Does it get more interesting and funny than that? Would a transaction at Walmart generate that same result? No way. And that is why I love ebay.

Tune in next time for when I talk about another recent and awesome discovery: Facebook. Did you know Facebook let's you complain about all your problems and then you get nice comments like "I'm sorry your toes hurt and you can't find a babysitter." ? Isn't that wicked?