Moving courtesy...

[Bignate603]

I thought it was common courtesy to have all your junk in boxes if somebody was coming over to help you move. Over the last 3 days I've helped 3 different people move and I've got to help one more tomorrow (I really need to sell the van so I don't have a vehicle to help with). The first 2 had everything in boxes, ready to go. Today, there junk was everywhere and I had to wait/help to get everything packed before it was ready to go. I thought this was going to be a 1.5 hour job tops, just throwing the junk in my van and then dropping it off. It turned into a 3 hour thing which made me get home 7 hours before I have to get up tomorrow. If it was on a weekend it wouldn't be a big deal, but I don't want to nod off at my job. And yes, rather than sleeping I'm griping about this on ATOT.

I think next time I walk in and somebody is still packing I'm going to walk out.

Any other unwritten rules of helping somebody move?

Another one I can think of is to box up anything that you don't want anybody imagining you wearing or using. Moving your unmentionables in open top boxes is not healthy for anyone involved. Don't ask me how I know...

 

[Leros]

Help someone move entails carrying stuff from the house to the van to the new house. Thats it. Basically anything that they cannot do on their own.

 

[Baked]

Learn to say no and don't be somebody's bitch.

 

[wahoyaho]

Tell them beforehand to make sure they have it all packed? Or just say no to everyone.

 

[Skeeedunt]

Originally posted by: savoyboy
Box up all your belongings first
Buy pizzas
Put handgun next to pizzas and take a pic
Post on ATOT

This is what I always do too.

 

[Kyle]

:beer:
is the first thing I thought of...but yeah- it should all be boxed up

 

[Auggie]

Well, ideally things will be packed.

Sometimes the person just can't help it for whatever reason. If they have a decent excuse (like my friend did last month - in the middle of a PhD candidacy examination) then you should try to be mature and let it slide and help them out. If they're just lazy, well... they're just lazy.

 

[Auggie]

Other rules:

If you borrow someone's truck, you return it with more gas than when you borrowed it.
If you have someone help, you always buy them a meal. If it's a good friend, you buy em a few beers at the pub later that night.

Any others that all normal people know?

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: Auggie
Well, ideally things will be packed.

Sometimes the person just can't help it for whatever reason. If they have a decent excuse (like my friend did last month - in the middle of a PhD candidacy examination) then you should try to be mature and let it slide and help them out. If they're just lazy, well... they're just lazy.

No excuse, they work less than my wife and I do. They just put it off, they have to be out today. I couldn't leave them there and tell them to call when they were ready because they would have never gotten out.

The couple know that they owe me now... I just have to figure out how to use it.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Here's my short list:

1.) Have everything ready (transport vehicle(s), your stuff, etc).
2.) Provide refreshments (something to drink during, food afterwards)

A few other rules about your stuff. Try to have it somewhat clean, no one wants to move a bunch of dirty stuff. Food is not something that should be moved, especially if its a bunch of cheap stuff (not to mention it being out of date). Try to get rid of any junk you can before moving. Anything you don't want broken should be placed together and clearly marked as well.

 

[akshatp]

I moved earlier this year and had 4 of my friends who own SUV's meet me at my current residence at 11 am sharp. Between them, myself, my bro-in-law and my sisters this was going to be easy.

I had everythign BOXED and sitting on the 1st floor as close to the front door as possible. When they all arrived, we worked like a production line passing the boxes from one person to the next and everything was packed in the cars within 30 minutes and we were on our way to the new place.

Similar production line there, except the fact we had to go up 4 floors slowed things down.. Thank god for the elevator and moving carts.

Took a little over an hour to get everything upstairs. I had a full case of beer in the fridge ready to go and ordered 5 pies of pizza.

Thats how you ask friends to help you move.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: Bignate603

No excuse, they work less than my wife and I do. They just put it off, they have to be out today. I couldn't leave them there and tell them to call when they were ready because they would have never gotten out.

The couple know that they owe me now... I just have to figure out how to use it.

What? No U-haul or other local truck rental in your area? Seems kinda odd to me...

