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
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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i loved the old paper guys/girls and their system for collecting and delivering, mike )
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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.
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oh, i call them each week, and am very polite, but by the time i get home and discover it’s not there, it’s too late to redeliver for the day (
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I have an in with the paper but it doesn’t always help. LOL
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i’ll never surrender! )
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That’s annoying Beth. i too used to deliver papers in the wee hours of the morning and each customer had a place where they wanted their paper set.
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i would just be happy to have it somewhere in my yard, even. as long as it was on a regular basis.
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Fickle paper delivery…..I wonder what his story is. There’s always a story.
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me too – and you know there is!
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Lol! My parents are fighting a similar war with their mail delivery person. I sense a trend here!
>
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i totally get it, i’ve gone through that in the past, too )
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As an aside Beth, the first installment of my disappearance is up over at Cordelia’s Mom http://cordeliasmomstill.com/2016/02/22/dont-pay-the-ransom-i-escaped-guest-post-by-paul-curran/ If you have a chance to read it I would be honored. Thank you.
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great, and thanks for letting me know, paul –
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priceless!
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)))
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My John loves his newspaper, too. Tried three times to get the New York Times delivered to our door–supposedly an option in our city. For whatever reason, it never went smoothly, so I sympathize. Hope you work things out:)
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for some reason, my sunday nyt comes without fail, yet the local daily can’t quite get it together.
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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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i completely agree.
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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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yes, they are shooting themselves in the foot –
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Have the delivery person changed?
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the paper says it has not –
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This is sad, it is like seeing another tradition go. But now for something completely different: You have a TARDIS-blue door!! I love you.
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i agree and i love that color too. i wanted it to match my favorite flower pot, that color is amazing.
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oh, do not get me started about the U.S. Mail…even worse!!!!!!
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I know!!
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Tell me! We now get our mail after we go to bed at night!!! I guess I shouldn’t complain….it’s sort of like we get it early mornings now, one day late….
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yes, just pretend it’s the next day’s mail and you got it early )
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I always thought I’d get a job as one, but my first job was actually at a library years later.
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Still dealing with words, )
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Ha! Thanks.
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“on the hell strip near the street” I enjoyed that line a lot. A creative way to describe it. 🙂
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So funny, recently our newspaper delivery changed, too. I think we must have a new carrier. We didn’t get a paper for a few days. Then it arrived late. Our previous carrier was so reliable.
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it must take some people time to get up and running, but the odd thing is, i think my carrier is still the same. i really wonder what is going on with him…
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Yes, that is very strange.
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Could somebody be taking them?
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maybe – but it’s so hit or miss and it’s found in many places in my yard, or not, at times. i think it has something to do with the carrier –
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The investigative reporter in me would be calling the paper to get his name and contact information to ask him directly what the problem is. Maybe he needs new glasses.
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that’s it!
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Horrible…and considering it is only 3 days a week, even more so. Too bad you can’t get him while he is delivering and see what he has to say.
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it’s just an odd thing, but then i guess that’s how life is –
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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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yes, i almost understand not bringing it at all, more –
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At the present, my life is not as interesting as yours! They should change the name of your paper: “The Elusive News”.
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ha, yes ) and may the excitement never end !
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Mom gets her Cleveland paper only 5 times skipping Monday and Wednesday, I believe. It sure throws the elderly off! 😉
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I’d be happy just getting the 3 days that I subscribed for )
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Well, as someone else mentioned you may wish to find out the story or get to the bottom of this, Beth. Hope your taking parts of the Sunday paper still goes on with the nice man who you share it with. ♡
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yes, they both remain steady )
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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.
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yes! and i faithfully receive my nyt each and every sunday, though the local daily can’t get it together to deliver.
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Just one more sign about the failure to communicate from our once grand communication system, Beth. Ouch, ouch and ouch.
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i know, and it makes me sad, i really love newspapers.
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I have ink in my blood, as you know, Beth. 😦
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yes, i thought about that. i know it has deep meaning for you –
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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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i love it too, and you may be right –
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I love the Elvis quote and yes, the ground is moving beneath our feet 🙂
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indeed it is –
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How weird! Hopefully it will be sorted soon.
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yes -)
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Seems there might be something going on with your delivery guy.
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quite possibly….
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