Whenever anything has inflatable in its name—-inflatable castle, inflatable slide, inflatable couch—-it’s better to rent than buy. Still, one Alexandria resident made the mistake of buying an inflatable boxing ring, and now it’s for sale on Craigslist. It can be yours in exchange for $3,000…or perhaps something a little more permanent.

The ad starts out normally enough, considering that it’s an ad for a bouncy boxing ring. But things quickly take a dark turn. Emphasis added:

If you have something to offer for trade, please send detailed information and pictures. Open for trades on all types of Vehicles (trucks, cars, motorcycles), Firearms, and Gold.

Look at how casually that’s written—-it’s like Virginians long ago resorted to a barter economy, and this is just common practice now. This doesn’t exactly help Northern Virginia’s reputation as a every-man-for-himself wasteland.

Photo by Flickr user cight used under a Creative Commons license