If you are moving ALL your stuff, hire movers.

In my experience, that's what Dad is for.

It starts with Dad moving you to and from dorm rooms. Then apartments.

When my wife and I moved to our house I hired movers. It was a lot easier and not terribly expensive.

When my wife moved her business to a new building, my mom told me my dad insisted on helping us move, so I didn't hire movers as I had planned. When we were moving the tons of furniture, cabinets, and massive boxes stuffed full of files, my dad mentioned that my mom told him I had asked him to help me move. I have never been able to determine why my mom manipulated us into nearly killing ourselves.

Now I'm the dad. I've moved kids to and from dorm rooms and apartments. I've rented trucks for huge moves. My daughter and I are moving a couch, a dresser, an end table and all her cooking utensils on Saturday.

Not only do I have a truck, I also have straps, furniture dollies, moving blankets, mattress bags, etc.

My most recent purchase was a shoulder dolly. If you haven't seen one, picture two harnesses with a wide strap running between them. Two people squat on either end of the item being moved with the wide strap running under it. You take up the slack in the strap, and just stand up to lift it off the ground. It's a game changer.

I've become my own moving company.

There's a point in your life where "all your stuff" is maybe two non-IKEA pieces of furniture that your parents forced on you when you moved out. And then there's the point at which "all your stuff" fills a 1600 sqft ranch house and half of it is made out of granite for some reason.

Just, baseline, ignore the meme. If you have to move a refrigerator down a flight of stairs, this is no longer a "buy me a pizza" tier work.

This reminded of the time my family used me as the mover in my teens. We moved to an old apartment and I had to move almost all the furniture 5 stories without an elevator. If I try that today I'll most likely give my last breath on the first stairs.

I think it really depends on the truck This is all IMHO: Something like a Colorado or Ranger is both reasonable enough and more truck than most people need. You can move a sofa with those. Stock Silverados or F-150s are also fine but do you really need something that big? Lifting or squatting those or getting anything that is bigger than those but isn't but a legit work truck is stupid.

"would be", "was" — am I to take this to mean that your brother is no longer with us? If so, I am sorry for your loss.

If I have intuited this correctly, then I hope that some day, you can be the "truck guy" for other people. The truck is optional honestly — just as long you carry with you the spirit of helpfulness and trust in reciprocal community support.

Well pizza principals at least.

Omg yes, i don't even mind being the 3d printer guy. Now I don't feel so bad for not being someone's truck guy

pretty smart move in retrospect - "eternal and obligatory friendship is the only currency I trade in"

This phenomenon is the same here in Canada so I will pitch in. It is not enjoyed. It is not hated. It merely is. When a neighbour needs help, you help them. Even if its the neighbour with the yappy dog. There is no emotion tied up in it one way or another. Its just the right thing to do.

Yeah, this is really normal. It's one of the rare things that I absolutely, genuinely like about my country. If someone says they need help, even a total stranger, you help them.

The good Americans are pretty free with their labor when it comes to their neighbors, and the definition of 'neighbor' is pretty loose. If I met you five minutes ago, you need help with something, and we live in the same city, you're my neighbor.

I think that Kevin and Tony probably don't even think about this, they lived their entire live that way. They don't know any better.

Here in Germany, if you want to move a sofa, you have three options:

1. Rent a transporter (no one here has a truck), park it illegally in front of the house while onloading the sofa, transport the sofa, park the car again illegally while unloading it. If the police catches you or a neighbor files a complain, you may have to pay a fee.

2. File a form so that someone puts up traffic signs for that day that no one except you may park in front of the two houses. Costs around 90 € and takes 3 weeks. Rent car, proceed as usual. Someone will see that you park in a "no parking" zone and does not know that you requested that zone, so he will file a report. Therefore, later, fill some more forms to battle that claim.

3. Do 1) at night where no one sees you or cares.

(This is of course highly exaggerated. Parking is not such a problem in every city.)

Definitely not something I've heard of. This is either very old school America (50-80s) or something done in very small towns where everyone knows one another.

That said, this is definiely something I know friends would do for each other. Truck or not. You have some boys over to help move some stuff around, you cook or grab food for them an pay the bill. But you gotta be pretty good friends for me to call you up like that (or vice versa).

No truck either but a friend needed a hand to move his stuff.

I came, other of his friends came as well.

We moved the furniture, the books and even the gym equipment.

Pizza was offered and shared.

A couple years later, I show up for a job interview. One ofy friend's friend is my interviewer. He asks technical questions, I answer.

He eventually claims I now my stuff so he stops with the questions and we have a relaxed chat.

I got the job and still work there after all these years.