By Bill Quain
This week’s six-word story: Like a piece of screaming luggage
You have to be intrigued by this week’s Six words on a Boardwalk bench, right? What does “Like a piece of screaming luggage” mean, anyhow? It sounds pretty scary. It’s actually a great story and shows just how much people love coming to the Jersey Shore, in this case, Ocean City.
No place like the beachfront!
Just before the local real estate prices began to skyrocket a few years ago, my brother and his wife bought a place right on the beach in Ocean City. It was their dream home. Both of them are retired, with a growing family of grandchildren. Like many people, they knew that having a “go-to” home on the beach would be just the thing to guarantee that those grandchildren would be visiting often.
They put a lot of work into that place, updating it, and fixing all the little things that can go wrong with a home after many years. Like many new homeowners in O.C., they planned to rent it out for a good part of the summer. As my brother put it then, “We enjoy the shoulder seasons, when it isn’t so crowded.” Well, that sounded like a great plan, but…
That first year they arrived in early May and ended their 5-week stay in mid-June. It was now time to get ready for the renters. I know my brother pretty well, and I could tell he wasn’t as certain about the trade-off of rent money coming in while he and his wife were heading out. Although I wasn’t there the day that they packed up the car and headed back to PA, I did speak to him a few days after they got home. I asked him how it went.
My brother said to me, “Bill, they had to tie me to the roof of the car like a piece of screaming luggage.”
Hey, we feel for you brother!
It isn’t just homeowners that feel that pang. Almost anyone who comes to Ocean City, whether it is for a day, a week, or a season, just hates that feeling when it is time to go. Yeah, you’ll come back, but that’s going to be a long time away. A lot can happen during that long winter season. You never really know if you will get back, and if you do, whether all your family will be back as well.
71 hits, with just one miss
I will turn 71 this summer. In all those years, I’ve only missed one summer at the shore. I was serving in V.I.S.T.A. and just couldn’t get back here. My family has owned houses in Ocean City since 1904, so I’ve always had a place to visit. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m the oldest of seven children. Once we all became adults, we would come back to the shore for two weeks, but we rented separate properties. Our children grew up with a “shore” tradition. Each year they’d see their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and we’d all spend two weeks in pure family fun. No matter how many times we came to O.C., even though we knew we’d be back in a year, leaving was always tough. Maybe I wasn’t reduced to a piece of screaming luggage like my brother, but man… leaving was the worst.
Renters take ownership of Ocean City.
Jeanne and I have a rental property, and we’ve noticed a similar pattern with each of our guest families. Our guests want the same week each year because it is “theirs.” While we do have many repeat customers, we’ll get a few “first-timers” each year. However, almost none of our first-timers are new to Ocean City. We hear the same story again and again. “My parents used to bring us to Ocean City when we were kids. We all loved it so much, and I want my children to have the same experience.” So our guests choose a week that fits their kids’ schedules, and then they stick to that week every year. It is their week! They own it!
The last day of the vacation
That last day can be painful to watch. People aren’t just leaving a vacation, they are leaving something that they “own” – that week or two that is absolutely theirs. Yes, they’ll be back, but that’s another year away. While they were here, their kids may have learned more about being a part of a family. Maybe it was their first year going up on the Boardwalk by themselves. Maybe their parents finally had a chance to talk with them about something meaningful. Then again, maybe it wasn’t anything more special than just breathing in the salt air. No wonder we get that “screaming luggage” feeling!
Share your own “screaming luggage” stories!
We want to hear from O.C. “vacation owners”! Give us your own six-word stories so we can post them on our community’s Boardwalk Bench. Don’t forget to share the backstory with us. I’ll put your stories in a future column. It might just ease the pain of leaving, and you’ll be able to tell everyone that you’ll be back next year. Just shoot an email to bill@quain.com, and put the words “Like a Screaming Piece of Luggage” in the subject line. As I say each week, I’ll see ya in the papers!
Bill is a Professor in Stockton University’s Hospitality Management Program. He is the author of 27 books, and a highly-respected speaker. Even though he is almost totally blind, Bill is a long-distance runner and runs the Ocean City Half Marathon each year. He lives in Ocean City with his wife Jeanne, and his Guide Dog Trudy. Visit www.billquain.com or email him at bill@quain.com.