In the 33 years my wife and I have been married, I've asked for help moving twice...maybe 3 times, and that was only for help with the large, heavy items that my wife couldn't help me move.
I've had enough bad experiences helping people move that I finally just say "NO." I don't make lame excuses, "Oh gee, I'd love to, but I have to...um...go out of town suddenly. Oh? not that weekend but the next weekend? ummmm, I have to go out of town suddenly that weekend too!" D;
It never fails, a simple one or two hour move ends up being 4 or 8 hours before you're done, or someone drops something and either dents your truck, or scrapes the paint badly...or breaks a fucking window...:roll:
MUCH easier to just say, "NO!"

 

[I Saw OJ]

I've helped two different friends move so many times I cant even count. 1 friend is always good, stuff is boxed and ready to go. The other...last time I helped him he had nothing, and I mean nothing packed, boxes were still folded on the floor.

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: BoomerD

Originally posted by: Bignate603

No excuse, they work less than my wife and I do. They just put it off, they have to be out today. I couldn't leave them there and tell them to call when they were ready because they would have never gotten out.

The couple know that they owe me now... I just have to figure out how to use it.

What? No U-haul or other local truck rental in your area? Seems kinda odd to me...

In the 33 years my wife and I have been married, I've asked for help moving twice...maybe 3 times, and that was only for help with the large, heavy items that my wife couldn't help me move.
I've had enough bad experiences helping people move that I finally just say "NO." I don't make lame excuses, "Oh gee, I'd love to, but I have to...um...go out of town suddenly. Oh? not that weekend but the next weekend? ummmm, I have to go out of town suddenly that weekend too!" D;
It never fails, a simple one or two hour move ends up being 4 or 8 hours before you're done, or someone drops something and either dents your truck, or scrapes the paint badly...or breaks a fucking window...:roll:
MUCH easier to just say, "NO!"

I was told that they had moved most of their stuff so I told them I'd be by at 7:30. By then the rental place had closed and they had to be out by the next morning, not really time to get a truck. If this guy hadn't helped me when my car broke down I probably would have said no, but he helped me when I needed it badly.

 

[Xavier434]

I always pack my stuff in boxes first. I also always compensate them with either food, a trip to the bar, or both. Besides, I like hanging out with my friends and even though moving is a bitch, it can also be a good excuse to go hang out. Got to think positively!

 

[Toastedlightly]

So many angry people here. Why not just help and not expect anything in return?

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: Toastedlightly
So many angry people here. Why not just help and not expect anything in return?

That's what I do. When people help me, I offer things in return but not out of guilt or because I feel it is some unwritten rule. I do it because I feel grateful and I want to express that to my friends even though I realize that I don't need to do that for them to understand. I have really good friends though.

 

[markgm]

Everything has to be packed up. When I move afterwords I provide beer and food.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Among my circle of friends we've traded moves dozens of times. Everyone has moved at least twice and everyone helped everyone else every time. The rules are few and simple

1) You're helping to MOVE, not to PACK. The mover is expected to have everything ready or you're free to walk out.
2) The mover provides beer, pizza and other refreshments.
3) No whining. If you have to move that sleeper sofa from the third floor down a narrow staircase that's barely wide enough to carry a lamp (been there, done that) man up an do it.
4) No talk about debts. You help your friends, they help you. Nobody needs to be reminded about past moves and who owes whom what.

 

[nakedfrog]

I want to know what the unmentionables were.

 

[MotF Bane]

Everything must be packed and ready to go out the door.
Pizza and beer at the end.

 

[queenrobot]

1. Don't expect them to help you pack
2. Make sure the beer is flowing freely
3. Let them eat whatever they want in the fridge (even if it is an entire pint of ice cream in one sitting)
4. Profit?

 

[Zee]

i fucking help when a friend asks. only real friends would ask me too

you guys are fucking lame and i hope someone else treats you with the same resentment and half hearted offers

 

[Demon-Xanth]

I'd say pack up as much as is reasonable ahead of time. Have stuff ready to go. And be ready to start working when they get there.


...but I've done a lot of helping move where the person has done very little packing at all, isn't ready to go, and wants to reminisce about every item before it's packed. The last two times I moved we were effectively done in about 4 hours. (parent's house to apartment and apartment to my house).

edit:
And your (op's) experience isn't bad. It took us two full days just to pack up my grandma's place and get it loaded into the trucks.

 

[Anubis]

this is why we have Dunkin Iced Coffee

 

[Shadow Conception]

Offer them fellatio.