Move In Day

My young friend Crystal began college last week. 

She originally told her parents that move-in date for her was Tuesday, August 19.

On Thursday, August 14, she told her parents "Oops, I made a mistake.  My move in date is tomorrow."

I'm not sure how you mix up 19 and 15, but hey, she's a college Freshman.  What do I know?

Both of her parents scrambled to call into work, rearrange time off, reschedule a meeting, and one of them spent the night working on a project that was due Friday afternoon.  It was mostly finished, but it needed to be tweaked before it was turned in, so they tweaked it, and sent it into the boss a little before midnight on Thursday.

Did I mention that Crystal had yet to begin packing?

And that her school is in downtown Manhattan?

And her parents didn't have hotel reservations for Friday night?

What could possibly go wrong?


Friday morning found Crystal frantically shoving random items into boxes and lugging them out to the truck.

Her parents were on the internet, frantically searching for a hotel to spend the night.

The parents lucked out.  They found a hotel, 2 blocks from school at an unbelievable bargain.

By 9 am, they were ready to go.  Move in time was scheduled for noon-3 pm.

Unfortunately, Crystal was not.

You know, at the best of times, it takes close to five hours to get from our neighborhood up to New York City. 

At 10 am, Crystal finally shoved the last of her boxes into the car.  Dad asked one last time:  "Are you sure you have everything you need?  Your laptop?" 

Crystal replied "Of course I have everything I need Dad... stop asking me".

So, the family hit the road, hoping to get to the dorms before they opened the street by the dorm back up to traffic at 3.

Luck was not with Crystal's family on Friday.

They pulled into Manhattan at 4, and finally made it to  her dorm a little before 5.

Parking was non-existent.

So, her mother, being an intrepid urban archeologist who fears no one, and obeys no parking sign, anywhere, pulled up onto the curb in front of the dorm, opened up the back of the truck, and literally shoved everything out of the back and onto the sidewalk while Crystal checked into her dorm.  A bemused security guard stood close at hand, laughing at the parents while they threw everything on the sidewalk as fast as they could.  Crystal's mom asked "So, what do you think she forgot, her laptop?"

Her father just laughed.

Dad stood guard over her stuff while Mom went to find the hotel and park the car.

20 minutes later, Mom had the car parked at the hotel had checked in, and was back at the front door to the dorm.

In the intervening time, Crystal had managed to check in to her dorm and hauled her stuff up to her room.  Crystal's dad was outside, enjoying a cup of coffee with the security guard and telling him the tale of their sudden change of plans.

A very harried Crystal came storming downstairs about this time, all in a flit and a flutter. 
"I forgot my laptop!  Dad, what am I going to do?  I forgot my laptop!  I left it at home on the kitchen table!"

The security guard burst out laughing as Dad opened his backpack, pulled out her laptop, and said in a perfect imitation of Crystal:  "Of course I have everything I need Dad... stop asking me..."