When you consider a "mover," what's the first picture that involves thoughts? A he-man? A standard thug? Well, I occur to be a mover, so I took a web based ballot. And sure, the outcomes bust my coronary heart.
From 100 responders, the composite mover was uneducated, low-class, impolite, and untrustworthy. Basically the unimaginative skunk you see smoking cigarettes outdoors a pawn store, his hat turned backward, utilizing the f-word much and spit on the sidewalk.
I admit it. I'm a mover. I lug different individuals's stuff, from their model new 60" HDTV to their sweat-stained mattresses, 40 hours a week. I earn about $2,850 per calendar month after taxes, drive an old pickup, and rent an flat in a shabby part of town. My knuckle duster and shins are always chipped, and I have prolonged pain in my back and shoulders, but no medical insurance.
I also happen to hold a Bachelor of Music degree, and can rock a piano like Rachmaninoff. In college, moving was a weekend job, then a summer job. I graduated in 2005, and I'm still moving.
You are probably questioning why I continue in that profession. Believe me, my friends and family ask me that all the time. Honestly? I'm good at it. Very good.
As with most industries, there is a hierarchy of company personnel. We movers would call it a "pecking order." I prefer working in a 3-man crew, so I'll use that for an example.
The worst rung mover is a "lumper." Like the name implies, the "lumper" carries boxes and folds the moving pads; he is either too callow or too careless to be sure to help carry an antique shanty or an artificer leather sofa. He power smoke and spit on the ground, but then he power be a good dude who wants to rise through the ranks.
On the next rung up is the "second man," or simply "#2." He has some experience, perchance even takes a degree of pride in his work, and can carry heavy and/or fragile items up and down stairs, and around tight corners. He knows many tricks of the trade, ordinarily has a likable personality, even if a bit rough around the edges.
On the top rung is the "loader." (That's me.) I am the guy who assembles the load in the truck so that everything fits and nothing can be damaged during transit. Believe it or not, loading a truck is a organized process. To safely pad-wrap and arrange all the furniture, appliances, boxes, melange of a 5,000 sq ft home into a 2,000 brick-shaped foot truck is difficult, especially patc the client prods you to go faster yet be more careful at the same time.
And don't get me wrong - as the loader, I don't hang out on the truck patc the "lumper" and #2 bring me the goods. On most moves, I carry my fair share. Plus, I hustle to set the pace for the crew. #2 and I handle every item that is delicate, unwieldy, or precious to the client. In my 10 years experience, I have developed a signature style for handling difficult items, managing the load as a whole, conducting my crew, and interacting with the client. The results? For one, my crew always gets a fat tip when the job is done. What's more, other movers request to work with me, and other remotion firm bosses want me to work for them: seriously, they call like headhunters and make me better offers. I can say, with total humility, "I'm the rock star of this trade, on this city and the following city over."
So back to the "mover" stereotype. Sadly, even a gifted loader (or #2 or the "lumper") can also be a scumbag/druggie/thief, but so can pop stars and celebrity divas (LiLo, Paris, etc.) we all know and love. I have worked with guys who stole from the client. One guy stole a coin collection, another guy stole a lawn mower out of storage. Honestly there have been scads of "incidents" where a colleague of mine has shown zero moral fabric. Scum of the earth rather stuff.
Being a mover is not glamorous, and there have been multiplication when I was shamed to say, "I'm a mover," like when socialising in more upmarket circles - my girl is a man of science and likes to hang out therewith crowd, with me in tow. But that's more my personal life... back to being a lowly mover.
It is true there are little rewards in moving, which is why movers are often such non-rewarding people, as my poll indicated. The few rewards that do exist get snatched up by guys like me, who give it our all, who catch a bit buzz off of excellence, at any task.
And no, I don't plan to be a moving truck loader all my life. I am arrangement to buy the remotion firm I work for now. It's a strong, prestigious operation, and most problems stem from the high employee turnover of come-and-go "lumpers." I imagine I can recruit the perfect movers on the town, and from close by cities: trustworthy guys with power and optimistic attitudes that I'll present marvelous payoff and advantages. It can be properly value it to have superior movers and dominate the opposite shifting corporations on the town.
I can not disclose the shifting firm I'm inside the gradual course of of shopping for. If my crews discovered, it'd disrupt our dynamic. But I can credit score a pair shifting corporations the place I learned the very best coaching and direction alternatives. They are Help-U-Move in Tri-Cities, WA ( http://help-u-move.com ) and Gentle Giant Moving Company in Seattle. I'll write one other clause about how issues are going as soon as I'm working the present!
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