Why did you choose the moving business?
KEITH..
Keith’s father started working for Mayflower in 1966. Keith took trips with his dad, during summer break. He went every year. He caught the ‘bug’ of being a mover. His goal was to buy his own truck someday. This is how he got started. Once he was old enough to legally work, he started at APACA M&S in Albuquerque. He worked up to warehouseman and in 1986 his dad helped him purchase his first truck. He bought his first brand new one in 1991.
CATHY...
I lived across from a grain terminal, growing up, in a town just north of Indianapolis. I fell in love with the trucks. I wanted to drive one, but in those days it was a mans occupation. Girls that were drivers were considered to be women’s lib advocates or ‘bra burners’. I had been out of high school for about a year, not happy with the job I had, when I saw an advertisement for an office clerk at Wheaton Van Lines. I applied and got the job. Once I got transferred to the dispatch department, I knew I had found my calling. I loved the challenges of being an account co-ordinator but I was right at home dispatching. I caught the ‘bug’ too. I love the diverse array of people we move. I am a people person and this job is perfect.
Mrs.( Smerjack)? Oh boy. Her husband was being transferred from RI to TX. This was during the real estate crunch in the NE,wn when realtors were doing anything to sell a house.
We called the night before and advised our arrival time for the next morning. We knocked on the door, for at least 5 minutes. We could hear somebody running through the house so we knew somebody was home. Finally Mrs. came to the door, out of breath, with her right ankle bandaged and limping. She explained that she had just been on the phone, with her realtor, and the realtor had quit. Knowing what we knew about the real estate problems, we assumed this customer was one tough cookie—I love a challenge.
We did the walk through and she explained that she had 2 daughters. Neither of them wanted to move so we should be aware when they get home from school.
We settled into packing. I was in one of bedrooms and I kept hearing her say, “I don’t want that. Oh, give me that.” Finally I heard Keith tell her that he would let her sort through the closet and decide what she wanted to throw out. She had been standing over him, as he packed. She would let him get a carton, just about full, then reach over his shoulder and start taking stuff out, saying “I don’t want that. Oh, give me that.” Keith had her sort through.
She would be limping, very noticeably, then she would take off running through the house. A full run. She would stop, sit down and complain about her ankle hurting. This went on during the entire move.
The girls came home from school. The INSTANT they came in the door, their mother was yelling at them. The oldest one came to me and the youngest went to visit with Keith. They were SO excited about moving and we told them all about the new area they were moving to. All the while, she was yelling at them to leave us alone. We always get the kids involved in the move. They helped us pack their toys and clothes. I had them check all over the house for loose change. Their mom was yelling at them, the whole time, but not caring where they were.
We were saying good by and headed for the truck when the youngest daughter ran to Keith. She was crying. She grabbed hold of his leg and looked up at him with those huge crocodile tears, begging him to let her go with us. This was first time I ever saw Keith tear up. His heart was broken but he was also enraged that this little girl did not want to stay with her mother. Her dad came over and got her. Thank goodness the shipment went to storage.
We understood that the mother was the one who did not want to move and she had some obvious problems. We simply kept the girls interested in what we were doing, reassured their mother that they were no bother-in fact they were good helpers. We kept in mind that the mother was the way she was and we were not to change anything so we made everything as simple and pleasant as we could.
We went to load a 6,000 shipment off of Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles. The customer was not ready, at all. Suppose to be a 100% PBO and she had not started packing. She had a 5 year old boy---JOHNNIE. Johnnie had a double gun holster and he shot everybody and everything. Johnnie thought it was cute to stand between 2 parked cars, wait for a car to come by, jump in the road and shoot them. After he did this the first time, I went to advise his mother. She never raised her voice. She simply said, in a quiet voice from ½ way in the house, “Johnnie , you know you should not do that.” The child could not hear her because he was in the street, waiting for his next victim. She repeated the same thing, in the same voice, each time she heard a car slam on their brakes.
After the 3rd car that slammed on their brakes and skidded to miss him, I went back inside. I said, “We have been here, less than an hour. During that time, Johnnie has just about been hit 3 times by cars because he jumping out in front of them. If he does this one more time, we will be leaving. We can not do our job because we are trying to get him to stop jumping in front of cars.” She just said, “Well, he just won’t listen and I don’t know what to do.” We told her to put him in his bedroom and let him play with this toys. We would load that room last. She did and he played just fine until we were ready for his room.
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