Do I have "sucker" written on my forehead? {Listography 2011}

A post from the other half...

First, let me introduce myself.  I am Ryan, the husband who reads many versions of every post, sometimes gives input, but never comments (I need to get better at that).  I am the one who watches Torrie fall asleep sitting upright on the couch with her laptop - in the middle of obsessing over spacing or the mysterious self-changing font. 

Some of you may be aware that it is my lovely wife's birthday tomorrow, so I thought I would start my gifting a couple hours early by giving her the gift of time, taking over one of her posts.  Granted, I am not as gifted a writer as she is but I will give it a go. 

 

 

Each Wednesday, Emily, @ Notorious MLE, Danielle, @ Elleinad Spir, and Torrie are working their way through the lists of Listography 2011.

   

 image via

 

I saw this week's topic, List all the scams you have encountered and thought, "This one is right up my alley."  It is as though I am a magnet for scams, as I have fallen for many things that were 'too good to be true.'

1.  Columbia House - 10 CDs for a penny.  This is the first one I can remember.  They made it extremely difficult to send back the Kenny G. CD I didn't order and near impossible to get out of the program.

 

2.  The 'Free' year subscription to a magazine.  I was just trying to make a purchase and be on my way, but the salesperson told me that as a loyal customer they were offering me a subscription to "Food & Wine."  Who knew they were linking the subscription to my check card for automatic renewals?  Three years later, I finally went through the complicated process for canceling the subscription.

 

3.  The '0% APR' credit card.  Didn't read the fine print on this one.  Apparently there was a line in microscopic legalese on page 76 that informed me that if I was 45 seconds late on a payment my rate would go up to 29.99%.

4.  "I have an exciting business proposition for you"  I don't know how many times an acquaintance wanted to set up a business meeting so they can tell me how I can quit my job, be my own boss, and enjoy 'financial freedom.'  Really???  How many suckers would I need to take advantage of to make this a reality?  Sure... sign me up, pal.

5. "Do you wanna buy some speakers?"  Seriously, I don't know why these guys come after me.  As I am walking to my car in the Target parking lot, a couple of guys pull up in a van telling me that they have overstock high-end speakers that they need to sell dirt-cheap for cash.  Where did they get these speakers?  Are they stolen?  Are they defective?  Why do they always approach me?  Do I look like a guy that needs new speakers?  Because of this I have learned not to make eye contact with anyone in a parking lot.

 

I am curious to see what you've fallen for.  Let us know with a comment or head over to Emily's and add a link to your post.

Now, I am off to get some rest for a big day (or week, if you ask Torrie) ahead of us.  I'm looking forward to it.  Happy birthday to my gorgeous, talented, adorable, sweet wife!!!