How can you be passionate about moving, it’s just a job? Well, the answer is a little more complicated than that and in order to answer the question; I have to wax philosophical and poetic.
In science, Georges Lemaitre, a Jesuit priest, came up with what he called “the hypothesis of the primeval atom,” later called the “Big Bang Theory,” which basically holds that the universe is ever expanding. In various economic theories, the “static” or “expanding” “Pie” of economic activity are discussed. {Insert stream of consciousness – “It’s a wonderful day for Pie”}.
Love and Passion are like the universe, in that our capacity for each is ever expanding. When I fell in love with my wife, I didn’t love my mother less; I simply expanded my capacity for love. I didn’t realize that it was happening at the time, that came later. When my first daughter was born, and I saw her for the first time, I cried tears of joy. She was the most beautiful and precious creature that I had ever come across in my life and I thought that there was no way that I could ever love anything or anyone as much as I loved her in that moment. But, then came the second, and I was quickly disabused of that notion, she was every bit as precious and beautiful as the first, and I loved them equally, without diminishing my love for my wife or my eldest. And then came three, and the same miracle happened, my capacity for love expanded to encompass her, and equally, with the rest of my little family.
Growing up, my parents taught me several important rules about work. Mom and Dad said always have a passion for whatever you do, strive to be the best at it, never stop learning and you will be the best. All work is to be respected and regardless of the job, anyone doing a job to the best of their abilities should be accorded your respect. There are no “clerical jobs,” only “clerical people.” There are no “menial jobs,” only “menial people.” Later in life, I learned to be less judgmental when applying the standard of “doing their best,” and am a better person for it, not everyone is as passionate about what they do as I am. I learned that the single most important rule of management is “never ask anyone to do anything that you aren’t willing to do yourself!”
So, what the hell does any of this have to do with Moving, or being passionate about it? In this industry, perhaps more than any other that I have been in, I meet people every day who are passionate about what they do. Maybe they don’t use the phrase, but their passion shows in their work. Moving is not an easy profession on the body, or the mind. I have written about the Mover in an earlier post. It takes a special type of person to want to do this every day without doing it “everyday.” On every job, they come into contact with 10’s if not 100’s of thousands of dollars worth of people’s prized possessions; and monetarily worthless items that can never be replaced like your child’s handprint in plaster from kindergarten. And each day they handle these items as if they were their own, and absorb the tales behind them.
My men are passionate about what they do, or they wouldn’t care to wrap and secure each piece of furniture, every dish and every photo. They wouldn’t start a delivery at 4PM and work into the night so my customers can start over in their new homes; they wouldn’t carry a picture in the cab, just because it means so much to my customer. Every little kindness, and gentle smile, they show to a widow or widower moving out of the home shared for 30, 40, 50 years, is about a passion for moving, and a passion for people. They wouldn’t throw a soccer ball to a kid who is filled with trepidation about moving away from his friends and school and his whole life, and is hearing that “this is an adventure.” At 10 years of age, it’s not an adventure, it’s just downright scary! That’s why I am proud to call them my friends!
Our company is based on this simple premise. Be passionate about what we do, be passionate about the people we do it for. Be passionate about moving!