The Foreign Service Journal, April 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2014 59 AFSA NEWS We all do it. We have all done it. We will all do it again: the great "Packout." Clothes and household must-haves fly around the house; heads spin with impending good- byes; and miscellaneous Wasa crackers are binge- consumed. Everything becomes a life-changing decision: Do we keep the 20 half-empty tubes of lip balm and jars of hard-earned spices? Do we keep the pile of bike-to-work T-shirts or the collection of ugly mugs? With explosions of tape, boxes and organiza- tion rapture, it is easy to lose sight of such things. Regardless of how we choose to go about managing these issues, the reassuring thing is that the packout will eventually happen: with or without a carefully sculpted checklist; with or without enthusiastic participation. Whether a twisted, enjoyable treat or a horrible nightmare for others, these moves are a rich source of stories, if noth- ing else. I hope this one will make you laugh. It was a cool Novem- ber week when our family hunkered down for our first experience loading up and packing out our apartment overseas. We sifted, sorted, sold and donated what we could, never once referring back to the halfway-com- pleted lists I had created. Each room had a purpose: accompanying baggage, airfreight and household effects. I dared to feel confi- dent. The movers diligently started to take our lives off the shelves and place them into tidy boxes labeled "Mr. Schlink." By the end of the first day our apartment was nearly fin- ished. The packers returned at 9 a.m. sharp the following morning to complete the job, just as I dashed out the door to take my daughter, Margo, to her checkup. Less than an hour later, I returned to find unmoved towers of boxes crowding the foyer. Appar- ently they were not permitted to use the elevator so had to carry the many boxes down 66 steps. With no other choice, the movers took it all in literal stride. One by one, the boxes disappeared. By 12:30 p.m., we signed the papers, shook hands and watched the truck disappear down the street. Overall, it was an uneventful, mundane packout. With the children and dog accounted for, we planned to celebrate over lunch. I walked back to our bedroom and noticed that the crew had somehow forgotten to pack a pile of beach towels, a binder stuffed with medical literature and a basket full of lip balm, mugs and wires. I chuckled as I reached into the dresser drawer to pull out a clean shirt. Nothing. There was abso- lutely nothing in the drawer. Here's a tip on what to do during a packout: When you tell the movers not to touch anything in the bathroom where you keep your packed bags safely out of sight, keep them there until you see the moving truck head down the street. Here's a helpful tip on what not to do during a packout: when you "think" the movers can read minds, assume they cannot. Clearly out of my mind, I had unpacked my home leave bag earlier to help me feel more at home amidst the white-walled cardboard city around me. But I failed to communicate any of this to the people who might have stopped this dumb move and so it was, my clothes were gone. All I had was the dirty shirt and jeans on my body, a cardigan and jacket, and an extra pair of forgotten underwear that was stuck to the inside of the dryer. After a few days of weath- THE FORE I GN SERV I CE FAMI LY The Packout and Me BY EMILY E. SCHLINK L I FE I N THE FORE I GN SERV I CE Continued on page 61