Slashdot Mirror
Man Selling His Life On eBay
A number of readers have sent in the story of the guy in Perth, Australia who is selling his life on eBay. 100 days before the auction opened, he put up a site detailing all that was on offer: house, car, jet ski, friends, job, and so forth. (No wife.) The auction has five days to run and the bidding is up over $300K, supposedly from qualified bidders. The seller says: "Upon completion and settlement I will walk out of my home for the last time in just the clothes I am wearing, and carrying only my wallet and passport."
Is his identity for sale? Otherwise all he is selling is a bunch of stuff. Not "His Life". It would be more interesting if you could actually buy his identity and completely assume his life. Of course, you couldn't do that completely. His friends probably aren't going to buy into it. And also, what of the government?
If you RTFA you'll see that the sale includes introductions to his friends, and a trial in his job, which is supported by his employer. In addition to all the physical stuff. If a purchaser played it right, he could indeed have the guy's house, friends, job, and possesions. This is about as much as he could reasonably and legally do, and IMHO just barely about enough to justify his description that he's selling his "life".
Oh no... it's the future.
Maybe he's just planning on moving somewhere else.
Option #1
. Advertise and Sell House
. Advertise and Sell Car
. Advertise and Sell Jetski
. Advertise and Sell misc other crap, pack it in boxes, give it to charity, take it down to the dump, etc
. Make all of the above events line up with each other so he isn't left with no house or no car etc
Option #2
. Sell it all on eBay as a job lot
. Offer to introduce you to friends and cow-orkers to sweeten the deal (no obligation to actually like the person or employ them if they're a dick)
. Invent a bit of a sob story to go with it
. Profit!
Which one sounds easier? Selling stuff is a pain. Trying to make sure you get rid of your house, car, and other crap which costs money to move all at the same time is even more of a pain. The last thing you'd want is to sell the house and then not be able to find a buyer for your car and jet-ski. Or sell your car but then have to wait 6 months for your house to sell (and have to hire or buy another in the meantime)
Nothing to see here - move along.
I was blindsided at about 11pm on a Wednesday evening by a shocking and awful discovery.
Not too hard to guess what that might have been.
I'm concerned that this was rated insightful, rather than funny.
This guy is a coward who isn't capable of dealing with his problems in a mature manner and so he's concocted this weird scheme to try and finance him running away from his problems.
This is obviously from someone who's not suffered any tragedy in his entire life but feels compelled to offer glib judgment on the sorrows of others. The least you could do is invoke something less cliched than a Readers Digest version of some Dr. Phil episode your mom forced you to watch.
Here's a tip: In the worst of times, even the best of us behave badly. It's to be expected. It's normal. It's what makes us human. If you get that much, ask yourself how very ordinary is your own life and your relationships with others that you're unable to relate to someone who might be enduring really bad times?
Me, I'm laughing (like everyone else), but only because I "get it". Losing your job, developing a incurable disease, getting cheated out of money, having your car stolen, losing big time in Vegas, nothing comes close to the torment of what a woman can put you through.
Somewhere in hell Sam Kinnison is screaming "This ain't hell! I'll tell you what hell is!!!"
Modern life has reached an annoying level of materialism. Lately I've been thinking about how each possession requires time and effort to own (to maintain and repair it, supply fuel/electricity for it, shop for a replacement when it wears out, etc). In fact I've reached the point where I literally don't have time to own anything else, unless I start paying others to maintain it. It's too much.
And yet... I have stuff that I really like. I've devoted a lot of time to crafting a PVR from scratch, and having it loaded with thousands of mp3's and hooked up to a nice stereo is something I really enjoy. I have a couple motorcycles that I enjoy riding, planning and taking trips on, and repairing (usually). I have a house. I have a fully stocked tool chest (that I use to fix everything else) that's taken years of gradual additions to accrue.
So the idea of discarding all the "stuff" is and starting fresh is enticing... yet I couldn't do it. Guess I'm "owned."
Er, I'll take option C please.
Blind hope is warm and fuzzy for some, sure, but if you live your life 'hoping' for eternal life after death, you're likely to miss out on a good chunk of your actual life.
Living life in fear of death, makes it kind of hard to get the most out of life.
I personally advocate living life to the fullest, every day. You know for a fact that you will die, so the sooner you accept it, the sooner you can get on with living the life you have. Should there happen to be a life after death, then that will just be a bonus in the end. But don't count on it. I have no intention of lying on my death bed wishing I'd lived more while I could and tortured about whether there was more or not. If you can't be satisfied with how you have lived your life up to that point, there is nothing that is going to help you once you pass, eternal life or no eternal life. A need to put all your eggs in the 'I'm not really going to die' basket indicates regret at how one has lived the life they actually had.
Don't stress the unknown, there's nothing you can do about it. Enjoy what you have now and you won't be disappointed in the end no matter what happens.
No Comment.
What I observe in many people I know is a trend towards accumulation of possessions that don't necessarily make them happy, but that they feel that they deserve because they work at unsatisfying and time-consuming jobs. They feel that they should have something to show for all of their effort, and so they buy themselves things. I myself have fallen into this trap, but have since returned to graduate school. I'm now much poorer and can afford much less, but on the whole, I feel that I need less because I enjoy the work itself and thus don't need to justify it through material means.
What I found most interesting was this comment you made:
The people who worry me the MOST are the ones who don't seem to have any clear "hobbies" or interests that involve ownership of property! I've had friends like this, who seem like they're wandering aimlessly through life - spending their money on "intangible entertainment" like movie tickets, amusement park passes or sporting events. Ultimately, they have little to show for the work they do.
Frankly, I can relate much better to your friends. I would far prefer to have interesting experiences and the resultant memories they bring tucked under my belt, such as travel or outings to concerts, amusement parks, etc. than to have a stockpile of possessions that may have resale value but rapidly depreciate and incur maintenance costs in many cases. Experiences are far more formative to me as a person than, say, car or personal entertainment system ownership.