During my 7th and 8th grade year, I was a paper boy for the Herald Journal. I agreed to take over the route from a friend without checking for permission from my parents. That elicited a shocked reaction from my Mom, as she instinctively knew this meant she was now a paper girl!
In those days, the Herald Journal was an afternoon newspaper on a daily basis. Only the Sunday edition was an early morning delivery. If I remember correctly, the monthly subscription rate was $2.50 a month and required the routine of door-to-door collection from each customer. During the course of my approximately two years on the job, there was one small increase to $2.75 and more than one grouchy customer complained.
The routine was for the bundles of papers to be dropped off at my curb in the mid afternoon. By the time I got home from school, it was very common that Mom would have already rolled and inserted all the papers with the supplied rubber bands and packed the canvas “over the head” double-sided bag. In the beginning, I used my skinny tire 10 speed bike for the route but it was taking quite a beating. So Dad took me uptown to buy a sturdier model at Idaho Appliance that could tolerate the distance and curbs that I tended to launch myself over for fun. It was a light blue color and I was a bit embarrassed by its appearance…it seemed “girly” to me.
So many life lessons were learned from that job. I had never really handled money other than a few dollars for an allowance. Each month I would perform all the collections at the end of the month. Dad sat me down and gave me an old cigar box he had to serve as my “money box.” We would count and sort the cash or sometimes a check and reconcile the bill from my supervisor. Once I paid the bill to the HJ, everything left over was mine! On average, I usually pocketed about $50 to $60. I was able to build my route during subscription contests to nearly 80 customers and almost won a small black and white TV in a contest. I only lost my 2 subscriptions to a classmate who covered the route on the opposite side of town. I always resented him for that!
The biggest lesson was simply that of having a responsibility; to do your work first and play later. I rode that bike 95% of the time, but on the Sunday morning route, often starting before the sun rose, Mom would get up and drive me. One Sunday morning, near Mother’s Day, I decided to surprise her and do the route on my own and let her sleep in. She was so surprised when I returned home with the job completed. I even tried walking the route a time or two but that proved pretty fatiguing.
One such afternoon when I chose to walk the route, I had a unique experience. I decided to take a shortcut through the alley behind some of the business district. As I trudged along carrying that heavy bag of newspapers, I could hear a couple voices behind me, calling out and teasing me with verbal taunts. I recognized the voices as two guys a year older than me in school, known to be bullies. I proceeded to ignore them but I did slow down my pace a bit as they quickened their stride to catch up to me. I was anticipating a confrontation and was just in the mood to put up a fight. When I became aware that they were within a few inches of me, I whirled around in one roundhouse motion and swung my right arm as hard as I could. I was not sure which one, if either, I was going to hit, but I did connect with the jaw of the taller of the two. I will never forget the shocked look on both of their faces! Not another word was exchanged and they simply sulked away in the opposite direction and left me alone, not just that day, but from then on out at school.
Other than on the basketball court, that is the only fight I have ever been forced into. Not the most prominent lesson or experience from being a paperboy, but does add some flavor to my first official job outside of the farm.
Times have changed dramatically and you don’t see paper boys around the neighborhood any longer. I sure am grateful for the experience and I hope that newspapers themselves don’t disappear like the paper boys have. Thanks daily, or now weekly newspapers…JOB WELL DONE!!