Rain adds to stress and chaos of move-in day in Boston: "It's awful"

On a rain-soaked Tuesday in September, Bostonians continued the time-honored, often-loathed tradition of seeing a majority of the city move in and out of their residences on the same day. The chaos has been going on for decades.

"Crashes, people fighting with each other, furniture everywhere," said an exhausted Margarita Gomez. "It's awful. It's raining and all of the books are getting wet. It's terrible."

The city's official move-in day is scarier than Halloween, and more frantic than Black Friday. The streets are lined with U-Haul trucks, frustrated families, and cars honking at each other.

"Oh my God. Even on the train you can hear it," said Gomez of the constant honking. "It's horrible. I don't know why they do it."

The day leaves many residents baffled, as swaths of city residents see leases ending and new ones beginning at the start of September. It forces a free-for-all that some people wish would be more staggered.

"Everyone's leases run congruently here. Everyone's, even when I lived in that apartment complex there 40 years ago," said Mike O'Brien, who is reluctantly helping to move his daughter in after she fed him a white lie.

"Can you imagine that? She told me originally, it was on the third [floor]. She lied to me and told me as we got here it's on the fifth floor. I almost went on strike," said O'Brien. "I am going to have to lug that mattress up five floors, which we are going to ask your big guy here to help me with," said O'Brien, pointing to WBZ's photographer.

For some residents, this is their first time experiencing this, while others thought it would be easier the second time. Jackson Rader found that out the hard way.

"I was like, I don't have to worry. I have a shopping cart. I am moving around the corner, I got this, bro," said Rader.

His lease ended on August 31 at noon, but his new lease didn't start until September 1. It left him homeless for a night.

"For the last 24 hours, I slept on a friend's dorm couch last night, and I woke up and I saw the weather, and it's not what I was hoping for," said Rader of the rain.

The downpour added to the soaked stress of the day, but soon that rain will clear, casting a metaphorical rainbow over parts of Allston. At the end of it is where some residents will find treasure. In the coming days, people will leave discarded items on the street for new residents to grab for free. It's a phenomenon known as Allston Christmas.

"I know people leave out their stuff, and then you're supposed to go around Allston and pick up what you find and want," said Shyla Haltom, who is going through her first move-in day. "I am looking for a desk chair, maybe a nightstand, anything easy to clean."

It's the reward for dealing with the insanity.