I'm an old grouch at 33.

[Carmine]

I was cruising around Craigslist and found this ad:

Wanted: 25" or larger television - $50

Hi all. I am looking for a 25" or larger color tv for my daughter. She is moving out on her own after being in an abusive relationship (finally). She is starting all over and can really use one, and maybe some other household furniture. Please see what you can do. Thank so much

So I e-mail the guy, and it turns out he is only a couple blocks away from me. Gives me the whole story about his daughter starting over, etc. etc. I send over a picture of this RCA set for $35:



Calls me and says he'll come take a look, but will need his son to help move the set, and he is still sleeping because he was out 'till 1AM the night before, and won't be up until Noon (Monday).

Around 11:30 AM, he calls and says that his daughter doesn't want such an old-looking TV.

I actually didn't even mean to say it outloud, but I respond with "Wow, must be nice to be one of your kids. Thanks for the call." click!

Understand, I really don't care if I sell it or not... Just unbelievable that he writes a tear-jerker ad for his daughter, and she turns up her nose at something because it isn't "cool" enough. Did he think people were going to be offering plasma-screens for $50? Even a POS Wal-Mart set that size runs $200! The son is old enough to stay out till 1AM, but sleeping beauty can't get out of bed till Noon?

However much I may have hated it then, I'm glad my parents were tough on me. I was afraid to even sit on the couch in front of my mother for fear she'd find something for me to do! The downside is, I feel like a grouchy old man at age 33!

[cosmicdust]

That my friend is a handsome unit. I would have bought it for $35.00 and is a bargain :-)

cosmicdust.

[Sandy G]

Wow. Don't know who's spoiled worse-the guy or his kids...Guess I'm a mean ol' sumbich, too, 'cause I've heard tales of Missy being in an abusive relationship for a year, 2 years, etc. Uhh, begging yr pardon, but did you ever consider LEAVING ?!? What about calling yr dad, brothers, other relatives, the cops? NOBODY can watch someone else 24/7-if it really was all THAT bad, you'd found a way to leave...

[larschr]

For some reason, most young people hates old electronic equipment. The last two months at school i used to stop at the dump every morning and i often found TVs. I brought them into the classroom, plugged them in and they always worked. But the other people im my class always said "Get that ugly junk out of here". Except when i found Philips TVs with the high power sound system. We had cable TV outlet in the classroom, and they enjoyed to watch MTV.

[Bobby Brady]

There are multitudes of kids and parents like them around. It is frustrating to realize that no matter what you tell people like that they always believe in what they see on TV or what some rich kid tells them. They have little to no sense of logic. They deserve to have a hard lifestyle but it is not their fault they are like that. That type of behavior is learned. To blame the parents does nothing to help. Who raised the parents? Does that matter? Who raised the grandparents? People like this family that thinks this TV is not good enough are a big part of what is wrong with this country but they are no more to blame for their behavior than everybody else in this country that chooses not to get involved with boring things like making our government do the right thing in the schools etc. The parents cannot function well enough to raise the kids after getting beat up all week in some brain-killing 40+ hour a week job. The schools in this country are one of the biggest factors in producing the messed-up kids of today. Most people point the finger at others as the problem and so we all suffer from the neglect.

[Sandy G]

Oh, yeah, & it goes w/o saying-that was a primo set, I'd been pleased as punch to have gotten it when I was setting up shop on my own for the first time...Unfortunately, that attitude is WAY too prevalent all thru our society.

[cosmicdust]

Hiya Bobby Brady,

The educational institutions have this power to educate people of all ages and it seems to be a big waste of resources. In ancient days, schools were free. Education was free, till it dawned that they can sell certificates and degrees. So now, education is as much a business as a gas-station.

Real education; which feeds the hunger of the Heart, will always be free though, thankfully.

We cannot expect everybody to take a liking to something that we like too, right? A beautiful rose should belong in the hands of a Lover. That walnut TV should be in my living room! Hahahahahha :-))))

cosmicdust.

[bgadow]

I have run into this situation with freecycle a few times. Of course, when I am LOOKING I am the one complaining because the tv sets they are giving away are not old & decrepit ENOUGH! But then I try and give away something perfectly decent and folks want to turn up their noses. Most recently I gave away a working VHS camcorder & a nice 13" color monitor. The guy was all smiles but the next day he was on there again looking, I guess he wants something better.

I guess there have always been spoiled kids but the situation doesn't seem to be getting any better. I am in the wreck repair business; some of these kids just keeping destroying one $20,000 car after another while Mom & Dad just shrug their shoulders & laugh it off. Too bad, once they have gotten away with it once I think it is too late.

