By Jason Sethre
Publisher
Fillmore County Journal
jason@fillmorecountyjournal.com
Since 1940, the Newspaper Association Managers (NAM) has promoted National Newspaper Week, which is on the calendar for October 5 to October 11 this year.
While this editorial could focus on fostering an appreciation for local journalism or the importance of a free press in a democratic society, which are both vital to our existence, I’m going to give greater attention to something lacking in our brave new world.
Newspaper carriers are extinct.
I feel bad for kids these days. Back when I was 10 years old, I had the opportunity to get a paper route. I learned about customer service, collections, subscription sales, time management and organizational skills.
Every day after school, I’d hurry home to find a huge pile of bundled newspapers at the end of our driveway. With my red Radio Flyer wagon in tow, I’d deliver the Post-Bulletin one house at a time wherever the customer wanted their newspaper placed. Some wanted them inside the front door or garage door or back door. Some wanted them in a flower box or a creamery container. In just a few years, my route grew from 75 to 125 households in a neighborhood that was booming with new construction. Of course, the more households I delivered, the more money I made. I figured out pretty quickly that I wanted every household to subscribe to the newspaper. There was an incentive for growth.
Along with making money delivering newspapers, I enjoyed selling subscriptions to earn incentives offered by the daily newspaper. One of my favorite memories was when I sold 50 subscriptions to earn a trip to Disney World (Florida) with 19 other kids from Southeast Minnesota. It was one of my first times flying on a plane. It was an amazing experience and I felt good about earning that trip based on my performance.
And, then there was the collection process. When I was a kid in the 1980s, we had a book of tickets per subscriber that represented a receipt to be issued per payment every two weeks. So, as a 10 year old kid, I’d go door-to-door to my subscribers to collect what was owed. It was challenging sometimes, and I learned a thing or two about integrity. Sometimes I’d be paying for someone’s subscription for a month or two, until I figured out I wasn’t getting paid.
Every Christmas, I’d sit down with a box of holiday greeting cards and write notes to customers to thank them for their business. I’d deliver the cards along with each newspaper in mid-December. I learned that thanking customers matters, and customers returned the favor with gifts. Some of the customers would wait for me to deliver the newspaper, standing in the doorway, so they could personally hand me a Christmas card and say “thank you.” It made me feel appreciated for the work I did.
If I wanted to go on vacation with my family, I had to line up a substitute to cover my newspaper route. I had to train them, because if they messed up while I was gone, that went against my record. My reputation was on the line regardless of who did the route. And, back in the day, we were charged $1 per complaint. So, if three houses were missed, that was $3 out of the carrier’s pocket. You learned pretty quick that mistakes were costly.
Rain, shine, snow, sub-zero temperatures. If you were sick, it didn’t matter. You had to deliver newspapers six days a week for a total of 312 delivery days per year, including major holidays. This was a commitment, which established accountability. Many people were counting on you.
Having a newspaper route was kind of a big deal when I was a kid. Some families had their kids on a waiting list to get a paper route. And, when one of the families with a lot of kids claimed a paper route, that route would stay in that family for nearly 20 years – passed on from the eldest child down the rank and file to the youngest. Paper routes were like “hand-me-downs” in big families.
As a newspaper carrier, there were subscribers who saw me delivering every day and would occasionally ask me if I could help them with other projects. I was asked to house-sit, take care of pets, babysit, shovel snow, and other odd jobs, primarily because I was a familiar face in the neighborhood. I met a lot of people and earned trust because I was a reliable paperboy.
Starting at the age of 10, I learned a lot of valuable lessons that established a good foundation for how to treat people. I learned about self-motivation and interpersonal skills. And, I learned about the fundamentals of running a business.
Unfortunately, kids don’t have this option today. Newspapers have transitioned away from independent carrier delivery and essentially piggy-backed their delivery system on the USPS. In many ways, it makes sense. And, the USPS has gained a tremendous amount of revenue from newspaper delivery with this transition.
But, part of me thinks about everything kids are missing out on these days. Everything we learned from having a newspaper route isn’t an option for our youth. In the State of Minnesota, young people can’t legally start working for a business until they are 14 years old, but there aren’t necessarily a lot of jobs kids can do close to home. So, their parents often have to drive them to their job until they can eventually drive themselves.
And, I’m sure future employers eventually hiring young people who had the responsibility of a newspaper route at a young age knew they were getting someone with a good work ethic.
I’m sure there are a few of our readers who also had a newspaper route once upon a time, and I’m sure they can relate to my reflections on this experience – along with adding some of their own.
And, I’m sure they would agree that kids are missing out.
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