Am I crazy or is this just odd?

United States
June 17, 2007 11:30am CST
My morning routine has been shattered. I usually wake up, make my way to the kitchen and pour a cup of coffee that has brewed via the timer on my coffeemaker. I get the newspaper from the newspaper box at the end of my drive and sit down to enjoy my coffee and read the paper. This wonderful routine is shattered. Our local paper has decided to stop home delivery and MAIL our newspaper. I will get my newspaper now around 3PM in the afternoon. ...which means I can't read it until I get home from work. When subscribers complained, the paper stated that it was cheaper to have the newspapers mailed than to pay people to work as deliverers. They further stated that finding people to work as a delivery person was getting harder and harder. Am I crazy or is this just insane? Does anyone else get their paper in this manner or is this something that just this small, backward town does?
16 people like this
38 responses
• Singapore
17 Jun 07
Crazy! Simply crazy! How can the paper still be fresh if it is mailed and only arrive in the afternoon? I am assuming you are talking about a morning paper. *hmph* This is ridiculous. We get ours like 4 or 5 in the morning, not afternoon. Papers are still delivered to us. I think if they are mailed, I will cancel the subscription. Absurd really...
7 people like this
• United States
17 Jun 07
You are lucky in that you can get your paper delivered to your house. I live in Western Taxachussetts and the Boston Herald will not deliver (either by delivery person or mail) to my house. I have to walk to a store (I am with out a car presently) to pick up the paper and hopefully they do not sell out of it before I get there. I have asked them to save it for me but often the people forget to put one aside for me and I will not get to read that days news.
7 people like this
@sacrg793 (429)
• China
17 Jun 07
your morning routine is shattered just by newspaper, right? maby you could store your paper till the next morning you can read it. it maynot ruin your routine of reading newspaper and you can get your life back to normal!
6 people like this
• United States
17 Jun 07
true, that would work, I would just be reading day old news! As long as I don't listen to any conversations on the prior day, it should still be 'new' to me! Great idea!
2 people like this
@whyaskq (7523)
• Singapore
17 Jun 07
I find it odd that the local paper made such a decision, cost savings at the expense of the subscribers. What if all subscribers cancel their subscription? Is there an alternative vendor around? Perhaps they intend to promote news online.
6 people like this
@latsmom (824)
17 Jun 07
I have never heard of this before, in the uk where I live it is usually the kids that deliver the papers for extra money before and after school, however the pay is bad and the kids have to work hard to earn a measly £20-£25 per week (bear in mind a cinema ticket costs £6.50 adn a themepark entranc eticket is abut £16, a mcDonalds approx £5), they have to get up in the dark to deliver the morning lot, then straight after school go to deliver the next lot which takes them in the winter into dark hours also which is a shame, I think that if they are finding it hard to find deliverers they shoudl probably try offering more money as if they are lkie they are in the uk, the potential deliverers do not see an incentive in such a small wage.
@piasabird (1737)
• United States
17 Jun 07
So you get that day's newspaper in the afternoon mail? That's a good post office. I don't know if that would work here. It would probably save the paper some headaches with trying to find people to deliver the papers, especially in the rural areas. Have you heard the old joke about giving the mail to the Jehovah Witnesses so they can deliver it as they're going from house to house anyway? They could give them the newspapers. j/k We use to get our paper in the evening until they changed it to morning delivery. It took some time to get use to that, but you do.
6 people like this
@piasabird (1737)
• United States
17 Jun 07
Oh yeah, I forgot to answer your question in the title of this thread. I don't know you well enough to know if you're odd. But, your name is crazynurse, so maybe that's it. :0) (only joking)
4 people like this
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
17 Jun 07
could you imagine how bogged down the mail carriers will become as they have to add the bulk of daily news delivery to their satchels?
2 people like this
@sodapop (977)
• United States
18 Jun 07
At our post office they do deliver the daily newspaper, not just from our town, but from surrounding towns also. It's really bad on the days that TV Guide comes out to!!
1 person likes this
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
17 Jun 07
I think that is odd as well. I have only lived in one small town and they delivered the newspaper, but that was about 6 years ago. They may have changed what they have done. I bet the newspaper will loose money on this and try togo back to how it was before. If they can't find people to deliever the paper, what else could they do?
4 people like this
@sweetlady10 (3611)
• United States
17 Jun 07
This is not fair. We all like to read news for the day in the morning when it is fresh. It does not feel good when you will read the news paper after coming from office and you would may be heard about some of those news already. I think they should find a more convinient way and time to send the paper to the people.
4 people like this
@sigma77 (5383)
• United States
17 Jun 07
That is only part of your problem. Just wait until you see the next edition of your local paper. You probably won't be able to read it because it will be in Chinese. Your local paper decided it was cheaper to import the news from China so they can pay the reporters less and save money...lol. Newsprint is also a bargain. And don't worry about Sunday's edition. It will be in Monday's mail so that you can read Saturday's news and get all caught up on last weeks news by the end of this week. And don't be surprised if a few sections have been reduced to one page. This is so the weight of the paper fits within mail specifications for the cheaper postal rates. But, don't worry, we won't change how you pay, because we will still charge you regular rates. And one more thing, please include a generous tip when you make your payment. That is so we can pass 50% of it to the mail delivery person to cover the higher cost of gas. Now, I can't think of a better way to drink my morning coffee by dreaming of the newspaper that will be in my mailbox when I come home. If you have any further complaints, please dial our auxilary office in India where they will be proud to direct your call to the appropriate talking computer in South Africa. Ain't change grand? We hope you will enjoy this new service.
