Pros and Cons....

Well, in my first post I explained how my job as a paperboy works. You may be asking yourself, "Why would he do such a thing?" Like everything else, newspaper delivery has its pros and cons. Or as they say in the elevator business, it has its ups and downs. I've never made an actual list of these, so we'll get through this together, OK? Here goes with pros. (a little rhyming never hurt anyone)

Pros:
First off, it is a weekly paycheck. My high school guidance counselor would say you should not work just for money, you should do what makes you happy. Paying my bills makes me happy. So there, Mr. Guidance counselor guy.
Second, even though it is a part time position, it has pretty good benefits. Being able to take my girls to the doctor also makes me happy.
Thirdly, as opposed to any other part time job I might have, the hours allow me to not miss any home time with the ladies. If I was selling shoes or flipping burgers, I'd never see them. As it is, I'd just be sleeping then anyway. Plus, now I don't smell like a Jr Bacon Nike.
Fourthly(is that even a word?), aside from the 30 minutes I spend at the warehouse bagging every night, it's good ME time. I get roughly 2 hours to myself to sort out the events of the day, plan for tomorrow, or sing badly at the top of my lungs. (More on that in a future post)
Fifthly(I'm gonna stick with it), it's fairly easy. Once you run the same route say, 200 nights in a row, you can pretty much do it with your eyes closed. And at this time of night, sometimes you do! There is no strenuous labor, aside from dragging my 300+ pounds out of bed.
Sixthly(say that 5 times fast), being in a rural area, there's a great view of the stars on a clear night. Which, if I wasn't always in a hurry to get back to my bed, I'm sure is incredible.

That's a pretty good list. Now for the bad news:

First, the hours. While I also listed this in the pro section, it is a Con as well. You just can't acclimate your body to sleeping for 3 hours, waking up and working for 2-3 hours, going back to sleep for 2-3 hours, waking up and working a normal 9 hour day, then rinse and repeat. Eventually, much to my supervisors chagrin, my body just says "forget it, I'm not getting up on time today. Stay asleep, Big boy." Then the boss calls at 2:15 to see where you are. On my way, that's where I am.
Second, the days. This is a 7 day a week, 365 day a year job. No weekends, no holidays. As a matter of fact, EVERYONE gets a paper on holidays, so they are actually more work. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, yeah for Thanksgiving! (have you seen the day after Thanksgiving paper? Yeah, I get to put those ads in there.) This means no weekend trips out of town, much less a real vacation.
Thirdly, people can be pretty anal about their newspapers. Don't let them get wet, accidentally toss it in a ditch, miss the paper tube or any other such gross violation of human decency. And God forbid you don't give them a paper on any given night. Wow, the mouths' on some people!

That's about it on the Con side. Now, before you start asking about high gas prices, we get a weekly stipend to cover gas, so it's all good. Although I do run through tires pretty quickly.

Anywho, that's a decent list off the top of my head. If you can think of anything to maybe add, let me know. Unless they are Cons, it's hard enough to get out of bed already.

I'm going home now, it's past my bedtime.