Car Troubles

I decided to sell my chaming and fickle car a few weeks ago and posted an ad on Paris' Craig's List. That's where we found it in the first place, so I felt comfortable seeking a buyer online. The car immediately brought several inquiries, all of which were from people with relatively poor grammar and typing skills. I'm not one to judge typing errors and poor translations, but the lack of professionalism made me a little wary. I eventually settled on a buyer, a foreign man (not French, British, or American) looking to buy his girlfriend a car for her birthday.

I tried to cover all my bases to avoid scams, and I was pretty sure that the buyer was serious. When his assistant wrote me a check almost ten times the correct amount, I knew that somethig was up. After apologizing for the "inconveince," the buyer then asked me to transfer the money to a third party. I have no idea how he was planning on working this sale (or swindle), but the involvement of his annonomous client and the pressure to hurry the process "for his girlfriend" was too suspicious. I tore the check up yesterday and backed out of the deal, explaining with proper grammer and spelling that I won't deal with such complications. There is no harm done, but I can't help feeling irritated that I was halfway to a sour deal. God knows paperwork is complicated enough here, and the last thing I need is to get screwed out of money and into a beuracratic nightmate.

I have another interesting car misadventure that I neglected to include in my last post, but it's worth recounting now. When I was in visiting my roommate last weekend we went out to a bar with several other language assistants. The group consisted of six Americans, including myself, and three Spanish assistants from Columbia and Mexico. We were waiting on a narrow street to enter a bar just across from a Kebab resturaunt. The restauraunt had just opened, and the owner was immpatiently trying to move his car so he could start serving people. In his rush through this very skinny street he tried to push through my group. Before anyone really realized the danger, he'd essentially run over an American girl who started crying and swearing in shock.

A crowd gathered to check on Jessica and scold the driver, who eventually took her to the hospital. Before she left she was laughing at the absurdity of the situation and still swearing at the inconvenience. The man whi hit her didn't make any sales at his restaurant that night, and I can't imagine that he'll be so careless next time he moves his car. Aside from a sprained foot, nothing came of the accident, but it was a disturbing event that put a damper on the evening.

I guess these problems happen all over the world, but I'm looking over my shoulder now for loose-cannon drivers and "buyers" looking for an extra buck.