We have found one. But we had an awkward scenario tonight.
We had stipulated in the ad that we'd only consider people 28+ and said we were all in our 30s.
One person texted, saying very little about about who they were, and asked when we were seeing people. I have learnt from past experiences that you should not commit to seeing someone without at least knowing their age.
Me: Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Age/job etc? We are seeing people after 6.30pm on Tuesday.
Her: I am 24, looking for a flat with no dramas and I just broke up with my boyfriend of four years, and want to bring our two cats.
Me: [silence - no text sent in return]
Slightly rude, I know, but the age was an automatic veto for us, let alone the recent break-up and fact that she mentioned having 'dramas' in flats. I'd had a whole bunch of texts and phone calls that day and she'd texted while I was in the middle of going through the emails from Trade Me about the ad..... I was busy and flustered - no time to text the no-goes at that moment.
So that was on Friday. No communication since then.
In the mean-time I had set up a time for a 30+ year old to come around tonight at 6.30pm by email. She'd given a couple of times she could come and I'd just emailed back to confirm 6.30pm around lunch-time today.
At about 5.30pm I get a text saying 'So is it still ok for me to come around at 6.30pm? And what was the address? Thanks.' [No name] Smart people can probably see where this is going.
I texted back 'Sure' and gave the address, thinking I may have sent the email a bit late and that it was really nice of her to confirm.
So the email girl, very appropriate person in her 30s, came a few minutes early and I had shown her the room and sat down on the couch for a chat.... when there was a knock at the door.....
Oops.
We thought that it must be the 7pm person coming really early. But then my flatmate opened the door and a very young looking girl was there, and said her name was 'Sarah'* and we immediately remembered who she was. My flatmate just gave me a weird look because we'd clearly vetoed her and I said meeky, 'Oh - I must've written down the wrong time for one of you - sorry!'. I was thinking on my feet here - I had no idea why she'd turned up or how she'd got the address at this point, without going back through my texts. I had a very organised system with a note-book and time-table! And this girl was NOT on the time-table!
So we had to go through the whole rigmarole of pretending we meant to have her around, and we chatted for a while (all the time I was thinking 'I could have taught you- you are so young - we are so old!'). Turns out the only reason she really wanted our flat was that we were one of the few that said we could take cats. Age was irrelevant to her.
Meanwhile the 30+ year old was very understanding and made a quiet exit to allow the young girl to have her interview time.
AWKWARD!
The upside of the story is that we ended up offering the room to the legit 6.30pm appointment - and she took it! We actually had three people come through who we would gladly have offered the room too. That's a luxury!
Moral of the Story
Always take the time to send rejection texts, even if it feels awkward. Having the person accidentally turn up is WAY more awkward.
*changed to protect identity
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