What not to find in storage.

A tale from the past.

Many moons ago I was just starting out in my career in storage working for a wonderful business called Space Bank Mini Storage, in Pasadena California. I learned a lot working there, and many stories start “when I was working for Space Bank…”. It is sort of like when a red neck says “Hold my beer”.

When I was working at Space Bank one of the lessons I learned was the importance of locking up. Space Bank is this wonderful property just along the 210 freeway in Pasadena, Ca. It originally was the secret Naval Base in Pasadena. The property that Space Bank bought was 8.5 acres of old Navy buildings. The partnership who bought it converted each building one at a time into storage and over the first 10 years created a quite unusual storage facility.

When I came aboard, in the 90’s the procedures for closing up were well established. A half an hour before close one employee would walk the grounds making sure that all the hallways were locked and no one was inside. At a quick pace this could be done in about 20 minutes. It was common to come across at least one customer who had let time slip by and need reminded that we were about to close. “Excuse me but we are closing in five minutes please close up your space and head off the property”. This was all that was needed and most people would be gone before you finished your rounds. The people who trained me warned that on occasion there would be people who just wouldn’t leave. What they never warned me about was people who used storage for other than storage.

In my first couple of months at work I was doing my rounds telling folks it’s time to go and trying to get through the hallways in a timely manor. As I was trotting down the “G” hallway when I noticed a door cracked open. No big deal I thought , as I passed the door I opened it up to fin two “not so lovely people” engaged in a quite common sexual position that left nothing to the imagination. I looked at them and they at me and I simply said “ We are closing in five minutes and you close your unit and leave the property”. Unlike everyone else, they did not leave the property quickly. This gave me time to get back to the office and gather the remaining employees. As the couple finely left the property We stood lining the exit waiving good by….they did not waive back.

You never know what you will run across in storage.