"Life is a great bundle of little things."
Oliver Wendell Holmes~
Taking life for granted is a tragic blindness. We can be so consumed in our own world, we fail to see the greatness in others. Do you appreciate dedicated work that leaves invisible finger prints on your life? The weekly trash collectors, mail carriers, garden artisans, to name a few. Every Sunday like a sacred ritual, two scoops of coffee to eight cups water, comfy chair, big fat newspaper! It's always there, never fails and I enjoy the moment for one hour, sometimes two. Today, there was a typed letter from James Mason. Who? Never heard of the guy. Oh, he's the "News Guy" and responsible for getting my paper delivered, says the letter.
James is an independent contractor who works seven days a week for me and my neighbors. He is paid eleven cents a paper and whenever someone complains to the "big guys", he is charged five dollars which turns his week into a very bad one. Not a good profit for what he says is usually a stolen paper or even worse, a wet paper due to a reader's sprinkler system. They even have a wet paper complaint policy which means more money out of James' pocket.
My second cup of coffee comforts my lack of awareness. Paragraph four talks about the lines of cars who wait for newspapers. James is there by 1:00 a.m. and rolls the papers at the deteriorating mall close by. That explains why the paper is in my yard by 3:00 a.m. By cup three, I want to phone James and thank him! Next month, when the bill needs to be paid, there will be a tip included.
Instead of washing away finger prints, I think I'll pay closer attention to the lines, appreciating the hand made things of life.
I didn't realize that the newspaper delivery man got docked for papers that we complain about not getting. Ours doesn't come until later than yours, maybe 6:30 a.m. or 7 a.m. so sometimes it seems as if it's not coming at all. The previous delivery person usually delivered his papers past 8 p.m. in this neighborhood, so he probably got a lot of complaints or cancellations, and he quit. Or at least he decided to deliver to a smaller area. People who leave for work before 8 a.m. never got their paper, so they stopped subscribing. It's a hard life for little money. The weather is often bad. You don't get any regular sleep.
ReplyDeleteI helped my brother once with his paper route, it was hard work! He later was an icecream man for one day!
ReplyDelete