Dear potential Craigslist buyer,

When I list my food processor or beloved camera equipment on Craigslist, I’m looking for more than just sending you home with a sweet deal.  Deep down I’m hoping for more from you.  Don’t worry, I’m not a rapist or a murderer…just a stay at home mom with very limited adult conversations in my life.

So when you email me, I’ll “Facebook” your name first to check and make sure you are indeed a real person.  Then, I’ll get a little background on you so I can prepare for our meeting.  You won’t know this though, because I don’t want you to know I creeped on your page. If I can’t find you on Facebook, which I usually can’t since people are smart only leaving their first names for these transactions, it’s ok.  I’ll just be more surprised when I see you, because I imagine what you might look like based on our emails or phone calls. And I’m never right.

When we settle on a time and place and I finally meet you, I might look a little too excited to see you.  (Little adult interaction, remember?) I’ll ask why you’re interested in my items to get you talking, but these quick exchanges really aren’t long enough for me.  I’d prefer to sit down to coffee and listen to your story. Afterall, you just moved here from Alaska you said, or you drove 40 minutes to get here.  Let’s talk about your move, let’s make that drive worth it. Let’s chat.

You see, it’s gets lonely being around my children all day.  And although I’m an introvert, I still long for an uninterrupted adult conversation, even with a stranger. But once we chat for awhile, we won’t be strangers anymore.

This may all seem a bit bizarre, I get that. But you have to understand where I’m coming from. I used to meet families and engaged couples just to hear their stories for my photography business.  So for me meeting a stranger and hearing all about them is normal.  I also used to teach a class where I required the students to come tell me their stories.  That’s right.  They got a grade to meet with me.  They always thought it was weird too. But in the end most of them said they enjoyed that meeting.  Just someone listening to their stories, learning about their families and  how they ended up at the university.  So I know you’ll like it too. Right? Right.

So stick around, won’t you? Just to tell your story.

Maybe I like stories a little too much.

Is that weird?