The Tale of the Cracked Plates

This time of the month there are always people coming and going in my building. Towards the end of the month and the beginning of the next month, new people move in and others move out. It is the nature of high-rise living, as most contracts start or end on the first or thirtieth of the month.

There are wise people, that plan their move ahead of time. They go out and get as many boxes as they can, to ensure all their belongings will arrive at their next destination. They hire professional movers, to do all the hard stuff, so all they have to do is coordinate where things go, and make sure nothing gets broken.

Then, there are the nutbars that go out of their way to do it the wrong way ‘round. Like today – as I was doing errands today, I ran into a Chinese family moving out of the building. Nothing – NOTHING – was boxed, packed or even tied together. They were loading and unloading the elevators with everything as it was in their home – I saw stacked plates and dishes, rolls of toilet paper, toys were scattered everywhere – what a mess!

Obviously, this family had not planned their move – or if they had they hadn’t planned it well. I’d like to place a bet on how long those dishes and plates last before they get cracked and broken.

I’ve seen others pack their lives in garbage bags – which may be better than nothing, still provides little to no protection.

The family moving today, were not only risking damaging or loss of their possessions, they were holding up life for others in the building. They hadn’t booked an elevator for service use through the building management office (which they should have) and so they were using all the elevators to move their bits and pieces of a scattered life. They simply tossed everything into the elevator, and then tossed it out into the main floor hallway.

It was like walking through a wasteland – a garbage dump.

It also slowed down the movement of people – including me – in and out of the building, as you had to catch an empty elevator or else you’d never get down or up.

I hope the family that was moving today ends up with lots of damage to their stuff – it’ll teach them that maybe next time, it won’t cost so much to get some boxes. You can actually get boxes free from the liquor store, and many other stores will gladly give you free boxes – they have lots from all their regular shipments.

People that don’t plan, plan to fail. Good luck to those nutbars – they need it.