If you have ever looked at important dates on a paper calendar, you would probably have noticed that the day after Christmas is always labled, "Boxing Day." Strange though it seems, it is a real holiday celebrated by many people around the world. No, it is not a day where boxers jump into the ring to pummel each other.
It is the day where many Brits and former British colonists throw another party and put away all of the decorations until next year. They also give gifts or gratuities to those that move or deliver packages. Oddly enough, Boxing Day shares multiple similarities to an American event that occurs at the very end and very beginning of every month-- moving day. Here is how the two events closely resemble each other.
Moving Day and Boxing Day Both Have Their Typical Days
On moving day, you almost always move on the last two days of the month or the first three days of the following month. Boxing Day occurs on the exact same day every year, too. In both instances, millions of people are participating in the exact same activity simultaneously.
Everything Is Boxed Up
On moving day and Boxing Day, you box everything up. All the boxes are then moved to another location, typically your new residence or a storage facility/storage space. It is all unboxed again when you want to take items out and use or display them.
Everything Is Moved to Another Location
With Boxing Day, everyone that celebrates it moves boxes of decorations back into storage. This storage may be in their homes, but many also store their holiday decorations in storage units that are not on their own properties. The same holds true for moving day in the U.S. If you are moving, all of your boxes of stuff will either be delivered to your new residence, or you will have the boxes placed in an offsite storage unit.
You Are Paying (or "Bribing") People to Help You
During Boxing Day, you are offering drinks and traditional holiday edibles to friends and family to help you box things up. When you DIY your moving day, you usually have to pay or bribe friends and family with pizza and soda to help you move. If you hire people with a truck, then you are paying your Boxing Day mates to help you put things back in your offsite storage "garage" or paying movers to help you move things.
You Are Tipping the Movers, Couriers, and Package Delivery People
America has become the society that over-tips. It is a culture that tips everyone from newspaper delivery people to the baristas at the coffee shops that make your $5 cup of coffee. It is not unknown for Americans to tip movers and postal carriers as well. In that regard, it continues the similarity to Boxing Day, where participants leave sizable tips or Christmas gifts for those that move and/or deliver anything and everything.
When Moving Day or Boxing Day Is Over, Everyone Relaxes
Moving day is always a stressful and tiring thing. Boxing Day, while fun, immediately follows a very stressful and tiring holiday. When both of these events are over, everyone takes some time off to relax before returning to work. Whether that work entails putting everything from your moving boxes where it belongs, or returning to your job outside the home, the similarities between these two events are unmistakably quite similar. It is something to think about the next time you hire a moving company and a truck to pack up your stuff and send it to your new residence.
Share20 December 2017
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