Receiving household goods during a permanent change of station move can be a significant emotional event.
Complete strangers have packed, stuffed and hauled your possessions across vast oceans or miles of concrete. A maze of boxes now await unpacking and proper placement in new quarters. The overwhelming majority of possessions navigate the transition unscathed; however, some items take bumps and bruises, and a rare few are a total loss.
I remember reaching for a box marked with the word fragile in indelible ink. I suspected it contained our one-of-kind, pink, bohemian crystal glasses. Indeed it did, but it also produced a “chinky-chink” sound when I lifted it.
My wife would not let me open it for days, She did not want to see the damage.
My first inclination was to blame the lowest-bidder packers, condemn the moving company and call for transportation officer’s immediate resignation. All these people must be held responsible.
In time, I reflected upon my anger. No one intentionally broke my glasses. No packer woke up early one morning determined to break my stuff. Moving companies do not have tag lines, saying, “Trust us, we’ll break it.”
All the blame in the world was not going to restore my bohemian crystal glasses.
We live in an imperfect world and things get broken. My grandmother broke a china plate while washing it one evening after a wonderful meal, but at least I had a grandma who wanted to come to dinner at my house. A friend broke one of my golf clubs, but at least I had a friend with whom to play golf.
People are more important than things. Be a good steward of all your possessions, but hold them loosely. Be a good neighbor to those around you and hold them tightly.
Eventually I had to open the clinky box. I found one broken glass and five perfectly preserved glasses. I couldn’t find an exact replacement, but I can still enjoy the crystal glasses with my wife and three friends.