The Great Box Hunt

Be verwy verwy quiet. I'm hunting boxes. Ha Ha Ha.

The local grocery store has a little alcove that is located right by the door. That is where they throw all their boxes. The public can go there anytime during store hours and pick the boxes they want without bothering the employees of the store. This is a nice thing for all of us that are moving this month (and any other month). This also saves them time and money because they have about 1/4 of the boxes they would normally have.

The box alcove can be a scary place as you get closer to the end of the month. I am one of those people who absolutely refuse to buy boxes for moving. I would end up paying hundreds of dollars to box up all the "junk" I've accumulated over the years. Every morning I get myself ready for the mad dash to the box alcove. Yesterday morning I was a little too late as I saw the woman in a SUV loading all the best boxes into her vehicle. I went in anyway to see if she left anything. There were some medium size boxes and smaller boxes. I gathered all the mediums, put them in a pile and continued looking. Another woman came in and immediately grabbed my boxes. I don't know what came over me, but I'd say that a growl came out of me. "Those are mine, I had my hands on them first, put them down." She dropped them as if they had burned her hands. I must've been very scary. I think I scared myself.

The day before that a family got to the box alcove before me and blocked the entrance. They wouldn't even let me in the room. There were two at the doorway blocking while two were inside scavenging boxes. That was scary for me so I turned and walked away.

I got so desperate for boxes, that yesterday evening I went to all the places of business in the area that I thought might have boxes. Most have cardboard compactors. The rest have cardboard only dumpsters. Yep. That was me with my butt in the air, hanging into cardboard dumpsters to get the best moving boxes.

I was so embarrassed to be doing this but several thoughts were going through my head:

1. I need to be 90% packed by Monday morning. I don't have time to go out for boxes every morning.

2. I don't want to move without boxes and just throw everything in the truck without them.

3. Don't make eye contact with ANYONE.

4. If you do make eye contact by mistake, don't worry, you're moving out of town anyway.

5. Why do some businesses lock their cardboard dumpsters when boxes are meant to be recycled anyway?

6. That woman in the McD's uniform keeps looking at my van. Is she writing my license plate down and calling the police?

7. Can you be arrested for taking boxes out of a dumpster? Fellow Prisoner, "What are you in for?" Me, "Dumpster diving for cardboard boxes."

8. That group of people waiting outside of Friendly's until a table comes available are staring at me. Who cares, anyone that would actually wait for a table at Friendly's has no right to pass judgment on me, even if I am hanging into a dumpster to get the coveted napkin box.

After I couldn't get another box into the van, I went to the store and bought $19.00 in packing tape. As I was buying it I thought to myself, "How many of these am I going to lose in my mess of a house before I get packed?"

It was quite a journey, but I came home with a pile of broken down boxes just waiting to be taped and filled. Now all I have to do is pack!