Newspaper Carriers deliver
What do Walt Disney, John Wayne, Bing Crosby, Jackie Robinson, Dwight D. Eisenhower and I have in common?
We all started as newspaper carriers. When I was 12, I was so excited to get a morning newspaper route, delivering 47 newspapers seven days a week in the Woodside section of Summit Hill.During the four years I had the route, I earned several thousand dollars in profits and tips, which I used for my education at East Stroudsburg University. I was a self-employed businesskid. I bought the papers from the newspaper at a wholesale rate, then sold them to my customers at the retail price. The difference was my profit. This plus some pretty good tips made up my compensation package.Usually, I was up by 5 a.m. I went to a nearby street corner where the papers were dropped off. On some Sundays, because the paper was so big, I had to use two bags because all of the papers wouldn't fit into one.Back then, we carriers had to do our own weekly collections. Only two or three of my customers paid in advance at the newspaper office. The others were expected to pay me when I arrived at their doorstep.I would have to make a special trip for collections, because it would have been rude of me to expect people to make payments at 6 a.m. or earlier when I was delivering their papers. Sometimes, customers would put me off, or, on occasion, not answer the door, even though I could see movement through the shades. This meant another trip. Despite this, when I returned, there were no recriminations, and I had a smile on my face. I am sure they had their problems.Being a carrier taught me how to operate my own little business, the importance of consistency, attention to detail, the art of getting along with people, even with some customers who were cranky, rude, even nasty at times.I learned that some customers wanted their papers placed in a certain location - on a stoop, inside the storm door, on a chair, etc. One or two requested that I put the paper into the mailbox, but we were told this could not be done since the mailbox belongs to the federal government, and it was against the law to put anything into a mailbox except bona fide U.S. mail.Earlier this month, three of the Times News carriers were honored by the state association of carriers for their talents and for taking good care of their customers. Two were junior carriers, and one was a motor route driver.According to Colleen Rudelitsch, motor route supervisor and single copy manager, junior carriers for the Times News average between 30 and 40 customers, while motor route drivers, many of whom have multiple routes, average between 200 and 250 customers. Carriers are expected to have the newspaper delivered to their customers by 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and by 9 a.m. Saturday.Today, Rudelitsch says, the Times News, as many papers do, require customers to pay at the office, which removes the need for carriers to make collections and, in some cases, to return multiple times to try to get delinquent payments.When I was a kid, my parents didn't worry about my safety, even though I was on the street by 5:30 a.m. The idea of some bad person snatching me while I was delivering papers was borderline laughable in the Summit Hill of the 1950s.Today, of course, it is a different story, and the concern for a child's safety is top of mind awareness. Accordingly, some parents drive their carrier children while delivering papers, Rudelitsch says.Customers don't give too much thought to the issues and challenges their carriers face. They go for their paper at a certain time, and, in most cases, it is waiting for them. Carriers are similar to postal service employees in the sense that they are expected to deliver in all sorts of weather - snow, sleet, heat, cold and everything in between.Being a newspaper carrier is not an easy gig. I am sure you can appreciate the value of their service. Our carriers rely on tips as part of their income, so please remember to tip your carrier for exceptional service.Many well-known politicians and celebrities valued and spoke highly of their experience as a newspaper carrier. Others who began as "little businesspersons" included: Ed Sullivan, Danny Thomas, Martin Luther King Jr. Herbert Hoover, Carl Sandburg, Wayne Gretzky and Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.Oct. 8 is International Newspaper Carrier Day, which salutes and recognizes thousands of carriers who deliver more than 45 million newspapers to more than 100 million readers every day.Producing a newspaper has been likened to a relay race, with each person involved doing his or her job for the team.For the final leg, we put the baton into the hands of our carriers to make sure the paper we worked on so diligently gets from us to you in a timely manner and a presentable condition.By Bruce Frassinelli |