First, Brayden, traumatized last night when she realized the guys packed away her Tamigatchi (sp?) and it’s certainly going to die in its cardboard box before we get our household goods shipped to us in two weeks. Traumatized even worse this morning when she realized they packed away her half-eaten box of Lucky Charms and she had to eat left-over donuts for breakfast. Truly, her life is a disaster.
Second, several of you have asked why are we feeding our movers and packers? (Today’s lunch was much cheaper, as there were only three of them, thank you very much.) Um ….. I don’t know. Because that’s what you’re supposed to do?? At least, that’s what we’ve always been told, starting with the “How to be an Air Force Officer and an Officer’s Wife 101” seminar that Blaine and I were required to take before he was commissioned and graduated. I know all our military friends buy *their* movers breakfast and lunch, as well, so maybe it’s just a big ole’ conspiracy by the government??? At least I *think* they all pony up for lunch ---- military wives reading this, you buy your people lunch, right? And hey, if a hundred bucks in fast food expenses makes them indebted to us, and means they will be kinder and gentler with our household goods, then it’s money well spent as far as I’m concerned. Sort of like insurance. Insurance in a Sonic bag. (Seriously? You people don’t buy your packers and movers lunch??? I am SO not considering that for my next career move, then. Well, that and the fact it looks like hard work and I avoid hard work whenever possible.)
Thirdly, to Olivia, I think you missed my point. Or I think maybe I didn’t state myself clearly. I was a WEENIE when we moved the first time. Small-town, small-mind, completely intimidated by anything that was different or out of “my” ordinary. It’s not something I’m proud of, and thank goodness through twenty years of moving around, my horizons have been broadened, but I can at least laugh about it now. Sorry you didn’t see the humor in it.
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32 comments:
Three things come to mind. People with no sense of humor should not post on blogs or maybe even read them. Some not named poeple have never lived in Lompoc or Santa Maria. I have. I get it. I would feed my movers in hopes that would take good care of my things.
Happy moving!
Dixie in CA
Did you know Sonic has happy hour from 2-4? Half price drinks and slushies. I didn't know that until today and my Route 44 was 95 cents. Good luck with your move. I love to read your blog.
...right on Dixie! Some people have not lived, let alone in places you describe...I lived on the "wrong side" of the tracks and saw more than grande cigar smoking women on the front porches...I cannot even write here what went on...but we do laugh about it when we reminisce at the dinner table...the kids can't believe it...but then again, they haven't "lived yet."
Kristie you "GO GIRL" and may your new adventures bring us many laughs :)
We have had umpity corporate moves. Shoot, for three years straight, we moved on Halloween! How awful was that? Our children thought everyone trick or treated in the lobby of various hotels.
Anyway, I wanted to tell you of our move from Georgia to Ohio. The movers packed the chameleons in their aquarium home. Insert eyeroll of great magnitude. I came in the den, there was no aquarium on the table. I asked if it had been moved. "Oh, that glass box? It is in that box over there. Wading through two children having hysterics I rescued the danged chameleons. Know that the top of the aquarium had been pushed askew and there were about 90 crickets loose in the box. Well, maybe 12, but they were loose. We got them rounded up and Revlon, Grecian Formula, and Clairol lived through the move and for quite some time after.
ROFLMAO!!
Kathryn, I don't know you but your comment just cracked me up beyond belief. Not just the chameleons but their NAMES!! how funny!!
Leeann
Kristie - Of course we feed them lunch! Now, back in the day it was a sack full of cheeseburgers. I didnt bother to take an order of who wanted what. Then another move maybe a few buckets of KFC and some sides. We always have a cooler stocked with Drinks for the movers and ourselves for those days too. They really appreciate it, and it immediately changes their attitude oftentimes. I agree it is the thing to do. It may very well be a military thing to do - since we move so often and need to be able to trust our movers.
On another note. Olivia - go away.
Seriously, a blog is a place to write whatever the hell you want.
If you dont like - go read elsewhere. Its so simple.
Erin R
Yes, we have always fed our movers too, starting with my first move out of my parents garage. One thought/hope was if we can keep them on our property, they won't take as long of a break. Nothing fancy, subs or pizza. We always have coffee available but we haven't been doing the breakfast thing since Alaska. They didn't eat enough to justify having them.
Can someone please come search my garage boxes and find the box with my salad forks and desk shelves! Probably in with the pro gear somewhere...
Hope the weather is nice to you on truck loading day!
Hugs,
I think the Navy must have the same conspiracy to feed movers as the Air Force. We've always fed ours donuts for breakfast and something easy (fast food, pizza, subs etc) for lunch. I like to think it made them more careful with our stuff, but who knows. I will say that when dh retired in April, we moved off base to our new house 5 miles away. We had more things break in that short 5 miles than we did in both our PCS's to Japan combined. Maybe they didn't like my lunch choices?
I have never heard of feeding your movers but I think it's a very nice thing to do - and can't hurt when it comes to them helping you locate the packed toilet paper.
I'm loving all the updates on your moving/packers/free meals.
