Small victory for the little guy

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by samclem +1. Collecting was the worst. -- "Can you come back next week?" (Lady, if this $3.25 is going to break the bank, maybe you shouldn't be getting the paper) -- "Can you break a fifty?" (Sure, I'm peddling this bike every day through these hilly neighborhoods in all kinds of weather because I'm wealthy. Fifty dollars is about what I make in 2 months. You make about $5000 in two months. Have you got that in your pocket? Could you break a 5 thousand dollar note?)

I had a paper route when I was 14. 57 customers and I walked it. I heard exactly the same thing when trying to collect, although it was a slightly less affluent area so it was more "can you break a 20?" One collection day, I decided I'd had enough of that, so I brought enough change to handle every single house doing it.

[zedd]

When I was a kid I walked or biked a Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel route on one side of town and a Wisconsin State Journal route in the other direction. Winters were brutal back then. I remember one morning it was -40F before factoring in wind chill. Forget about getting a pass or being chauffeured around. Seven days a week in all kinds of weather.

Few appreciated the effort. Some were just perpetually angry no matter what. Sadly little has changed about people in the last nearly fifty years. Why is that do you suppose.

Be kind

[RobLJ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue7wM0QC5LE

[harley]

I once got 6 months of the WSJ free. It was during a time when DD had decided she needed 2 parakeets. But other than that I've saved (what?, hundreds?, thousands?, no idea really) a lot of money by never subscribing to a newspaper. So your $3.70 windfall is just a pittance. And seriously? $1.30 for a single paper?

[Taxman59]

Yesterday, I called the paper to cancel our subscription. Mind you, we haven't had a bill in over a year in spite of repeated calls to get the bill. DW insisted that we actually cancel since it would be stealing if we didn't send them money for something we don't want. So on the call, I am informed that we have no subscription and hadn't for many years and there is nothing to cancel!!!!
BTW, there was a paper again today.

[CaptTom]

We get a free weekly paper in the mail. In towns around here, there's not enough news for a full-sized paper, never mind a daily.

In the old days, advertising paid for the costs of producing the paper. The subscription barely paid for the delivery. I think the little local papers are still doing well with that model. I actually skim all the ads.

Seeing the same ad for Pepsi 10,000 times doesn't make me buy any more. Finding out what's available locally does impact my purchase decisions.

[kevdude]

I had 2 paper routes when I was a kid - first one was in 7th grade, and was spread out all over town like a couple other posters mentioned. Had to get up around 5:30 to deliver the 25'ish papers. Grew that route to about 50 in a year, then family moved. After a year, got another route that was 70 papers all up and down a route of about 5 blocks. Sunday papers were a huge pain for me as I had the old paperbags totally filled front and back, and I was not a large lad. Opened my first checking account for that one to pay for the newspapers. I had one customer who would call our house and complain if he didn't have his paper by 6am. My parents weren't too happy the first time he called. I don't think there were many calls after that. Collecting was always a pain, but it provided me with the all the spending money I needed, which was about $70/month back in 1978. Oh, the first route was in Wisconsin and second in Montana, so delivered in some brutally cold conditions.

[samclem]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevdude Oh, the first route was in Wisconsin and second in Montana, so delivered in some brutally cold conditions.

There's nothing quite like folding a fat paper on a cold morning and having the rubber band break as you try to get it on. I still remember how that felt on my ice-cold fingers.
As the real SamClem said:

Quote:

"In certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer." "Mark Twain"

[SheitlQueen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgtest Are you my father? Lol. HE would sit on hold for 8hrs with the IRS if a nickel were at stake.

LOL, my mother was the same way. When she passed away last year the newspaper keep delivering her paper even though we had called an canceled it several times. After they did stop delivery, they refused to refund the amount that occurred after her death. In her memory I spend a lot of time on the phone demanding a refund and being refused. I knew she would be really peeved to be ripped off. Posting this story on Facebook caught the eye of a friend who's husband worked at the paper. We had a refund the next day.

[kevdude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by samclem There's nothing quite like folding a fat paper on a cold morning and having the rubber band break as you try to get it on. I still remember how that felt on my ice-cold fingers. As the real SamClem said:

Oh good lord, I can feel that now!

I also remember seeing the waning moments of the northern lights a number of times as I was delivering in Montana - spectacular view.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by samclem There's nothing quite like folding a fat paper on a cold morning and having the rubber band break as you try to get it on. I still remember how that felt on my ice-cold fingers. As the real SamClem said:

Clearly it wasn't that cold, otherwise your fingers would have been numb enough so that you couldn't feel anything when the rubber snapped and smacked your fingers!

[Winemaker]

When the 2 neighbor's sons delivered the paper daily to our door ( we paid extra for that service), we never realized how good life was. Enter the new carriers over the years who threw the paper in the driveway at 5:00 in the morning despite numerous calls to throw it in the lawn. When the paper hits the pavement it always landed so that the small hole torn on impact would allow the cheap plastic bag to fill up with rain water, soaking the paper. When calling to stop service for vacations or travel, it had to be done 3 days ahead of time, "so that the computer can process your stoppage".
I ended my misery November 2016 at election time when the paper made their endorsements for the various candidates. When the county overwhelmingly voted the opposite way, you knew they were out of touch with their subscribers. I canceled prior to the election on Monday, after 25+ years.

[Sunset]

I refuse to get the paper, even free ones, as I don't want any issues suspending it for when we go away.
Nothing like a pile of papers to say Rob me..

[ChicagoGal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset I refuse to get the paper, even free ones, as I don't want any issues suspending it for when we go away. Nothing like a pile of papers to say Rob me..

That's why I finally ended my paper subscription a few years ago. Put my paper on vacation hold when I went to Australia for 2 weeks. Came back to 15 newspapers piled up at the end of my driveway. It had happened a few times before, and that was the proverbial straw. It's just not the same reading the e-paper

Quote:

Originally Posted by samclem +1. Collecting was the worst. -- "Can you come back next week?" (Lady, if this $3.25 is going to break the bank, maybe you shouldn't be getting the paper) -- "Can you break a fifty?" (Sure, I'm peddling this bike every day through these hilly neighborhoods in all kinds of weather because I'm wealthy. Fifty dollars is about what I make in 2 months. You make about $5000 in two months. Have you got that in your pocket? Could you break a 5 thousand dollar note?)

Flashback 1969. Our paperboy (his name was Valentine -- he was super cute!) came to collect. Mom was 10 cents short, and we were about to leave for the summer. She told me (age 7) "remind me when we get home that I owe Val a dime."

We spent 7 weeks traveling Europe (visiting family) that summer. Literally the minute we walked back in our front door, I said, "Mom, remember you owe Val a dime." She looked at me like I was an alien.