Each has its advantages over others, just as each presents its own challenges...The one advantage newspapers have over the others is passive time-shifting, in which the consumer can merely choose a time to read a daily slice of news without setting a video recorder for a scheduled broadcast, or searching the internet for newsworthy events happening at an earlier point...But even this advantage disappears when a newspaper fails to appear at its allotted and expected time, whether in the driveway or at the local newsstand...
I have been a continuous subscriber to the local newspaper here for 15 years, even though I prefer the internet for news sources on a state, national and global basis...I can get local news, letters to the editor, obituaries, legal notices and my favorite comic strips (Alley Oop and Monty still crack me up) all in one convenient source...But the convenience disappears when the product is no longer on the driveway at the expected time...
At the beginning of my subscription, and right up until just over a year ago, I could walk outside anytime after 5AM and find my paper waiting for me, wrapped against the weather...Only once did it fail to materialize, and a call to the distribution office brought my carrier promptly to my front door with my paper, and an unasked for apology...For this level of service, a generous tip was included with each annual check...
Alas, after so many years he decided to retire from his route, and included a "thank you" letter with his final delivery...A succession of carriers afterward produced mixed results until those in charge of hiring settled on one carrier...If I were to be generous in my assessment of the latest contractor's performance, I would characterize it as "sporadic"..."Consistently late, if at all" might be more accurate...
The hapless soul left to apologize on the phone for such poor service has explained in the past that the latest hire is a single mom with other demands on her time...As much as I sympathize with her allotment in life, it is still the responsibility of the business to provide the service on time...Lately, the complaint desk doesn't even bother to call me back with the excuses, they merely send someone out with my paper...
Those wishing to argue that the carrier's woes are legitimate reasons for the ever-lessening level of performance, will find I am already familiar with the newspaper distribution business, having been involved in it for several years following my first divorce...At a time when I already worked a six-day-a-week full time job, and operated my own business at night, I took on the added responsibility of a paper route for the now defunct Houston Post...
After a short period of learning the route and adjusting my sleep patterns, I delivered approximately 325 papers daily and 350 on weekends with the lowest complaint level of any carrier in the division...Having the pickup point a block from my home helped, and I often found I could pick up extra money running a second route when another carrier failed to show up for work...After about four years, my post-divorce debt level decreased to the point where I could resign, allowing me to sleep in to 6AM instead of 2:30AM as in the past...
Needless to say, I am familiar with the issues faced by my current carrier, as I know of the problems of working sick, having transportation problems, family emergencies and all the other excuses offered for her by the complaint desk lady...Unfortunately, none of this helps as I take my puppies outside for their early morning rituals, and find I have no newspaper to carry back inside...
The Conroe Courier will now have to make do without my annual offering to their budget, and the carrier will enjoy one less expected complaint as I will not be renewing my subscription...There are many more reliable sources for the products I use...
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