I never had a military or corporate move but I always fed the movers (that cost me $200 per hr.) and had plenty of coffee and cold drinks.
After reading what you paid for your furnished apartment in LA 20 years ago you don't have to be very discriptive about your "new neighbors" because I get it! I was renting an apartment in So CA at that time and believe me I can't imagine what you got for $500because I had a modest one bedroom unfurnished for $850 and it wasn't exactly in a great neighborhood.
You are funny, Kristie...we all love your blog and thanks to modern technology, your moving means we are "coming with you" sort of.
I wish people would find a beter way to vent then to come on someone's blog and rip them a new one...
Absolutely, you feed your movers! Don't you want your best dishes packed carefully?
We're not a military family, but with corporate moves, they give us an allotment to feed AND tip the movers. It's cheaper than dealing with broken china and unhappy relocated employees.
Just somebody please tell my why movers always pack my kitchen garbage cans before I can get the bag out and to the curb? Nothing like opening a bag of ripe garbage at the new house!
I didn't know about feeding the packers on our first move so those packers got the short end of the stick. But on my 2nd move I did buy them lunch and offered softdrinks to them. It's the nice thing to do! Maybe it is a southern thing too! You know we feed anyone that comes in our house!
Claire in TX
but from Louisiana
We always feed our movers too (Marine Corps). They once packed my garbage can .... FULL of garbage. It was almost a month before we got our stuff. Eww. Good luck with your move !! We just moved back to CA (home) from NY & we hope that this will have been our last PCS before Chad retires.
1. Yeah, her Tami-whatsit's totally going to be dead.
2. I had movers during one move, and when I offered them a cold drink, they looked at me like I'd sprouted a third eye. I don't think it's the norm everywhere. But I think it's a very nice gesture!
3. Whoa. She totally missed the boat on that one.
Know what, though? I like it when stuff (comments) like that are pointed out. I rarely read everyone's comments, and I find ones like that interesting. It's almost like some people search out a phrase to attack, but clearly miss the big picture. It'd be embarrassing if it wasn't so amusing (as an outsider) to read. I'm sure if I got a negative comment it would bother me for all eternity, but this way, I can get righteously indignant on your behalf AND be mildly amused at the same time! :)
As we've discussed before, I grew up moving in the Air Force and I still buy lunch for my movers when moving. Usually they are family and friends though and it is a very nice way to thank them for all their time and effort. Seriously, who can question a kind gesture? Wishing you the very best in your new life in OK.
I forgot to mention that one time when we brought the lunch home for the packers they all came in and politely got what they wanted and were headed back outside. We had the kids sitting at our dinner table and I was puzzled as to why they were going outside. I told them they were welcome to sit inside with us. One of the men hung out with us. I think he was the supervisor of the group, he smiled and talked more than he had the whole day up to then. He was truly happy to be invited to join us at the table. The other guys choose to eat outside in their truck anyways but I am sure they wanted to be able to talk about the big old pregnant belly sculpture they found up in my closet (complete with wonderfully detailed breasts -
OMG please tell me I packed that thing in a box when I put it up there....no such luck). It was hard to look at them in the eye the rest of that day! Anyhow my point is that I dont think offering lunch is really expected at all. But, if you can afford to do it, it is a nice gesture that makes for a great break in the otherwise stressful day for everyone! Erin R
I think fat Mexican women with cigars rival the Fat French matron/concierge's with tree-trunk legs that are pissed as hell to be renting to a stupid little American girl. (Well, little being subjective.) I will never forget when I lived over there, every time I came home, there she was, waiting at the gate, to rip me a new one for whatever infraction I had committed that day. She would carry on at what seemed like 100 MPH, legs spread wide, cigarette flailiing, and it would always end with the grand finale of "BAH! Amereecaaans, BAH!" She never berated any of her other tenants. Nope. Just me. The Amereecaaaan.
Funny thing was, though, at least to me, was that I didn't speak French at the time. I had ZERO clue what this woman was yelling at me about every evening. But I stood there and nodded... For all I know, she wasn't yelling, but inviting me to a fabulous dinner. And after watching me stand there and nod, she probably thought I was coming. And then I didn't. OH GOD WHAT IF SHE WAS INVITING ME TO DINNER? Crap! I never thought of that before.
Note to self: Learn to converse in the native tongue before leaving home next time.
Although, in my defense, I have never in all my years since had a dinner invitation start out with, "Oh, ma mia. Qelle Bordelle!" (Did I mention she also did the cleaning? I think she likened my apartment to a brothel.
We fed our movers breakfast and lunch and had cold drinks available for them all day--which they guzzled with great gusto. Whatever it takes is my motto! We also took fresh baked cookies to the framers working on our house when we built it. We had squeaky floors anyway. Oh well. Worth a try.
I always have to feed my movers too, but darn it I feed them so well, they stay. LOL My husband and boys are our movers, but now I know if I ever get "real" movers I need to feed them.
we're navy and we feed our movers too. i usually just have pizza or subs delivered.
except if you feed them, then they'll clog up your toilet sometime during the day.
makes me wonder why they packed your TP...weren't they concerned THEY'D have to use the can??? duh.
i'm enjoying your blog, hope you have a safe move :)
I've never hired movers before, so I didn't know providing lunch was proper ettiquite. Now I do.
