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Movin' Groovin

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by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Colin Burnett
Age: 31
Occupation: Mover
Bio: This environmentally conscious Villeray resident and drummer in local supergroup Whole Hog got his start in the intellectually rewarding field of professional moving a little over eight years ago. Starting out with just his band’s 1980 Chevy van, a “shaggin’ wagon” its former tree-planter-owners had christened the Cosmic Can, Colin now owns his own
moving company, K-10 Transport (www.needmover.com) and operates a fleet of three diesel trucks. No stranger to the bottle, he jokingly says that in recent years he has “replaced alcoholism with workaholism’’ and rarely makes the St-Laurent bar scene anymore.

Is surliness an important character trait for the aspiring professional mover? No. “But I hear so many horror stories about other movers being verbally abusive, stealing and even physically threatening people. Anybody can buy a truck, place an ad and call themselves a mover, but not everybody has the right psychology for the job.”

Does he have a theory as to why so many movers are so nasty? Not really. “Maybe some of them are bitter because moving is not what they set out to do in life. Hey, it’s not like this is what I set out to do when I was a kid.”

What he set out to do when he was a kid: Become a rock ’n’ roll star.

Has the city’s current low apartment vacancy rate had a deleterious effect on the moving biz? Yes.

Are people always tense on moving day? Not always, but often. “Half the job is keeping people calmed down. You know, your whole life is being turned upside down. Everything you own is leaving in somebody else’s care. People need a lot reassurance and I don’t think movers always see it that way.”

Has he ever had a customer so distraught about moving that they’ve broken down and started crying in front of him? Yes.

Has he ever told a weeping customer that if they think they’re upset now, just wait until they see the condition their furniture is going to be in once they’ve unpacked? No.

What he runs his trucks on: Biodiesel fuel. “It costs more but we’ve all got to do our bit for urban air pollution.”

Is there a big demand by local pot growers to have somebody “cool” move their gardens from one potentially risky venue to a safer spot away from “the heat?” “Yes. But I absolutely won’t do it.”

Another business he is involved in: Question Authority Hempwear, a local company that designs, manufactures and distributes clothing made out of doob.

Last book read: Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Sanyika Shakur.

Favourite radio station: The Monster, K103 from Kahnawake.

What he’s been listening to lately: The JJ Paradise Players Club.
Television preferences: CBC news “or what’s left of it,” and The Rockford Files.

Current ambition: To survive WWIII.

Words of wisdom: “You usually know when you’re wrong, so you just have to open your eyes and do the right thing.” :

Comments? dimwit@openface.ca