Confessions of a kijiji husband

[Darlene and I were joking around about the trials I go through to accommodate her kijiji habits. She suggested that I write a tongue-in-cheek blog entry about kijiji husbands, who we're both sure must exist in significant numbers (we met one last night). All kidding aside, we love kijiji. We've been able to get some amazing deals.]


My wife discovered kijiji about 3 years ago. Our lives haven't been the same since. I'll wake up at 1am and find her staring at the computer screen, browsing the local kijiji ads for stuff we don't even need. I'll be on my way home from work and get a phone call from her asking if I wouldn't mind making a detour to pick something up that she bought. Sometimes I get home and I sense that something isn't right. It takes a few minutes, but eventually I notice that maybe the furniture in the spare bedroom has been swapped out for something new. Our grand-daughter will ask me from time to time where one of her toys is and I just don't have the heart to tell her that her Nan might have sold it on kijiji. Our schedules become irrevocably altered from waiting around for kijiji buyers who promise to come to buy something at our house, but never show up. I'll be talking to my wife on the phone and be informed that she needs to hang up because she's expecting a kijiji buyer or seller to call any time. We'll be driving around and I'll get a cryptic question like "Do you happen to have $300 cash on you?". This is code for "We're about to spend $300 on a kijiji purchase that I didn't tell you about". If I press, Darlene might even deflect, but it becomes obvious what's going on when your cell phone rings and the other party asks if you'll be coming by soon to look at "the coffee table we are selling" and "do we need directions?". Some days I wonder if at some point someone will come to our house and ask "are you Karl?" as they look me over thoroughly, then turn to Darlene and say, "Would you take $500? Yes?! OK, it's a deal."

Damn you kijiji! [wink]