mraxl wrote:
scrambler73 wrote:
lotta paperboys on this list....
I did that too at age 11.... it's a shame the younger generations don't even know what a paperboy was.
some of my most VIVID Childhood memories/MISERABLE experiences were delivering papers. I had the Saturday and Sunday Route for the Minneapolis Star/Tribune. Out of the house by 5am, walk (with cart) 2 miles to pick up papers at local "distribution house". Entire route was about 5 miles total...I delivered all of the streets surrounding my house.
Saturdays were no big deal (thin/lightweight, and not as many subscribers), but my Sunday cart was FULL. Not only that, the papers needed to be assembled and were sometimes up to 3" thick (Christmas).
Winter was absolute HELL... Cold was one thing, but when it snowed...Especially WET SNOW, it was absolute torture for a 12 year old kid that weighed about 100 pounds. I remember dragging that cart (held 100 papers, and when full, weighed at least 2x's what I did) with snow sticking to the wheels (imagine rolling wet snow to make a snowman) till they grew to the point they jammed on the frame and would not turn any more. There were times I'd leave the cart at the end of one block and load my arms with as many papers as I could just to lighten the load...
I could sometimes "sucker" a friend (or my younger brother) into helping, but usually after one time...that was it. Once bitten, twice shy.
I really dug that job and that fact that I got a check for $40.00 every 2 weeks was HUGE money as a 12 year old. Only took me a couple of months to save up for my dirtbike.. I think it was up to $60 every 2 weeks when I was 15, but by then my sights were on the big time! A $3.50/hr job!
My brother took over for me, but was always oversleeping, and my dad wanted to kill him from all the early morning "WHERE IS MY PAPER!!!!!!!
"phone calls"...