So it's Saturday at Coventry, I'd been trudging around in mud up to my ankles for over twenty four hours now when an inspiration hits me.
Why not take a picture of my muddy feet?
So I sit down and snap a few photos. These will be forgotten until I return to civilization a few days later. Finally I pull the pictures off my camera, and I came up with this picture:
Awesome! I loved the picture, so I ordered some prints of it, including some 18"x12" posters, which I wanted to sell on E-Bay. I get the prints in, and I put one of the posters up on E-Bay for a test run to see if it would draw any interest.
The E-Bay auction can be found here. (Please note that the auction may be over by the time this is read.)
Now here's where things start to get interesting. After a few days of having the auction up, I get an e-mail with the subject Question for item #3837209702 - Phish COVENTRY Muddy Feet Poster - 18"x12" - LE. The body of the e-mail said:
Dear phishvt,
dude, those are my feet, we must have met up at coventry, believe me I have had 10 didfferent people vouch for it and it's true. Im, flattered but I think I deserve a pree poster sent to me and I"ll send you a souvenier back. I was in a variety of areas but if you need proof I still have not washed those shoes and I can put them on exactly asthey are shown in the picture my address is 2617 Colfax Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408. My e-mail address is mrspontanaity@hotmail.com. Thanks, we'll talk soon.
Thank you,
mrspontanaity
A bit amused, I responded like this:
I can see two parts of this being possible: a) I met you at Coventry -- I met LOTS of people there and b) that Teva made more than one pair of that model sandal. I can guarentee you though, they are not your feet. I'm sorry for the dissapointment. If you feel you need to pursue this any futher, please feel free to have the appropriate people contact me.
Apparentally this didn't convince this person that I wasn't snapping pictures of his feet while he wasn't paying attention. Upon coming into work the next morning, I found this e-mail in my inbox:
Mickey,
I am not interested in having my people contact you're people but I've though of a solution, I can either send you a picture of my feet, pointing in the same direction in the same shoes to prove it or you can send me a poster. I don't think I 'm asking much considering these are my feet and you're making a significant profit off of them (I know they are gorgeous) but do you really think that I would go though this much trouble if the picture was not of my feet. My feet have certain characteristics that are indistinguishable and will help you make the connection to you're chosen vehicle for art. I think the poster is great and fortunatly I do collect posters myself but that picture is of my feet! I guarantee it! I am known to walk barefoot everywhere or in sandals and I have now had over twenty people verfiy my beauties on the print. If you need to have the cost of making the print and shipping to be covered then I will bow down and do that but I think that is being more than generous. Please don't blow this out of proportion, like I said, I'm flattered, I just want one of the prints so I can show it to my peers. I think you'll do the right thing and I will send you a sticker or some discs or something for you're troubles. O.K? Thanks
Eric
mrspontanaity@hotmail.com
2617 Colfax Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55408
To be honest, at this point I didn't know what to think. I knew for a fact that the feet in the picture were mine, but it had crossed my mind that this person may be crazy, may actually think that his feet were for sale on E-Bay. I decided to put an end to it, I wrote one last reply to this person:
I can't believe I'm even having this conversation.
The feet pictured in this poster are my own feet, in my size 9 Teva sandals that are all but ruined by the mud from Coventry. These sandals are sitting in the hall at my appartment. The picture was taken Saturday, a little after noon, sitting down at my campsite, along with about 3 others to try to get the best shot -- witnessed by friend who I went to the show with, who, following suit took some pictures of his own feet.
So sorry buddy, I don't owe you a poster. I don't even owe you an explanation. I don't owe you anything. Why do you put so much effort into this, you ask? You'd be surprised what some people will go through to get something for nothing.
Anyway, if these are your feet, and I'm making the significant profit as you say, then you'd be owed some of my profit. If you believe this, I urge you to persue this legally. You would be the one playing the fool.
My conversations with you are over. If you want a print, bid on it on E-bay.
Regards,
Mickey
Since that last e-mail, I have not heard from this person. The e-mails were not altered in any way, just copied and pasted. As far as I know, the e-mail address and mailing address are real, and to be quite frank, I don't feel bad posting them for the entire Internet to see and use as they see fit.
Overall, I guess I'm kind of honored that someone would go through this much trouble to try to get a print of my feet. I like the picture, I was unsure anyone else would.
If you'd like to purchase a print of my feet, please contact me.
