I’ve long felt that New York is my macro-friend, that I am encircled by others like me. The feeling has been with me a lot recently as I’ve turned to Craigslist to sell much of the contents of my apartment.
“There’s nobody, not Ikea or anyone, who has one like this,” Allyson, who came to buy my bookcase told me. I painted the bookcase, which stands eight feet, when I moved to the city 15 years ago. Now I’m leaving and Allyson and her husband, Sean, who works in oil exploration, are arriving. “I should have worn sneakers,” said Sean, who wore sandals and had to carry the bookcase about a mile to their apartment.
Angel, an aspiring Frank Sinatra impersonator, paid $40 for my Roland Mini-Cube amplifier. “I step out of the shower and sing but this will be my first attempt to sing publicly, said Angel, who likes “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” has a Marine Corp fade and wore white high tops with matching crew socks. “Buy yourselves a couple of Frappuccinos,” he told my girlfriend and me as he passed me two crisp $20s.
Dena, a teacher who lives with her boyfriend in the financial district, bought my blue couch with a pullout sofa ($400). “I love this,” she said. “I was looking for something extremely clean and comfortable.” The next day she came with two movers, who mummified the sofa in plastic wrap and tape before carrying it away.
Dickson, who lives in the Bronx, paid $45 for my AM/FM table radio with wooden cabinet. “It’s for my aunt, who is 94,” he said. “So she can listen to the Chinese radio station. She had a handheld radio but the sound was fuzzy. This radio has a grounding. She lives in a tenement building.”
Helen from the Upper East Side bought the antique Coca-Cola crate for $10. “This is a clean one,” she said. “I like the look of them.” Two weeks later, Helen returned to buy my antique tool box ($10).
John from Brooklyn paid $25 for the Mac Airport Extreme wi-fi router. He showed up on a bamboo bike. “Built one with my lady,” he explained. “The materials come from Ghana.” John said his sister and her husband “have a sweet patch of land in Kenya” after I told him about my moving to South Africa.
Susan arrived in a dusty blue Ford with a Penn decal in the rear window. “I’m sorry the inside of the car looks like a garbage pit,” she said. (Whirpool microwave, $50).
“It’s heavy,” Roswell said as he hoisted the Ryobi 7.25-inch circular saw he bought from me ($25). “It’s for a friend.”
Dan and I bonded over an Ikea end table ($15). “These things are super-useful,” I said as I handed it to him. “Yeah, I have two already, use ’em for books,” Dan said.
Gregory from Trinidad bought the Andis trimmer ($15). He commutes by car from his home in Queens to his job at the U.S. Postal Service vehicle maintenance facility in Chelsea.
“I’m stopping by before my kickball game so please don’t judge me for looking like an idiot,” emailed Drew (Queen-size bed base, $150). He wore tube socks and a white t-shirt with blue long sleeves that had “Kickball” written in script across the front.
Bruce from Connecticut (Brother compact laser printer, $25): “I’ll pay you $30 if you can drop it off at my son’s place who lives near you.” No sale.
“I was a speechwriter in Perth but now I’m hoping to get into international relations,” said Andrew, who together with his girlfriend, Anna, bought two bedside tables and a matching six-drawer dresser ($350).
Cate, from Williamsburg, bought the glo ball lamp ($40). “I’m thinking of moving to Spain,” she said. “I’ve been here ten years.”
Lydia came on Sunday to see the Heywood-Wakefield mirror ($80). She said she liked it and would run to the ATM for cash. Then she said she needed to measure the mirror and left abruptly. Lydia returned on Monday, handed me the money and left with the mirror, which she planned to take home to Brooklyn. “Just got home and it’s perfect,” she emailed later. “Thanks again.”