Trust

I don't often get serious. I don't like being serious--it isn't fun. That's not to say that there aren't situations that call for seriousness. Tonight is one of those. There's nothing major going on; I'm just in a contemplative mood.

Hubster and I are trying to get rid of some of our stuff here in Japan that we can't bring back to America. Tonight, we had a gentleman call about 2 of our air conditioners. The air conditioners here are kind of like what you have in a hotel. There is a unit inside the house and a unit outside connected to it via a hose in the wall. The gentleman wanted 2 of our 3 units--woo hoo! However, when these things are moved then they need to be specially installed (hung, charged, etc.) That gets quite expensive. We are selling the units for a low price, but we made sure to put in the ad that the person was responsible for having an HVAC person un-install and then re-install the units at their cost. So said gentleman calls tonight and I can tell he is really driving for a deal--ie was trying to get a discount for buying 2 out of the 3 units. We already had people lined up after him interested in all of the units so we politely said no. Then, we stressed that he needed to contact a company to see how much it would cost to move the units and hook them up. He kind of hemmed and hawed around before saying that his friend had already hooked up one in his house and was going to do it.

DING DING DING! Warning bells went off in my head and I feel bad about it. Maybe his friend really did hook up his air conditioner. Or, maybe he is lying. I mean, I don't want someone coming to my house 1 week before we leave and knocking holes in the wall OR backing out of buying the units. I asked hubster if we could ask for a deposit, and while we could I agree that if I were in the buyer's shoes I don't know if I would want to be giving a stranger money 1 month before I actually get something (and no, there are no such things are checks over here that I know of).

I hate this. I hate that I feel that I can't trust anyone in situations like this. I always feel like I am going to get screwed over. Rather than believing that people are good, there is a huge part of me that screams that I am going going to get the shaft. I don't know why I am like this. Maybe it is because my father is the King of all Skeptics and that has finally rubbed off on me. Or, maybe it is because there are some real assholes out there who prey on other's trust.

Any advice?