4 people like this
@estherlou (5015)
• United States
17 Jun 07
Amazing, funny, articulate and oh so true! Thanks for the laugh!
2 people like this
• United States
17 Jun 07
HAHAHA!!! So true Simga, so true. I particuarly like "...please dial our auxilary offic ein India..."
1 person likes this
17 Jun 07
You're both my friend :) I have but I don't normally do it because it's mainly sorted already before I'm awake. :) Backward town :S ?.. ~Joey
4 people like this
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
17 Jun 07
If I lived in your town I would send someone there to apply for a job and see how much they are paying. I believe this is the problem. If the pay is good there will be many people applying for that job. Then if you find out that they are NOT paying well or below the legal minimum wage then all the people should get together and complain and force the paper to pay the delivery person a decent wage or tell them you will stop ordering because I am sure they charge you enough for the service charge of the subsrription of the papers, the question is how much is the delivery person actually getting paid. They are offering to MAIL the papers not shut down business so this appears that business is still good, the problem is getting delivery people and the question is WHY? For years the pay has always been low that's why young boys/girls would do it but if the pay was good/decent you would find lots of adults squeezing this into their schedule to make a few extra bucks.
4 people like this
@RenaeT (681)
• United States
17 Jun 07
I've never heard of such a thing!! You can bet that all the money they THINK they will save will be lost when customers start canceling their subscriptions!! That is just crazy. We don't get the paper, but if we did, I'd need it in the morning because once I get home from work, I wouldn't want to read the paper, I'd rather turn on the news while fixing dinner. KNow what I mean??
• United States
17 Jun 07
Yup, I sure do know what you mean. I am busy in the evenings grading papers and doing laundry and other things. The 'news' in the paper at that point is old news! I won't be renewing my subscription when it expires.
2 people like this
@Inky261 (2520)
• Germany
17 Jun 07
Since I have internet I read a real newspaper very seldom. I put my morning`s cup of coffee on my computertable and read my newspaper online. It is free. I get the lastest news and do not have to pay for it. This partly makes up for the fee for my broadband connection. I do this after I check on my email. We almost do not need letters and papers any more.
@amyann16 (414)
• United States
17 Jun 07
We get our hometown newspaper mailed to us, but it is only a weekly paper, so none of the news is "breaking" news for the day. I would think that the newspaper that is mailing its paper everyday will have to do some changing in its reporting of news, otherwise it will all be old news for people who don't get a chance to read it until after work. I don't know about most people, but my evenings are crazy, with getting supper ready, taking my son to one of his events, getting laundry going etc. If I were to read a daily paper, the morning would be the only time I could get it done. It will be interesting to see if this new concept lasts for your paper...
• United States
17 Jun 07
That is exactly what many of us are saying. Our evenings are filled with activities and by the time we sit to read the paper, it is old news! I will not be renewing my subscription once it expires.
2 people like this
@estherlou (5015)
• United States
17 Jun 07
Our city has around 150-200 thousand people in it. We still get morning deliveries. As erratic as our mail delivery sometimes is, I'd hate to have to depend on getting the paper that way.
3 people like this
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
18 Jun 07
I live in a large metropolitan area. And the paper is also mailed to most us. Not all but a large majority. It is cheaper as it costs so much for gas that many people are running to apply to deliver papers for a part time job. Leaving the car idling and all with the a/c on is costly. Figure if you've got a route with 125 houses to deliver to. They are not always one house after another so it's a lot of miles, a lot of stop and go. And most drivers don't turn their cars off. So it's costly to say the least to deliver papers. HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!~
1 person likes this
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
18 Jun 07
I read my local paper online. It's free plus I signed up for updates and those come via email as they happen.
@inked4life (4224)
• United States
18 Jun 07
I have never heard of that before...that is truly strange. By the time you get your newspaper you could have watched numerous different versions of the local news thus making your need for a newspaper obsolete....they are literally mailing themselves out of business.
1 person likes this
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
19 Jun 07
My Dad lives 15klms out of a largish country town. He has his paper delivered by the postman every day. Tuesdays and Thursdays it comes at around 8:30 am, the other days any time from 1pm onwards. He's not actually the postman he is under contract to Australia Post, delivering the newspaper to Dad is a sideline. I can just imagine how frustrating this is for you. That sounds like a great way to start the day...i go and get coffee and dial up. We don't even have a postal service where I live. There is a post office and we have to go collect our mail.
@superchook (1786)
• Australia
18 Jun 07
That must be so frustrating for you, I would think that they will lose a lot of business by doing it that way. There are so many people that like to get up and while they have their coffee be able to sit there and read the paper.
1 person likes this
• United States
17 Jun 07
There is still regular delivery here, but I can understand the dilema of a small town paper delivering. It is very costly especially with the price of gas on the rise. It is also hard work since you have to do it during the night and you have to use your own vehicle usually. The papers here pay a gas allowance per route and you get profit margin on the papers. In order for it to be profitable you have to deliver well over 100 papers and you never get time off, because you are technically a subcontractor and have to cover that route. It is also 7 days a week to work. I'm not sure how the postal system will be cheaper but maybe with bulk rates and stuff it could be. But I would bet that they may lose circulation because of people that want to read in the morning.