newspapers

I've always received a newspaper. I love morning newspapers: I've been reading "Dear Abby" for years; I like to do all the puzzles; I read the headlines and browse the major stories; I look for the comics. Of course, that was back in the day when there were GOOD comics, like Calvin and Hobbes and Bloom County. Now all we've got is Dilbert, but....that's okay. I'll take it.

Anyway, I've had a variety of problems with subscribing to newspapers over the years. The LA Times, for example, gave me a one-year subscription at a certain rate. I figured once the subscription ended, the paper would stop coming. Well, it continued to come, and at a whopping price--as I found out way too late--of $400 per year. When I refused to pay that rate, they sent the bill to a collection agency.

So they're out. (Remind me to rant next time about coercive billing practices. The LA Times isn't the only rag to try this route. Stupid....you alienate everyone, forever.)

Then I tried the Union Tribune for a while. They're okay....but the news coverage just isn't all that great. And the crosswords suck.

But the other day there was a knock at my door. It was a little boy, asking me how I liked my North County Times subscription. I don't subscribe, I said.

"Great!" he said. "I'm just trying to start my route! Will you help me out?"

So there it was. As I've pointed out to others, I'm a sucker for a face-to-face begger. Especially one with an angelic little face. I can't say no. And he was only eleven. So what you can you do? I agreed to shell out--get this--$5 a month for a subscription, and the paper started arriving.

And I really like it! It's so straightforward. Just the news on the front page; none of those front-page headliners about two dopey men sitting around in a fertility clinic in their bid to have children (since when is that headline news? I wish I were making that one up, but sadly, it appeared only a few weeks ago in the Union Tribune). And there are great puzzles: the NY Time Crossword, local crosswords, a sudoku puzzle. Everything I need.

I'm so happy.