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[Mongrel]

So, there's an Indian or Pakistani clan in the apartment below ours. They've converted a conventional barbecue into some kind of terrifying wood-burning monstrosity, which they quite regularly use to make large expansive meals (our building is the kind where every balcony has a BBQ on it).

Sometimes the wood they get is probably dodgy, like old desks found curbside (which results in thick plumes of horrifyingly acrid black smoke floating up to our apartment).

Today, they found some amazing hickory-esque wood and our whole apartment smells like some kind of $150-a-plate Tandoori House.

Why is this shitty? BECAUSE WE CAN'T HAVE ANY. 

[Catloaf]

This might not be a bad thing.  This might be a very bad thing.  I'm not sure, and I'm currently afraid to do anything further to confirm what is going on.

While exiting a parking lot to go home, an SUV pulls up next to me and a guy leans out the window and says "Hey Bro, You wanna home theater system!?  We just go 2 for free, man!"  Blindsided and confused, I back up and park.  I am then greeted by two... 'Bros.'  I don't know what else to call them.  They were a slightly less exaggerated form of the stupid, happy go lucky, and constantly drunk frat boy archetype despite not actually being frat boys.  Anyway, they eagerly talk about how they say that due to a shipping error, they got two extra sets of speakers (6:1) and that if they go to their job where they were to deliver the order of two less than the amount they had, they would be obligated to hand over the extra two which the installation guys would then sell for their own profit or something.  I wound up letting them know that I only had about $200, and that was in the bank.  Here's where I got really stupid.  At this point I'm starting to have second thoughts and trying to talk my way out of it without being direct.  They insist that I get the money as they've already decided in their minds that it's a done deal.  Having no experience in social situations and absolutely no actual happening of social interaction outside of family and school work related conversations, I somehow get talked into it.   One opens up the box and shows me that it indeed is filled with speakers.  And not knowing what else to do, I hand over the money and send them on their merry way.

I have now bought a possibly stolen $1999 surround sound stereo system for $200 .  And I'm not sure whether to keep it or go to craigslist.

However, I'm currently far more worried about how the hell I managed to be manipulated that easily.  I'm very much worried that what few social skills I acquired through the public education system are atrophying and the likelihood of gaining any positive relationships is steadily dropping day by day.

[Ted Belmont]

*ahem*

[Catloaf]

The sad thing is, I didn't want to buy it.  I just couldn't say no.

Now I'm depressed.

[Lottel]

That sucks. I guess take some solace in the fact that these guys do what they do because they can bully just about anyone to buy their shit. They are damn good at it.

[Detonator]

Think of it this way, Loaf: you learned a valuable lesson, and learned that you have some social things you really need to work on, and it only cost you $200.

If this didn't happen, you might have lost a whole lot more later. 

You just have to gain some perspective and start preparing yourself for the next time you find yourself in a situation where you have to say no.  Just don't use this as an excuse to mope around and think "I guess I'll always be a pushover".

[Smiler]

That valuable lesson being to not stop for people who address you as "bro".

[Ted Belmont]

Also be aware of the "if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is" rule.

[Brentai]

Go to the police.  See if you can work with them to figure out where the thing came from.  It's a longshot, but if you play your cards very right, you might convince the intended resaler to compensate you for the recovery.

Pull that off and I think your social fears might die down a little.

[Beat Bandit]

90% of those aren't actually stolen but just shitty rip offs that only cost them fifty bucks, so that might not actually end well.

[Mongrel]

Yeah, if your only source for the supposed price of $2k is the guys who sold it to you, well, uh, let's just say that information may be suspect guess what, they lied.

[Catloaf]

They never mentioned the price.  The box says "MSRP $1,999" under the bar code.  But the brand name on the box is listed on the Wikipedia list of those used in the scams.  So either they printed on the cardboard boxes, or the company itself is in on it.

I don't want to contact the police, but I suppose I should despite the hassle.  Since I went to an ATM, they might be able to get one of the guys based on a picture taken from it, but there's a fair bit of luck involved there...

[JDigital]

Can't hurt to try.

[Beat Bandit]

So, as it happens I know a dude who does this and talked to him about the situation. It seems like there's three ways these things go from most rare to most common.

- Basic one where item is actually stolen. This is pretty rare since an actually valuable system they could unload somewhere else for way more.

- Shitty speakers. The guy(s) doing the thing buy shitty ass speakers and try to sell them as real speakers. More common, but trashiest, you would know as soon as you looked at the thing if it was this.

- Korea. There are companies that produce all kinds of toys whose only purpose is to look really fancy and be shitty. Apparently there are places that list prices super high but sell at insane bulk rates simply because scammers here are their only market for crappy electronics. This seems kind of conspiracy theory-y though. Anyway, depending on your area and how big of an operation it is legality ranges from "no one cares" to some actual jail time. Usually it's just a fine though.

So yeah, basically what my grandson Dicks said.

[Joxam]

So I have to go back to Texas either as early as tomorrow or as later as 'sometime the end of this week'. The cousin I had that had the stroke and made our first visit a necessity had another, and is dying rapidly because of the brain damage. Have I mentioned before how many funerals of semi-immediate family I'd been to in my 25 years? Its been a lot. (... 9)

[R^2]

If I'm addressed by a stranger on the street, I don't even slow down my pace, much less stop. If they can't pitch whatever they want from me before I'm gone, they have to walk with me. Few panhandlers or salespeople are willing to do that for someone who obviously lacks sympathy for their plight.

[Catloaf]

my bike broke and i made it worse when trying to fix it and then i fell over of sudden apparent illness.

[Mothra]

:(

[Lady Duke]

I don't get to keep Samuel after all



;-;

[Mongrel]

Jesus guys.

Stop buying those voodoo bad luck magnets. I know they seem like a deal at 99 cents, but, uh, I don't think it's working as intended.