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The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/Joseph_Kokiri on 2024-09-05 21:00:27+00:00.

Recently, my wife got me an 18 inch WSM smoker. I never thought I’d be the kind of dad with a smoker, but I’ve gotten really into it and I’ve made some really good food! I’ve had some problems with my in laws, but over the years, my FIL has mentioned he used to be a butcher, he’s interested in grilling, wants to get a smoker, etc. So I’ve kept an eye out in case I could get him a smoker for Christmas. Maybe we can bond over it or something.

So this morning, I see a never used 18 in. Weber Smokey Mountain on Facebook marketplace for $70! That’s insane. Dude put his number in the listing (didn’t think that was allowed) and I shot my shot and called him.

The guy was nice, and he rambled on. He seemed like he needed to talk, so I just let him. He recently got through two types of cancer. Just had chemo and radiation on his throat. Lymph nodes surgically removed from his ear to his throat, and spots removed from his liver. But super chill and a good attitude about life. He said I was the first caller and asked that I just not ghost him because people should do what they say. The smoker had never been used because it was too hard to get to out in his shed, and his brother recently got him an Oklahoma Joe’s that’s right on his back porch.

So we arrange pick up immediately and I get my three young kids fed, changed, and in the car. It’s about 40 minutes away in a more rural area that I’m not familiar with. So I’m using my phone for the map. When I pull up to the house, I leave my car on and roll down the windows and open the trunk. I knock on the door and he answers immediately.

We turn back towards the road, and this lady calls out to us. He starts walking over to her, and so I follow politely. She shouts, “the driver, not the homeowner.” He invites her into his driveway so she’s not blocking the road. She pulls in and asks me if I know what I did. I’m confused and don’t immediately respond. Then she just loses it in a road rage style monologue about how my phone was inches away from my face when I turned down this road. And she just goes off on me for like 15 minutes while the guy just stands to the side. It was unbelievably embarrassing, but I just take it and apologize and listen so that we can deescalate things. But that somehow made things WORSE! She gets even more upset that I’m not fighting her. And she starts shouting louder and told me that’s how her son died, and she threatened to call the police and DHS and have my kids taken away (who are all three screaming in the car at this point.)

I did have my phone in my hand as I turned down the road because there were a few roads back to back and I was making sure I turned down the right one. They were really close together because they were neighborhood roads, but I was coming off a four lane highway. I didn’t make a wide turn or do anything dangerous. Just needed to be more focused. But I mean she was kinda right 😭 just unhinged.

Well the Facebook marketplace guy had been quietly acting like a mediator this whole time, but he just loses it at the DHS comment. He starts shouting at her and kicked her out of his driveway. Then they start shouting at each other in the middle of the street for 5-10 minutes. They start cussing, she makes a move like she’s going to hit him. He makes a move back. He brings up her dead kid. They both say whatever they can to hurt each other. He tells her to get out because she’s blocking traffic. She threatens to send a motorcycle gang to his house and drives off.

So I got a good deal on a smoker, but instigated two probably decent people into acting out their worst sides and threaten to hurt/kill each other. He was obviously physically dealing with all the cancer aftermath, and she’s a grieving mom who was triggered. I don’t think anyone handled themselves well, but life is tough. And I just made both of their lives tougher. Not sure if I need to file a police report about the motorcycle gang.

TLDR: picked up a smoker from a cancer survivor’s house and got him into a fight with an unhinged road rager.