Posted on: Friday, May 3, 2002

Stockpiling jus'-in-case boxes

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

"Eh, das' one nice looking box dere."

The words floated over to me as I crossed the parking lot on the side of the grocery store.

I didn't have to look. I didn't have to ask. I knew just by the wistful sound in the man's voice as he gazed upon the discarded cardboard crate leaning up against the filled-to-capacity dumpster and the way he dragged out the word "nice": this guy had moved house many, many times.

There's some sort of Murphy's law governing box availability. There's never a clean, solid, intact box in just the right size when you need it. You cruise the back and side lots of grocery stores and shopping malls, you check the store room at work, you ask all your friends, but in the end you wind up angrily BUYING boxes, grumbling under your breath about having to spend good money on cardboard.

But if there's nothing to move, store or send, your life is surrounded by boxes galore.

Of course, there are those who collect boxes just to collect them. Just in case. You never know. They're stacked in closets, under beds, in extra bedrooms, in the garage; always empty, one on top of the other and rarely nested, because that would keep too many of the really good, smaller boxes out of sight. The boxes are never flattened and stacked. Oh, no. That would compromise the integrity of the boxes. These people have either lots of storage space or understanding spouses. Or both.

The modern household often turns to plastic boxes, either those thick black cases that look like coolers with the locking lids or the clear plastic "organizers" they sell at Longs and Costco.

Some look like fancy tackle boxes or gigantic Caboodles. The ones sold at craft fairs (for storing craft stuff, I guess) have stencils of flowers and Pooh on the lid. The advantage here is you can see what's in them. If you move, you hardly have to pack.

But for the most part, finding a good cardboard box, one that is the perfect size for the job, brings a certain satisfaction unmatched by a baby-blue clear plastic container.

I am told by a box connoisseur that the best of all boxes is an apple box. Apple boxes come with padding and little trays inside to separate whatever you're boxing. They're medium-sized, which means when they're filled, you can still carry them without risk of back injury. Apple boxes almost always come with pukas on the sides that serve as handles, they're clean and, an added bonus, they smell good.

I recently caught sight of a woman driving down the street, the back seat of her car loaded to the ceiling with apple boxes. The look on her face was priceless. Total bliss. She had, at least in that moment, achieved the nearly impossible: she had a box for every purpose and a purpose for every box. And they were those good apple boxes, too.

The rest of us can only dream of such fulfillment.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.