We have rented out one room of our house before and are about to do it again. In an effort to find a good fit I put a good bit of info in the ad, including that we have a two-year-old and are both busy so the common areas can get clogged up with toys but we pick them up each night, that we have someone come in to clean once per week (we can afford this if we have the housemate), but still every once in awhile dishes stay in the sink overnight, if we get really busy. So I got this as a second response from a woman who responded initially with a shorter email (I asked in ad for people to tell me a little about themselves):
? Is she being jokey and self-deprecating? Or is she serious about the Royal Doulton tableware? And did she read the part about the toys on the floor and the dishes in the sink?
Later she describes her actual body style as if this were a personal ad (and included two pictures)…
She would probably be a really good roommate for some people. But I think probably not for us. And regardless, is that not a really strange response? Am I missing the British humor? I mean, it’s funny if she’s being funny, but is she?
She’s definately trying to be funny, either that or she’s nuts. But really, it sounds to my British ears that she’s pulling your leg. The real giveaway is the last line of her last response – no one who is that uptight would use the word ‘chuff’. She sounds fun!
OK then - if she is just being funny then I think she does sound fun. So maybe I should still consider her. Thank you for the input. What about the describing her body thing? That seems a little over the top, no?
She could be joking, but there are a few eyebrow-raising things in there. I would make a phone call the next step before even inviting her to your home for a face to face meeting.
I hang out with a fair number of Brits online, and they can have an odd to us colonials sense of humor. I say meet somewhere for coffee and chat for a while. Then if she seems ok bring her home and introduce her to the sprog. Chances if she and the sprog get along, it will work out.
There was a tv show called “keeping up appearances”. It is undoubtably the maim character she is describing. Hyacinth Bucket (promouced Boo-Kay) is just like this and is extremely proud of her royal dulton.
Either she’s for real (highly unlikely, IMO), or she feels that the best way to initiate a relationship with someone in whose home she wants to live, and who has asked for basic information, is by yanking their crank.
This counts as mind-games - not evil ones or anything, but still, mind-games. I don’t do mind-games. I definitely don’t ask mind-games to move in with me.
And in Britain it would be unremarkable to initiate first contact with a complete stranger whose house you might be seeking to live in with one big joke, and no useful information at all?
‘Yanking people’s crank’, or ‘taking the piss’ in Bringlish, is a favourite British pastime and common form of communication, even amongst strangers. A cultural quirk that some nations totally get and join in with (Australians) and others frequently don’t and sometimes take offence at (USAians).
Uhh, okay, so this is some sort of joke. I still have to echo Ascenray’s question. She just wrote a big joke and didn’t answer the question at all, then bizarrely shared her height and hair color with the OP? Who gives a shit, lady? Nobody cares about your hazel eyes. Try telling me something I would actually care about if I’m going to have you, a complete stranger, in my house.
That bit probably means she’s short, dumpy, not sporty at all and is actually pretty ordinary… and likes to smoke and drink (heck, she’s BRITISH, of course she drinks).
It’s not necessarily that Americans won’t “get” or will take offense at joshing, but that it’s considered a warning flag when you first contact a complete stranger for a serious business purpose.
Even then, humour isn’t necessarily considered completely out of place, but you wouldn’t go with entire paragraphs full of bullshitting while entirely neglecting to get down to business.
You’d give some consideration to the fact that, in this case, for example, the OP really is trying to find a boarder who is going to fit in with her living situation – a fretful situation for someone with a child – and isn’t putting up advertisements just so she can receive humorous essays in response.
