Dared to be silly on Freecycle, and shot down in flames for it

[shyoutgoingtype]

I was in a very silly mood the other evening, and this amazing car was parked outside our house - an Aston Martin - I was joking with my partner how I might get one and said oh shall I see if I can get one on Freecycle? Very daft, of course not. But I was feeling mischievous and went ahead and posted an advert asking for an Aston Martin! I only expected jokey responses 9f course, that was the whole point, but I only had one reply, basically saying that I should "save up like the rest of us and buy a Ford" and that I had "cheek", then later I got a message from same person saying that I'm not funny and hope I've learned my lesson!! Blimey!! We've actually got a 15-year-old Nissan Micra and we live in a rented flat, I wasn't taking the Mickey out of anyone... Crikey! I felt like a criminal! My question is, is it now against the law to have a bit of a joke and a lark, when it's not at anyone's expense? Have I now got to censor everything in case I will insult anyone?
I feel like I've been chastised for just making a harmless joke.
What does anyone else think? xx

I guess the OP isn't coming back.

Probably too busy working on their stand-up routine.

“My son has an appointment at our hospital at a time that doesn’t work well with the bus timetable. Would anybody who is driving over at around xx o’clock be willing to give us a lift please?”

Where I live, 'doesn't work well with the bus timetable' could mean a choice of getting there 2 hours early or 5 minutes late and waiting 2 hours after the appointment or possibly not getting home that day if the appointment overran. If I were driving that way with a couple of spare seats in the car and I vaguely knew the person I'd offer them a lift.

Sure I'd then be annoyed if 'hospital appointment' translated to 'fancied going shopping' but if someone who cannot afford a car needs a lift to the hospital and you're going that way, why not help? There are volunteer schemes where people can drive others to medical appointments, it's just a version of that.

@MilerVino I think you are on the wrong thread! :))

What you experienced OP was the result of years of people actually expecting amazing things for free so they can then sell them on and make 100% profit. There are always chancers on freecyle looking expensive things for free. So what people saw when they saw your post was exactly that- a complete piss taker looking other people’s valuable property for nothing.

So yeah- you deserved the response you got for the poorly thought out “joke”. (I’m not sure who you expected to find it funny? Or was it just for you to laugh at the thought of people being annoyed by it?)

[quote LEELULUMPKIN]@MilerVino I think you are on the wrong thread! :))[/quote]
No she's not, she's quoted from an earlier post in this thread.

My apologies! So sorry.

@LEELULUMPKIN off topic yes, wrong thread, no.

I would have laughed OP need a bit of entertainment with the way this world is atm 😉

Again, apologies. that'll learn me!

Don't worry LEELU, I know it was kindly meant!

I think a lot of humour is knowing your audience, the people who are on Freecycle are an unknown and hugely variable. Perhaps some did think it was funny, they had a quick chortle and moved on, you'll never know. For the most part though people go to Freecycle for a purpose, they are not at leisure and open to amusement, so to them you are just taking up their time and cluttering up the Freecycle board.

Are you one of those "I'm mad, me!" people? Because often they are funnier in their head

Brilliant :)

Know your audience.

Humour is divisive.

You took a punt. Not everyone found it funny. One person really didn't find it funny.

Learn and move on.

No you don't have to censor yourself. But you do have to learn as all children should, that not everything you do is funny and some people might take it very badly

You were a total jerk, OP.
It sounded as though you were taking the piss and implying that those using the site to look for free items are freeloaders.

Also a bit of a silly place to post a joke.

@Bananalanacake

Can I ask a quick, freecycle related question? I have a bag of Bumgenius used by 2 DC washable nappies to get rid of, do you think someone would like them or should I not bother.

Yes definitely.

I think it's quite funny, but I also agree it's not to everyone's taste.

Freecycle is full of cheeky people though so you wouldn't have stood out!

You did a crass thing.

Some people overreacted.

Blimey, a lot of people have had a sense of humour bypass this morning.

Bet its a laugh a minute round your gaff OP.

Blimey, it’s not the worlds funniest gag but the calls of OP being a jerk and mocking poor people are OTT.

She made a dumb joke and she’s been told - twice.

As a regular Freecycler I would have laughed OP. Certainly wouldn’t have taken offence like half of MN!

@terracottapot

Blimey, a lot of people have had a sense of humour bypass this morning.

Not sure really I think if you would find it funny in the first place then yes sure, but most folks would just think it was but cringe and try hard.

Why not email the grumpy guy back and tell him you have a sense of humour to offer but thought he might like it before you offer it more generally....

Could have been funny depending on how you wrote it. But Freecycle is a wide audience so it's hard to read the room. Mind you, someone posted a toilet roll during the shortage and that got a positive response. I laughed.

@Bananalanacake

Can I ask a quick, freecycle related question? I have a bag of Bumgenius used by 2 DC washable nappies to get rid of, do you think someone would like them or should I not bother.

Do! Those always get loads of interested people on my Freecycle. Anything pregnancy, baby or child related does. That's how I got and disposed of my washable nappies.