Quote:
Originally Posted by retiresomeday
Hi there! I am a long time lurker who is still living up North and many years from retirement. But I wanted to add some comments from a newspaper carrier's perspective. This is not meant to inflame or incite, just inform; I think that many people do not know how paper carriers are paid - I did not until my teen son started a paper route. Carriers are paid a very small sum for delivery (here it is 12 cents, per paper, per day, but that may vary by region). From that fee, your carrier has to buy all supplies for the route - elastics, plastic bags, envelopes, and other supplies -- these basic tools are not supplied by the newspaper. Not to mention the cost of gas and wear and tear on a car, and the fact that there are virtually no days "off". We delivered my son's papers on Thanksgiving and other holidays, and have returned home early from family vacations to be certain that papers are delivered on time.
A paper route appealed to me for my son since I am trying to instill a strong work ethic, encourage him to buy some of his "wants" (I supply the needs of course), and this was a good opportunity for him to learn about money management while he is too young for a part time job. I also had a paper route as a child and relished the experience. In my humble opinion, a paper route is a fine arrangement for a child with no expenses, but a very difficult way to make extra income as an adult.
Again, my intent is not to incite, but I thought this information would be helpful when you are considering a holiday tip for your carrier (assuming that you are happy with the service). They are very much appreciated! Thanks for the soapbox, and I wish you all Happy Holidays!
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I "hear you" and I totally agree. We've always given our morning newspaper carrier a big tip. They get the paper to us between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. and put it right up at the front door......walking up several landings of steps to the front covered porch. People who don't tip them, get it thrown in the driveway (on top of which rain, snow, sleet, etc. can fall).
The woman we have now is excellent; she's doing it to supplement the family income as her husband had to have heart bypass surgery at a young age, one year ago. She's the best we've had. I just gave her $200.
Reason being: I pay my newspaper once a year and don't put a tip in as they used to "quit" so often...plus less bills to write out monthly.
Actually, many of the men carriers would quit right after getting their Christmas tips.
So, at 52 weeks a year, that would only be less than $2 a week
tip for the first $100. The second $100 is her
Christmas gift for getting that paper up to our front door very early; we are early risers and appreciate it.
She also does the best folding of the paper and it comes FLAT in a plastic wrapper............the others would ROLL IT....and it was more difficult to read. She has mushed through all kinds of horrible weather and never missed a day.
We used to tip our mail carrier in the olden days and they would all stop in for a cold drink or to just chat and rest.........but then we were told that it was illegal to tip them, so we stopped. They still are great up here.
We have great mail ladies and mail men who often walk our mail up to our door when it is too large to fit into the roadside mailbox.........so saves us a trip down a steep driveway..........they've actually told us it is illegal to accept anything.
We do tip our garbage men as we have known them for the past 40 plus years and they take "more than they should" and never charge extra.
I used to give them $100 each which again, comes to less than $2 a week.
My husband, now home, tips them $50 each. I think women are more generous and appreciative....so bigger tips.
By the way, our garbage men picked up on Thanksgiving morning.
(Some TV people were upset that their garbage wasn't picked up.)
When hubby inquired if they had the holiday off.....wondering why they were here.......they replied that it was one of the holidays they do not get off.......actually, they only get Christmas day off. Again, they take a huge amount of extras and do not charge us.
As for the Daily Sun carrier......we were so happy with our one month delivery service while in The Villages.....that I took the Christmas card he had left us home in my suitcase......and when I wrote out my own cards, I sent him a card along with a $50 tip. The paper was always very very early and in good shape.........plus we enjoyed reading the paper immensely.
My husband was a paper boy with a huge "city route".....and as he always recalls, each customer had different directions as to where they wanted the paper placed..........anyway, we appreciate all of our service providers.
When our own children were young, all of our paper carriers were local children........not any more. They are all adults. Our paper used to be printed in town, down on Main Street..........now it's owned by a huge conglomerate of newspapers and published in nearby Massachusetts....so the "paper carriers" have their papers delivered to them, put them together and then drive them on their route............whereas the children walked them, pulling them in a wagon or whatever.......or on their bikes.
We miss the personal touch that we had when the kids delivered; stopping to chat and have a cold drink......we knew them all from school or church or the neighborhood...........now they just drive up the driveway and place the paper, in the dark. Luckily, our paper lady gave us a Christmas card with her home address on it.......so I mailed her $200 (yearly tip plus Christmas gift combined).....