And, yes, I didn't see that statement as humorous, my bad. Erin R: relax, just like Kristie has changed her thinking in the last 20 yrs, I can also be corrected and learn. The phrase stuck out for me because I grew up in a predominately hispanic area. This ethnic group are my friends & family, both born in the U.S. and elswhere. My sister (half-sis technically) is hispanic, and coincidentally on the heavy side. I'm white, my husband is black.....as a result, I'm a sensitive to things I see as negative stereotyping.
It's sometimes hard to "hear" the humor with written words, so I apologize, Kristie, for the misunderstanding.
We always offered lunch to our packers. Sometimes they accepted, sometimes not. We also kept a cooler full of drinks for them. We never even thought of doing breakfast. I guess we just assumed they'd eat before work. As for packing garbage...ours was nearly always neatly packed in a box, lovingly wrapped in packing paper. Haha.
Gayle in AL (and NOT moving again! I probably shouldn't have said that!)
Olivia ~
You know, when I saw that line in Kristie's post, I suspected she might get spanked by someone for it...but the point wasn't that the character described had a certain skin color (heck, many of Kristie's readers are down in Texas which means many of our friends are hispanic!) And lord knows, I'm overweight!
But in choosing a few words to focus on, rather than the big picture of moving-outside-of-one's comfort-zone to an entirely different culture (and given that her entire post that day was about the anxiety of moving and change), I think you just missed the gestalt of that post.
Nowadays, we all have white, black, brown, cigar-smoking, etc., etc., etc., folks in our lives. For me? It was the hairy-eyeball Kristie was treated to that was the issue! :)
And sometimes describing what *IS* is not "negative stereotyping" at all. Case in point: Kristie's post. She accurately described the ONE woman in questions. *Your* mind took it to the level of "negative stereotyping."
Anyhoo, glad you're still here and commenting! :)
Olivia, glad to see you came back and I appreciate your perspective. For those of us who have moved far from our comfort zones, our words are meant as descriptions and not discrimination. I could describe the little Japanese and Turkish women we saw and it would never be meant negative but others reading it may see it that way. I loved living everywhere the AF has sent us and loved all the people I had the opportunity to interact with. Yet, overseas situations were way out of the typical life that I grew up in so I would have used descriptive words but to someone who grew up there, that may sound like discrimination. And, when you are way out of your comfort zone, those things that are different appear more scary and exaggerated than they really are.
Kristie, hope you haven't lost track of anything else you need in the next couple of weeks! You do count children and make sure Lager is there each night correct?
Hugs!
We haven't ever fed our movers. But next move I'll defintitely reconsider. I had never heard of it.
I grew up in an Air Force family and my parents always bought the movers lunch (typically cheeseburgers & fries) while she made my brother and I eat peanut butter sandwiches and carrot sticks. Sigh. Now my mover is my Dad and I make him buy me lunch...ahhh.
Oliva needs to get a sense of humor. Or put out her cigar
Okay - now let's not gang up on Olivia. She's come to see the humor. Good for you, Olivia, for having the guts to admit to your misinterpretation. That's a sure sign of an open mind!
--Patti in NJ
I love this blog.. I am normally just a lurker, with an occasional guest book entry, but I read Kristies blog each and every day..
I feel like it's a group of friends who can disagree, state your objections, talk it out.. and sometimes agree that maybe we just took it wrong?? I saw the humor.. as a southern girl transplanted first to NJ then to NY, I was overly sensitive to comments sometimes... So, Olivia, I too am glad that you're still here.. You know that Kristie doesn't have a mean bone in her body!! FUNNY, yes!!
Kristie, good luck on the move. As I've said before, I'm jealous that you are getting to go home.. Wish that I could but I do love my friends here in upstate NY. Don't stay away too long, we'll go into withdrawal...
Mary in Albany NY
Oh, yeah.. and definitely, FEED THE MOVERS.. It's a hard job, and they have seemed to really appreciate it each time we've done it.. We also occasionally feed people doing work in the house, if it's a one day job...
Mary in Albany NY
We always feed them lunch and have drinks (coffee if it's cold; tea or ice water if it's hot) for ours. But we've never done breakfast for them because they never get there before 8am. And, like your latest crew, ours did not arrive until 10:30am for our last move. :(
Hey!
So glad you're packed and off to "home". We left Canada (me kicking and screaming) almost 10 years ago, and I swore I'd never move again. Of course I won't be doing it with a 3 & 1 year old, 3 months pregnant, and having just lost my mom 6 weeks earlier - so next time it may not be so bad.
I read Olivia's comments with a chuckle. When we moved here the littlest thing would freak me out (my neighbour had a gun cabinet - in his living room for crying out loud - and with animal heads - in his living room!).
I'm assuming she's never left home and been a "fish out of water". Prayerfully, she'll find people along the way like you and I to help her find her way.
Kim
Mom to:
Daniel-12
Scott-almost 11
Bryan-9
Sarah-7
Dana-7
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