No. For reals.
Let me start from the beginning.
So, we have some time to do this move, so we are gradually packing and moving stuff over this past weekend. We had already done a few runs with my Dad's small Toyota pickup and we were making some seriously good headway. Progress is always a good thing when working on a move. So, we were basically happy.
It was Saturday, midday, and we were loading up several freshly packed boxes onto the truck - most of them came from my Studio. We saw that the smaller of my Expedit shelves would fit nicely (It's the 2x4 one.) and decided to put that on the truck, too. It fit perfectly, we wrapped a sheet around it to protect it from scratches and saw that it was quite secure...or at least it seemed that way at the time....
...yup...that's officially foreshadowing. Just say'n.
SOoooo...we added a few more boxes (one row) in front of the shelf, as they fit snuggly and perfectly right between the shelf and the tail gate. WONDERFULLY packed, if we said so ourselves! We added the straps and bungie cords and The Hubbums felt pretty good about the load.
We climbed into the cab of the truck and started making the journey to the new house. It's about 21 miles and mostly highway, so not a difficult trip, but you have to take it slow and in the right lane because you have a truck loaded with your stuff and all. Which, we totally did. So....we are sitting in the cab chatting as we drive down the Interstate highway.
"Oh. Shit."
That's what The Hubbums said. Note: There are no exclamation points. That is precisely how calmly those words came from his mouth. (And no, I didn't edit it because 'Oh, Shoot.' just isn't as accurate. Just say'n.)
Now, understand that for many people, calm is good. Very good. That means the situation at hand is not panic inducing. Well, you see, The Hubbums is not the panicking type. He is the 'handle it' type. And that means that when he is very very very calm, something really really really bad probably just happened. (Like the time when he asked me in his calmest tone to get the first aid kit, please...yeah...he had just sliced off the tip of his finger...so you see what I'm say'n? K? K. Now that we have that clear...)
"What happened."
That was my response. After years of knowing what that calm tone ACTUALLY means, I now know that something has happened.
"We just lost the Expedit and all of the boxes behind it."
Yup. On 495. Actually, all OVER 495. We pulled over to assess the damage, not really sure how to handle such a situation. Yes, it seemed that the tailgate had broken open, causing the load to shift, the wind caught the sheet on the Expedit (you know..the one to keep it SAFE!) and the shifting movement, the open tailgate, and just bad luck in general caused the shelf to fly OFF the truck and onto the highway. In the middle of the road.
No...really...it was like between the left lane and the middle lane and TOTALLY in the way of traffic.
Also on the road was my entire box of 'white' embellishments (those of you who have seen my system know that I store things by color in the cubes of my large shelf), a box of art prints and other art pieces, The Hubbums' vintage Return of the Jedi lunch box from when he was a kid, an entire file box filled with software and manuals, and...I'm not really sure what else, yet, to be honest.
THEN...no, for reals....this happened.
The Hubbums sees that someone could get seriously hurt if they hit this stuff, so he watches traffic (remember...this is an interstate highway - a real one - with 3 lanes of Massachusetts drivers going around 85 mph), steps out onto the road, and walks to the shelf to protect the public. He got it. It was in ONE PIECE! (Yup...buy IKEA - I now know JUST HOW sturdy that stuff is!) The corners were banged up something fierce, though. Seeing as he was able to get that, he decided to go try to save what he could. Soooo...he carfully rescued what he could off the road kindly focusing on the art pieces he knew I would be so sad to lose! REALLY! THE MAN RISKED HIS LIFE FOR THE ART HE KNEW I LOVED! *sigh* I love him. He's crazy, though. But I love him.
This whole time only ONE person stopped and that was just because his wife made him! LOL! I was by the truck several yards away and she stood and kept me calm while my husband was walking onto the highway. It was all a bit surreal, actually. Her husband went and helped The Hubbums with what he could. It was really scary. BUT...you wanna know what was worse - nobody slowed down! I mean, some people did just to get around stuff, but not a SINGLE person tried to block traffic or help or ANYTHING! AND THEN....
Wait for it....
...We watched while a truck towing a boat INTENTIONALLY swerved to HIT one of the boxes. Yup. That happened.
...The Hubbums watched as an obnoxious SUV HIT his vintage lunchbox and shattered it.
...It was a sad sad study in human behavior. Really. It was.
Now, to be honest, the stuff is just stuff. We had to leave the shelf on the side of the road. The corners were mangled and it is IKEA so while I didn't really WANT to have to replace it, I can. I lost a couple of my art dolls...remember
Mary? Yeah...she was shattered all over the road. I lost
Lucy, too. That made me kind of sad. I really liked Lucy. I also lost several art prints that were created by others and some of the contents of my box of white embellishments (although not nearly as much as I could have, as The Hubbums totally rescued the box!). We lost all of the software that was in the file box and, well....probably some unknowns and we are just hoping they remain unknown...you know...stuff you don't even remember because you really didn't need it.
Anyway, the stuff is just stuff. But, the human behavior was saddening. All I can tell you is that if you ever see this happen to someone...please stop and help them. It will be appreciated. And...to the kind family who stopped to help us...thank you. I don't know your names, but you got to be an angel for a day. That is something special. And, know that you are unique in a world of people who just don't care.
The absolute BEST news, however, is that nobody was hurt in any way! That shelf SO could have hit a car and even killed someone! We are so amazingly grateful that, while quite an ordeal, nobody was hurt and all remained safe. Thank the LORD for that!
And...now we have a KILLER moving story! HA! And...next time you wonder how that random stuff ended up on the side of the road...
...well, now you know!
(Oh...and we saw later that the Expedit was gone, so hopefully someone took it home and is rescuing it for a new life!)
Happy Friday, folks!
