By: D’antrese McNeil
It’s the infamous PCS, and that means preparing your home for the movers to come and invade. I’m kidding! If you’re not brave enough to tackle and conquer doing a DITY (Do It Yourself) move, (I am NOT btw) then the military will send one of their contracted companies your way for a full on military move.
I know for us, we’ve always provided some form of nutrition for our movers. The way we see it, if we take care of them, they take care of our stuff, right? I know, I know, that’s not ALWAYS the case, but we’d rather play it safe. I crowd-sourced a few Facebook groups to see how others responded to this topic.
DO YOU OFFER LUNCH OR SNACKS TO YOUR MOVERS?
Dave Etter: “Yes, and I always insist on a group pose with the truck. Evidence.”
Alexandra Eva: “I always buy whatever meals they are there for, snacks and bottled water. Last time I made cookies and they asked for the recipe…ha-ha tollhouse. Lol.”
Cassandra Bratcher: “Gift cards to a local liquor store and snacks Nothing broke when it arrived lol.”
Elizabeth Strong: “We pay for lunch and tip at the end”
Alaska Amber: “Always! Snacks, water, lunch, whatever they need. And I always end up giving them a bunch of stuff. Before we moved to Alaska, I gave them my bedroom set, dining table, a TV, and even a sewing machine for one of their wives. “
MORE THOUGHTS ON FEEDING MOVERS/PACKERS DURING A MILITARY MOVE
Anna Blanch Rabe: “We do water and Gatorade on ice for all the days and then depending on the crew lunch (usually Pizza) on the loading/unloading day. We have tipped when they’ve done an awesome job, and we’ve also sent them off with a case of beer on occasion.”
Jenah Wieczorek: “We buy lunch, snacks, and drinks but not breakfast. I’m assuming they eat before they come.”
Sybil Jones: “It depends on their attitude. I’m serious. One set of movers that packed us (this move) were great. I offered lunch and drinks and tipped at the end. Our long-term storage items. Attitude from the jump. They got nothing. The delivery on this end, same thing. They took more breaks and had a ‘tude from jump street.”
Elishaba George: “I’ve always waited to see how they are doing their job… no rewards for a bad job. I’ve experienced two bad packers in 8 moves.”
Michelle Suk Richardson: “I buy lunch and provide a variety of drinks-water, Gatorade, and some granola bars.”
THE VERDICT
As you can see, the responses are mixed. I know for us when we made a military move to Korea, I’d bought the movers snacks and water. I had asked beforehand if they wanted anything and they didn’t take any of it. Yet, when we PCS’ed out of Korea, the Korean movers expected it. Luckily, we had already planned on buying their lunch and snacks. When we arrived back stateside, we bought our movers lunch and snacks and gave them a little booze too.
So, I vote YES, feed your movers. It may help with them protecting your items a little better or it may not, but it can’t hurt. However, I also do like the notion of being cautious first, as one person noted. People have so many allergies these days, it’s kind of hard to buy something or cook something without the risk of potentially killing them or giving them an allergic reaction. Noted. Use your best judgment. Go with your gut when it comes to preparing snacks for the movers. What are your thoughts?
This post sponsored by PCSgrades.