Craig's List Magic

I have both bought and sold a number of things on Craig's List lately, in preparation for the move, and so I'm freshly reminded of the magic that is Craig's List. The best example of this is the photo enlarger. It was a beast, it was in my basement, and now someone has it who loves it. Here's the story.

My neighbor had put this crazy-looking, old-time machine out on his curb, ready for trash pick-up, with a scribbled sign taped on it that said, "Working Enlarger. Take it." We had just recently moved here, and I had just become my son's coach for his Odyssey of the Mind team--where kids take stuff and make their own inventions. This thing in the gutter was just weird enough to be interesting, and I thought a team of first graders might think it looked like a sci-fi transmogrifier. And, it was a big, metal thing, and the thought of it spending eternity in a landfill made me cringe. So, with considerable effort because it's HEAVY, I loaded it into my trunk.

The team chose something else. The enlarger gathered dust in my basement. Fast forward almost two years--it's time to move, and I've got to get this albatross out of my life. I list it on Craig's List for $10. Ted, a guy in his sixties who has a hobby of rebuilding photography equipment, picked it up this evening, and he was completely delighted with it, joyfully turning its knobs and naming its many moving parts. "A little beat up," he said cheerfully, "but I've seen worse!"

Craig's List. Ted is happy, I have $10, and the landfill is spared one more thing. Pure magic.