What do you gain by this?

Last Sunday while watching an NFL game, the doorbell rang. Since we were expecting company, I anticipated seeing a tall, blonde man standing on my porch, instead it was a short, blonde woman, unknown to me.

“Hi, I’m here about the dog pen…”

There I stood dumbfounded, with both of us staring at each other.

“Uh, I don’t own a dog pen and in fact, I don’t even own a dog,” I confessed.

Now the look on her face changed to one of total confusion.

“Is your name Mary?” she inquired.

“It’s Marion.”

Whipping out her phone, she began frantically scrolling through Facebook’s Marketplace…

“Hmm, this is the address she gave me,” she said, offering the screen to me.

“Yes, that’s my address, but I don’t even have a Facebook account,” I admitted. “Why would people do this?”

“I have no idea,” she replied. “What is the point? I never travel alone for these ventures because you never know what to expect!”

We both shook our heads, as I waved to her husband in the car.

FOUR DAYS LATER…

Yesterday, I received a check in the mail, and you guessed it, it was addressed to Mary Mandy at my house. I opened it and within was yet another couple who got taken in this strange exchange. It was a down payment of $60 for yes, the dog pen. So, being a responsible citizen, I will mail it back to them with yet another explanation.

So, Mary Mandy of Michigan (if that’s truly your name and photo), can you explain your off-the-wall behavior? Wait, don’t bother. It was a rhetorical question.

ADDENDUM

Guess what? The couple that sent the check to my house, dropped by. I invited them in and told them the whole story and informed them that I had mailed back the check. So, I’m sure they found it in the mailbox when they returned home, later that day.

They were astounded by the trail of events, and they too couldn’t fathom why this Mary character would do what she did. Guess, we’ll add their names to those of us equally confounded and mystified by human behavior.