When you're a teenager and in high school, every happening is usually a grand adventure. It's something to tell your chums about, because it marks you as interesting, someone to whom things “happen”. When they're absurd things, it makes the tale even better. Involve parents, rain, a muddy Tennessee day and a moving truck, and the tale becomes worth repeating. Subsequently, you should have the proper props, but it's kind of hard to carry around a wide piece of wood to illustrate your story. Therefore, your audience will just need to use their imaginations.
A Bit of Background
Before we begin our story, you should know that just outside Nashville, Tennessee is a small town named Mount Juliet. It's the home of Charlie Daniels (yes, I can point out where his house is). Mount Juliet is situated atop a rise in the ground, making snowy winding roads a challenge on which to drive in the winter. It makes things miserable, though, when your house sits off the road where the landscape drops some. The rain pools, the mud can be impenetrable, and just going up the driveway to get to the school bus is quite difficult.
Next, imagine a couple who happen to be my parents and who both go into Nashville to work. Their vehicle is parked on the street in front of the house most days to better facilitate a quick exit every morning. They both work in buildings on opposite sides of the city. One would drop the other off at work and then proceed to their job. Back at the house, as the downpour continues, the water pools deeper and deeper in the driveway until it reaches the side door steps of the house. This is an important thing to remember in this scary tale of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) moving.
What Happened
My parents had found a home closer to the city, making it easier and quicker for them to commute to their jobs. Ergo, they rented a moving truck, and we were loading it. It had been raining for weeks, it seemed, and the yard was one heaving mass of mud. My Dad had backed the truck down the driveway, with the back as close to the side door steps as he could get it. A huge piece of wood was used as a loading ramp. So far, the loading of the truck was going without a hitch. The rain made things a bit wet and unpleasant, but we were moving right along.
The Hard Part
Now, the truck was fully loaded. My brother and I got in one of the cars with me driving. I was standing by for the truck to pull out of the drive, so I could get behind it on the way to the new house. We noticed Dad having trouble getting out of the drive, and so we walked back up the driveway a safe distance away to watch the show. He attempted to rock the truck. That didn't work. He tried having Mom get in the driver's seat and jacking the tail end of the truck out of the mud. That didn't work, either. Finally, Dad put the huge piece of wood underneath the back tires of the moving truck.
The Scary Part
You must be aware that if you're going to use a piece of wood to get your tires out of the mud, you need to be mindful of which direction the wood will go when your truck gains traction. In this case, it shot like a missile right through our living room window. Pieces of glass were covering the area, the truck shot out of the driveway, Mom was surprised and almost didn't make the turn onto the street, and Dad stood without saying a word. My brother and I found all this excessively funny and were laughing our teenage heads off. Consequently, we all got out of there as quickly as we could and never went back.
Moving is no fun sometimes, but there are days it can be very comical and other days it can be downright scary. What's your horror story involving DIY moving? We'd love to hear it!
