Two Sisters And Their Moving Tale
Moving day is never pleasant for anyone. After notifying the gas and electric companies, and transferring the phone service, there are still a thousand things left to do. Change of address notices need to go out, movers need to be hired, and boxes have to be packed. Then there is the headache of coordinating it all so that you are out of your old place before the new tenant arrives. Sometimes there is also the frustration of arriving at your new home, only to discover that it isn’t vacant yet. You’re left cooling your heels at the nearest coffee shop, with the hourly costs for the rental mounting, while the person who was supposed to be out hours ago scrambles to finish loading his or her own van.
When so many people are moving out on the same day as other people are moving in, it is a carefully balanced act that, even under the best circumstances, is bound to go awry sooner or later. Annabel, who was moving for the first time, decided to avoid any potential problems by doing it the right way.
Months before her moving date, Annabel began her preparations. First she contacted every professional mover in town, checked their references, and inquired if they had insurance. She would only entrust her valuable antique tables and armchairs to a moving company whose credentials she was satisfied with. Next, she began packing her boxes. She selected only boxes that were neither too large, nor too small. She divided and categorized everything that she packed, and labeled each and every box. The day before she was scheduled to move, she called ahead in order to be sure that her new place was ready for her to move in to.
Annabel had an older sister named Julie, who also happened to be moving. Julie, however, did not believe in doing things the right way, as Annabel did. Julie had dozens of moves under her belt, and if there was one thing she knew about, it was moving. Julie did not bother with the size of her boxes, or separating what went into them. She tossed everything in together, and as long as the box could still be lifted, it was fine by her. She did, however, have a fairly unique way of preparing her paintings and drawings for transportation. First, she would remove all of the drawers from her dresser. Then she would take all of the pictures down from their easels and off of the walls, and wrap them up in bedding quilts. Once they were safely wrapped, she would jam them into the empty slots in the dresser. It was a wonderful technique that had served her well in the past. Occasionally one or two would be damaged, but what did it matter? She was no Picasso, after all.
She didn’t call ahead in order to make certain that her new apartment was ready for her. She didn’t need to. Whenever she rented a new place, she tried to find one that the previous tenants had already vacated, or would be vacating at least one month before she moved in. That way her new landlord would already have cleaned and fixed it up by the time she arrived. Sometimes, she even got to move in early. She never rented places when she was not certain that the previous tenants would be long-gone by the time she got there. She’d heard too many stories about people ending up putting their boxes, luggage and dining sets in storage for weeks on end, while their new landlords tried to get the former tenants to move out. That was definitely not Julie’s style.
Instead of hiring professionals, Julie preferred to hire movers that she found in her local newspaper’s classified section. She didn’t have the type of fancy furniture that her sister did, so she did not care if they came with tarpaulins and moving insurance, or not. As long as they got the job done at an affordable rate, she was happy.
Moving day came, and moving day went. Annabel and Julie each moved in the style that suited them, and their moves came out all right in the end. Annabel swears she will never move again if she does not have to, while Julie, well…. She’s still looking for that perfect southern exposure.
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Tags: stories, tales, two sisters