Ask Emily: Another way than eBay
By Casey Gillis on Mar. 27, 2008
Dear Emily: I used to use eBay to buy and sell things, but it seems like it is getting more complicated lately, as there are so many businesses using the site and it’s no longer about people just selling things to other people for a good deal. Where else do you suggest I go?
- Weary buyer
Dear Weary buyer: Try craiglist.org for a more community-based selling and buying experience. You can click on your city, or the closest one, and start searching for free items, items for sale, and even houses and jobs. It has been around for quite some time and seems to be exactly what you are looking for.
Dear Emily: I was at a restaurant having dinner with my boyfriend the other weekend, when two other patrons were having a conversation over us. One guy was sitting to our left, and the other guy was walking past our table to the right. They proceeded to say, “hi,” and catch up, ignoring that we were sitting in-between them, basically in the middle of their conversation. It was extremely rude, and my boyfriend and I couldn’t even talk to each other because we could only hear these two men shouting. They talked for nearly 10 minutes, too. What should we have said, anything?
- Annoyed Eater
Dear Annoyed Eater: These people were without a doubt being rude, so you would have been perfectly entitled to say something. You could have asked the conversationalists to take their talk elsewhere, simply explaining that their socializing was interfering with your own. If that didn’t get them to move, you should have talked to a staff member. After all, when you go to a restaurant and pay for a meal, you expect not only good food, but good service and a good time. Clearly you weren’t getting the whole package, and someone from the restaurant should have been able to take care of that for you immediately.
Dear Emily: I have a friend who is very confrontational. Every time she is driving, she is always yelling at someone. And when we go shopping, she seems to almost look for trouble with sales people. It’s embarrassing to me, and to her. I feel weird saying something to her, but this aggression of hers just doesn’t seem right.
- Bad Attitude
Dear Bad Attitude: Carrying around that kind of anger can’t be healthy, so you should definitely have a talk with your friend. It sounds like this habit of hers has become part of her personality, so you need to tell her (and show her) just how unappealing this trait can be. The next time she lashes out at someone, wait for her to calm down and then bring the conversation up. Try different ways of making her realize that it isn’t right to yell at people and treat them as if they were beneath you. Ask her questions like, how would she like it if it happened to you, or how does she think others perceive her when she is acting so rudely. Get her to open her eyes to the situation and take steps to change. Make sure she understands that you are doing this for her own good.
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