It has come to my attention over the last few months that several people post phony ads on Craigslist just to get a reaction from others, and no I am not talking about those phony ads where they tell you to ship your goods over seas and they will Western Union you, I am talking about the people who post roommate ads that are false, or items they are selling that are false just to get a kick out of people’s responses. 

Personally, when I go on Craigslist,that means I have exhausted all other resources and I am in need of finding something in particular.  I mean, the site was made to HELP people, not to F#@% with them; there are plenty of other sites out there meant to f#@% with people.

Recently, I have run across a few random blogs about people who purposely post these ads, just to get a crazy response from people.  One guy had posted an ad for a roommate in New York City, sharing a two bedroom apartment, but you have to sell your soul to him in order to rent it out. In return he will be an amazing roommate and keep the rent low ($600 low in New York City for your own bedroom, that right there should tell you this ad is a joke if the whole sell your soul did not), he also made it a point to say he wasn’t joking about selling your soul to him and serious inquires only.  Only a few responses that he got back questioned if he was serious or reamed him for being a dumba$$.  Most of the responses were from people just moving to New York and desperate, or people looking for a better deal/rate.  Sadly, most of the desperate responses were from women between the ages of 18-26 who did not care if they “sold their soul” or did not care as long as they could get a nice, cheap, affordable apartment.  I do not know about you, but if it were me, I would not only question the price, and the “soul selling”, but also the insanity of the person posting the ad (if it were even true). 

This same blogger posted another ad for a New York City apartment, but stated that he has a horse that he keeps in his apartment.  This apartment happened to be a one bedroom, and the “new roommate” would have to sleep in the living room.  He also goes on to say that the new roommate would have to occasionally feed his horse, and pick up after its crap.  Can you imagine a horse in a one bedroom apartment or a horse in an apartment or house in general?  Obviously this ad shouts that there is something wrong.  I know there may be a few crazies in New York, but I can almost guarantee that no landlord would allow a horse in an apartment.  Again, some people had responded to this ad saying how much they love horses and do not mind, some questioned a horse in the apartment at all and some just skipped over the fact that there would be a full size horse in the apartment. 

Since when and why did Craigslist, usually a helpful source, become a place for people to play pranks and games?  My friends and I were discussing the other day how there are hardly any nice, genuine people left in this world – this proves our point.  I get that posting weird ads like this can be funny and amusing, but what about all those poor people who really need to find an apartment in New York.  Get a life.