[TedJ]

I have to say I guess I am one of those abnormal kids (i'm 17) who dont think that everything old is crap and sholud be put in the trash. Most of my views are completely the opposite. I hate all this new made in china garbage. It's made like crap, works like crap, and then it dies and cant be fixed because they used some part that dosen't exist outside of the chinese manufacuring plant where it was made. I mean dont get me wrong, some great stufff does come out of foreight countries (the best buy speakers come to mind) but that seems to be the exception, not the rule. If i needed a set for $35 I would have bought that thing in an instant...its a beauty.... People seem to have a real distaste for anything "old"...I dont see why when the same stuff they hate (and give to me for free ) is better than the chinese made pile of junk they replace it with. I live for cruzing on garbage night and my house is full of stuff that cost me nothing or almost nothing...and i'm completely happy with it...not to mention the huge ammount i have learned about electronics by serviceing all this stuff. Don't even get me started on these rich kids who get anything the want when they ask for it. I am proud to say that most of the stuff I have I bought with my own money or found and rebuilt myself. All I get for free are some small things and prsents on christmas and my birthday.

[Sandy G]

Bethany is on to me all the time to buy her a Car. The fact she is 14 is immaterial; I guess she figures she'll have me wore down by then to where I'll be HAPPY to get her one to get her to hush. Well, I decided to have a little mean fun w/Little Miss Bethany..We were going somewhere, I told her I found a Car for her. A Cadillac, at that. She got excited-all Cadillac makes are Escalades, right ?!?...She's gettin' a 'Lade !! Maybe it'll have 22" wheels & spinners...About that time I pointed over to a local "Buy a Wreck'-there it is, Bethany-a '76 Coupe De Ville-maybe 1 square inch that wasn't rusted to oblivion...Needless to say, Bethany WASN'T impressed..And that WAS kinda mean...Lord, I apologise..all them starvin' chilluns in Africker 'n' stuff... <grin>

[RetroHacker]

I've been there before - a friend wanted a TV and couldn't afford one, so I offered him a nice 19" set that he could have, it was an old Sampo I think, yeah it was a cheap set, but it worked great - he didn't want it, complaining that he didn't like the way it looked (simulated woodgrain and knob tuning), and it's lack of a cable tuner. "But you don't have cable" was my response. I still have that TV here somewhere.
A different friend wanted a receiver, so I offered to give him one of the extra ones I've got around here - a Harmon Kardon 330c I think, but he wanted something that "wasn't so ugly" and he didn't like the simulated woodgrain or the fact that it didn't have a remote. I think that he's still looking for a receiver, and asks me occasionally if I have anything, to which I respond "nothing you would want".

Fortunately, I have some friends that appreciate the superior quality, reliability and "freeness" of old hardware. I have one friend that's happily enjoying a late 70's Sherwood receiver and Panasonic Thrusters speakers that I gave him - he loves it - it sounds hundreds of times better than the modern Sony plastic box system he had before. He's also got a curb find 1990 black box 27" Toshiba TV I found and fixed up for him, just needed some solder joints touched up. He doesn't watch broadcast TV at all - I have the video from the DVD going to the TV, and the audio going through the receiver, and it sounds great. Granted, this receiver and those speakers were never top of the line, but they sound amazingly better than the crap they make today.

It's also amazing how people scoff at my setup at home - the large stack of unmatched equipment, most 20 or 30 years old, some older - exposed chassis with tubes and tons of wiring connecting it all. Lots of old, huge floor standing speakers, some mounted up on the wall. Funny how they scoff until I turn it on... One reaction was something to the effect of "Oh my god, the bass - that sounds amazing - how is that possible?!?! And that's off a record? No way!"

-Ian

[dtuomi]

Originally Posted by RetroHacker

I...so I offered to give him one of the extra ones I've got around here - a Harmon Kardon 330c I think, but he wanted something that "wasn't so ugly" and he didn't like the simulated woodgrain or the fact that it didn't have a remote. I think that he's still looking for a receiver, and asks me occasionally if I have anything, to which I respond "nothing you would want".

I've always found this attiude rather annoying. This attitude is one of the reasons for a polluted environment. Oh, just throw it away, its old. Even if it still works and the lead in the glass picture tube is hard to recycle. As long as people think things are going to make them feel better about themselves, we'll continue to have an unhappy society. Of course, who am I to talk really considering I collect antique electronics...

David

P.S. I'd take that Harmon Kardon, it sounds nice.

[slow_jazz]

the cabinet alone on that tv is worth $35...

i grew up watching black and white tv.

we thought it was great just watching any size color tv.

[Andyman]

Carmine:

Unfortunately, the jackasses of the world seem to be breeding faster that the intelligent, reasonable folks.
Bravo for your kind and generous offer and too bad for the doofus who passed on it.

[jpdylon]

It just amazes me how ungrateful people can be, and at the same time can be so damn picky!!

I always get a good laugh when looking through the wanted section of ANY craigslist site. I've seen rediculous things like:

"We were just evicted and had to sell most of our things. Does anybody have a livingroom and dining room set to give me? My daughter could also use new clothes, but ony yucci or ambacrombone and bitch. We could use a nice reliable car that gets 40mpg for $1000 if anybody has one..."

wow. simply amazing. With asshole people like that, just give the finger and walk away.