I bought something off Craigslist and lived to tell the tale.

You all know by now that if there's something to be worried about, I'm there. It was in this spirit of adventure that I decided we needed a crib mattress.

See, the perfect godbaby is staying with us this weekend when the Kid and Brian are coming to town to have her saved from an eternity in purgatory, and also to eat cupcakes. We have a crib, but no mattress in it. We looked at Wal-Mart, and discovered that a super-basic made-in-China mattress runs at least $40. If you want one that is significantly less likely to be painted with lead, or made in a sweatshop, you're going to pay more. We poked around at the mall while waiting for something to be engraved (Hi Kid! I mean your baby's present!), and found the cheapest mattress to be had at the mall was at Sears, for $80, with no specifications as to firmness or make. No, thanks. We also found that the only crib mattress they had in stock at the Bon-Ton (which we wandered for, like, twenty minutes trying to find the baby section or a salesperson) was $300 freaking dollars, but it would go on sale next week for $160, so could she lock us in now at the sale price? Oh, I laughed. No, thank you.

Of course, Andy is the world's most dedicated bargain hunter, so while it was slow at work today he found a Simmons Baby Beautyrest mattress in "perfect" condition on Craigslist for $25. The original plan was for us to go look at it together this evening, but he got a last-minute phone call that our friends' new apartment is available early and could he help them move tonight? SO I got to go on my own. I texted him that if the lady on the phone killed me and made my face into a mask, it was on his head. I feel this is a perfectly legitimate fear when transacting business through Craigslist, by the way.

I got there (to a lovely, quiet, fancypants subdivision) just before 5 pm. There were neighbors out watering gardens, so at least if my car stayed there too long they might notice something. The lady came out to meet me in the garage - and it was my high-school photography teacher. For some reason, I feel much more comfortable buying a used crib mattress from someone who knows about shutter speeds and f-stops than a genuine stranger. And, keeping in line with my theory that people will give you things for free if you say you're becoming a foster parent, she threw in three crib sheets when I told her why we needed the mattress.

I'm obviously going to wash the mattress down with a bleach solution and let it air out before my perfect goddaughter gets to sleep on it, and of course the sheets are getting washed too, but I feel pretty solid about what I'm pretty sure is the first time I've bought something off of Craigslist entirely unaided.

Do you assume Craigslist strangers are murderers too? Any awesome scores off of CL in your area?