At the beginning of the last decade I moved from England to America. First of all to Washington State and eventually to Anchorage, Alaska. In an attempt to furnish the house on a very limited budget, I became a frequent peruser of online classifieds, and in particular, the free ads. 

 

I soon realised the culture of classified adverts were far more a part of life in the US than they ever had been back home. People would give all sorts away, no matter how bizarre or useless. In fact, I soon came to understand that a great deal of things are advertised for free in the hope someone will collect it simply to save the present owner a trip to the municipal dump.

 

This trawling of the unwanted became something I enjoyed a great deal and I slowly started to post adverts of my own. As I had arrived here with nothing more than a suitcase, I had little or nothing to actually give away, so my adverts were for things that didn’t exist. I have now being offering nothing for many years, more for my own amusement than for anyone else’s, though certainly to the annoyance of many. My adverts rarely stay up long before being flagged for removal by someone who sees them for what they are: lies. I consider it a success if they manage to stay there for more than a day.

 

I also enjoy the emails I receive in response. Some want the items in question, Others have seen the humour and want to let me know it brightened their day. Others, it appears, are rather upset. I have been called a cunt, been threatened with violence, and had rape wished upon me.

 

I have no idea why I continue to post these adverts. Maybe as much to amuse me as to frustrate others. After several months of posting these ads I was interviewed by a local newspaper about them. Backed into a corner as to why I post these ads I came up with the idea that they are to done to better help me understand the country in which I am now living. I like this reason, however true or not it may be, it will be the reason I use to keep myself posting fake classified ads in the ‘free’ section.