(Warning: this is a rant.)
Don't do it. Well, not "don't" but do so cautiously.
This week has been one of those weeks where it seems one church activity or another has taken all our free time. I want to ignore the door and turn off the phones and just say "no more." Three nights in a row this week Blake was out doing something church related after work. That meant he saw Bonnie for half an hour or so before he left for work and that she was asleep or nearly asleep by the time he got home. That's sad for both of them and sucky for me. I got to deal with an overtired, teething, fussy baby all by myself. (This full-time parent stuff is no joke, but that's a topic for another post.)
Right now, he's gone to help someone move. The person he's helping move isn't even a member of our congregation. It's a friend of a friend of someone, and they called the elder's quorum to help out. That's what they do, right? Help with moves? We did actually have plans for our Saturday, but this move has thrown a wrench in them. They may have to be scrapped entirely if it goes too long. What's worse is that this weekend is supposed to be one of those hotter-than-hell weekends, the kind of days where the weather service warns people to just stay inside. And this person has scheduled their move for 11:00 on Saturday. Seriously? I sent Blake with lots of ice water, and he was wearing a hat, but that's hardly an adequate defense against the heat.
It's not that I have a problem with any individual person or family who asks the elder's quorum to help them move; it's what happens system-wide with these moves that bothers me. First, Moving's a pain. No one really wants to spend his Saturday moving. So, very few people show up to help with moves. It ends up being the same couple of nice guys or guys with callings in the elder's quorum presidency who help every time. Sometimes it's just one guy who shows up to help. This means all the moves take way longer than they need to. Second, the people who request help with moving often do so at the last minute and/or are unprepared when church members show up to help them. Last week someone called the day of the move. This week it was two days before the move. That's not enough time for the presidency to find volunteers or pass around a sign-up sheet. So, they end up doing it themselves, often after a long week of being away from their families and free time completing the responsibilities of a time-intensive calling.
So, I would like to propose a few guidelines for movers:
1) Plan ahead. In most cases you know you'll be moving months (or at least weeks) before the actual day arrives.
2) Do what you can for yourself. Pack your own boxes. Rent or arrange your own truck. (Yet another reason I plan to never own a truck: we will get called to help with every move.)
3) Go to your friends and family members for help first. Hire movers if you can. Experience has taught me that unskilled, unpaid help is not always the gentlest on your belongings.
4) When you've gone through the above steps, you may then ask for help from your ward. This is appropriate if you're moving to a new state or whole new area where you don't have any friends or family to help.
5) Choose a day and time that are convenient for those who are helping you move. 11:00 on any Saturday is not generally a convenient time and definitely not in triple-digit heat.
6) Overestimate how much stuff you have and how long it will take to move it. Likely, you'll still be under the actual time it will take. If not, people would way rather plan for a 4-hour move and have it take 2 than to plan for a 1-hour move and have it take 4.
7) Be ready when the time for the move comes.
8) Work along with your movers. Don't just watch them work. Even if you can't do much, do what you can.
9) Provide drinks and snacks or even a meal for those who have volunteered to help.
10) Be grateful. Say "Thank you" a lot! Learn the names of the people there and send them a card or remember that you owe them one and be willing to return the favor when they need it.
That is all.
Rant over.
5 comments:
Don Roberts had the system down. Ask Uncle Lou about it. If I have it right, when he was in the Elder's Quorum, he organized moves. Each person was guaranteed to work only an hour and then he insisted that they leave. That way, no one burned out, and more people were willing to help because they knew it would really only be an hour. Of course, that does mean there needs to be some planning ahead - like you said.
I'm disappointed in the depth of your rant, so let me help you out a little bit.
When the Church released the latest handbook of instructions, one of the things they specifically called out was that the Elders Quorum is not a moving company, and the Relief Society isn't a deliver a casserole group. They reiterated that when we need help, we should first help ourselves (like hiring movers if we can), then ask family to help, and asking the Church when all else fails. You addressed this point, but it bothers me so much that too many people get this all mixed up that I wanted to say it again.
So I understand that there may be an occasion where we have to have someone like the Elders Quorum help us move. In which case, here are some suggestions:
1) Priority one is to make things go as fast as possible. That means that you are the hardest worker there.
2) The Elders Quorum only knows how to take things into our out of a moving truck. They don't know how to pack or unpack boxes. They aren't experts at making everything fit.
3) On moving out, everything you want moved should be packed before help arrives.
4) If you can afford a piano, then you should be able to afford piano movers (or at least rent some piano dollies)
5) Eat your food storage before moving, so it doesn't have to be moved.
6) Since the only thing the Elders Quorum knows what to do involves the truck (point #2), make sure you have one there before anyone arrives, and make sure it is big enough.
7) If you have kids, arrange ahead of time for someone to watch them. Elders move too quickly to watch out for kids. Also, if your kids are taken care of, that means that you (and the rest of your able family) are fully dedicated to making things go fast (point #1)
8) If you are providing food, donuts, pizza, drinks, etc, don't leave to go pick them up (have them already or get someone who is less able to move pick them up). Elders would much rather get things done faster with more people than to be fed.
9) When moving in, don't unpack until the trunk is unloaded. If something can wait until after the truck is unloaded, then don't do it.
10) Clearly identify on each box where it should go in the new house. There is no need to identify where in the old house the box came from. If you can, draw a map of the new house; photocopy the map for each box; identify on the map where the box should go.
11) In the case that you've failed all suggestions from point #10, assign someone from your family (preferably not the best mover) to stand (and stay) at the trunk telling people where each box goes.
12) If you are moving across town, you should have used your car to move over a lot of items already.
13) Keep box weight reasonable. Pack books in book boxes.
14) Assume that your volunteers time is 5 to 10 times more valuable than your own time. Only ask a volunteer to do something if it would take you 5 to 10 times longer to do it yourself.
15) Buy rope to tie things down with in the truck. No mover wants to wait around while someone runs to the store to buy more rope.
16) Rent, borrow, buy, or otherwise obtain dollies. Especially if you are moving large appliances.
17) If you are moving from one ward to another, don't ask your old Elders Quorum to move you into the new house. Don't ask your new Elders Quorum to move you out of your old house.
18) If you are moving out of a third floor apartment, provide parachutes for all your stuff, so they can be thrown out the window. (Just kidding).
When I was in one of my ward's RS presidencies, three of us drove SUVs. Guess who got the calls to help people move? Us. So in that ward, the RS presidency was the "movers" - never saw a guy from the ward there to help out.
I agree! We've had a bunch of moving Saturdays and they're no fun. :(
Brilliant post!! I couldn't agree more. We hired movers to unload our truck when we got to Buffalo and it didn't even cost $100. I think people sometimes don't realize how affordable it actually is...
Brownie point to Blake for being so unselfish though. I think we would have just not answered our phones!
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