Move-out day at college can be a stressful and overwhelming endeavor. To make matters worse, your parents may be there watching you like a hawk and judging your lack of organization, packing skills, and overall lifestyle. Let's just say there's nothing as fun as working through family problems, recovering from finals week, and trying to move your entire estate from one location to another with only a small SUV. For anyone who has had the honor of helping out on move-out day, here are 15 annoying things that can happen.
1. Your parents arrive to your room and the first thing you hear is that you have too much stuff.
"Are you sure this is the right room, dear? Surely our child doesn't live like this."
2. Someone rolls out the blueprints and starts shouting battle instructions to combat this terror that is your room.
"Denise, you start in those drawers and move 30 degrees clockwise. Ben, hold the door. And you, yeah you, pack anything that isn't nailed down. We'll be out of here at 1700 hours and not a minute later."
3. Your parents discover the remnants of the contraband you thought you had removed.
"Booze...what booze? No way that's weed; look at me! And hemorrhoid cream...umm...I'm holding onto that for a friend."
4. You are told again how shocking the amount of stuff you have is.
"I'm not a nun, Dad. This is normal, OK?"
5. You convince your parents that next semester will be different, but you softly pat them on the shoulder instead.
"Sweet mother, it's going to be OK. You should see Cindy's room. That place could be featured on 'Hoarders: Buried Alive.'"
6. After a hundred trips to the car, you're no longer in denial. Finally, you tell yourself it will be different next semester.
"Maybe I underestimated today. Never again."
7. You consider leaving yourself behind to make room for more stuff in the car.
"Honey, we just ran out of room. Either you'll have to hold stuff on your lap or leave it behind."
8. The dumpster divers get in your way and one even asks if you are leaving anything good behind.
"Please don't hurt me. This lamp in my hand is worthless, I swear."
9. Your RA is nowhere in sight even though they need your key, a witness statement, and a 10-digit password in order to leave without a fine.
"I have searched everywhere for him. Do you think he's watching us on cameras as we desperately try to track him down?"
10. You are forced to take the awkward ride home with your parents who interrogate you about the drunks down the hall that kept shouting your name, the $100 charge on your housing bill, and the transcript they have yet to read.
"I swear, Mom, it wasn't mine...OK, OK, please don't hurt me!"
11. You panic on where you will fit everything once you arrive home. Meanwhile, the microwave you're holding in your lap is beginning to hurt your legs.
"Ugh, how many more hours? I may have to leave my legs in the car if I sit here any longer."
12. You arrive home to realize your parents adopted a child, two dogs, bulldozed the kitchen, and turned your room into a sewing space but everyone acts like nothing has changed.
"Now, honey, I don't want you to be too shocked but..."
13. You are exhausted, but there is no way in hell you'd leave it all in the car. Where does it end up? The foyer of your house.
"Yikes...I'm just going to look away and hope it disappears. That's not ALL mine, right?"
14. You collapse on the couch before being yelled at to move the stuff out.
"Mom, I have to recover from finals...I've never been the same since!"
15. Somehow, after days of careful filtering and sorting, the house looks great, except for the thirty boxes collecting dust in the basement...which you realize is your new bedroom until the fall.
"Besides the spiders, it's pretty rad down here. Wait...how long is summer vacation? NO!"
But next year will be better, right?! Think again. No matter how hard you try, move-out day will still be a stressful and annoying day to mark on your calendar. Good thing you have all summer to recover!