Feb22

any news?

Posted on by
Standard

IMG_4706

i’m at war

with my

newspaper delivery service

and

the person

who delivers it

that i never see.

even when he is bad

throws it in a puddle on my driveway

on the hell strip near the street

somewhere in my garden

i appreciate him

and his delivery service.

i never complain

and

always tip him

no matter what.

i love the newspaper

love to hold it in my hands

take my time reading it.

cut things out of it

share stories.

it’s now only delivered 3 days a week

but recently

for some reason

it comes sporadically.

for 3 weeks it was missing on thursdays

then i got 2 copies on the next thursday

but it was missing on that friday

then on a sunday

the three delivery days are:

thursday, friday, sunday.

i always call

looking for it

they always credit me

but what i really want

is to just have it delivered

for those 3 days.

they are always kind

they never can figure out

the reason for the inconsistency.

it’s the same paper guy.

my house has never moved.

it’s the same 3 day schedule it’s been for 2 years.

every day

the sun still

comes up in the morning

and

sets in the evening.

is there something i’m missing?

just wondering.

—

i’d  just like to be treated like a regular customer.

– elvis presley

67 responses »

  1. I never had a “paper route” as a kid, but my brother did. Somehow it morphed into “our” paper route. Not a week went by that I didn’t find myself charged with the duty to pick up and deliver the papers. No throwing, no tossing allowed. Each house had its special place the paper had to be “placed”. Usually inside the storm door (for those of you in milder climates, that’s the glass and aluminum barrier to Mother Nature’s daily expression of rain, sleet or snow). So the modern day version of the drive by media pitching a rolled or bagged paper out of a moving car in the pre-dawn hours to smash your petunias, isn’t how it always was. And then there was the money end. Anyone remember the kid knocking at the door, collection pad in hand and the whispered warnings of, “Shhh, quiet. Stay out of sight, it’s the paper boy!”?

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    • Yep me I was the kid that got up in the dark went and place the paper rain or shine on the step in front of the door or in the storm door when they had one. Then on the days the paper needed to be collected for the month I rode my bike on my route just like every day and collected money when all monies was collected I took it to the paper and turned in and got whatever was owed to me for throwing the papers that month. It wasn’t hard and it was more money than babysitting my sisters and brothers. LOL

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  2. Beth, politely call the paper and tell them you don’t want the credit but you very much would like your paper. My brother has worked at the paper here where we live for about 37 years he doesn’t throw the paper he works in the press room but I used to not get my paper I would call the paper and tell them and my brother would bring it home if he hadn’t left yet but if he had then someone would bring. I’m like you I want to touch my paper, cut stuff out and I don’t want to read it on my computer. LOL Have a good week.

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. Ugh – been there. Our paper was taken over by a national conglomerate and everything went to hell. After months of phone calls, many missed papers, and tons of broken promises from the newspaper’s “customer service” department my husband finally got to the bottom of our problem. If I didn’t love reading the hard copy of the paper so much life would be a lot easier.

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  9. When “at the door” and “on the porch” became “in the gutter” or “at the curb” tossed from a passing car, and I had to pad out to the street in my robe and slippers to retrieve it and then spend half an hour trying to peel the pages apart and dry them … I gave up. A decades-long habit broken by the very people who claim to be so desperate for subscribers. Sad.

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  19. I’m at war with our mail person. One day she brings the mail to my house, the next day she leaves it in the box at the end of the very long driveway. Packages are sometimes left in the road, or on top of the box. I never can tell where I’ll find the mail. I think of it as a treasure hunt.

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  22. I relate to your frustration, Beth. At our old house, we took the NY Times on weekends. Relaxing with the paper was a weekend ritual for us. When we moved, the Times told us they wouldn’t deliver to our new address. YET, THEY SEND ME WEEKLY MAILINGS ASKING ME TO SUBSCRIBE TO HOME DELIVERY. We even called their customer service department and said we’d LOVE to get home delivery through one of these specials. They did some investigating and called us back and said, “Sorry. The delivery person doesn’t want to add you to his route.”

    They STILL send us home delivery mailings.

    And we wonder why newspapers struggle.

    Liked by 1 person

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  24. We just started getting the paper again after going through years of traveling too much to make it worthwhile. I love having the paper in the morning with my coffee. Love, love, love it! I’m sorry for your delivery problems. Perhaps, now that the job has become part-time, your delivery person’s heart is just not in it anymore. Still…

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