Imagine. You’re all cosy in bed, the world is still asleep. The light is barely breaking the horizon. It will be morning soon but right now you are holding on to the last hour or two in bed before the wake-up rush starts and work and school calls you from your dreams. Unknown to you, an alarm is suddenly peeling in someone’s ear, demanding they wake.
It’s 6:00 am. He is a school boy, 14 years old, and it’s time to get up for his paper round.
When one thinks of having the daily newspaper delivered to your front door, it’s common to associate this job with something from the past. Before technology made newspapers so easily accessible online, paperboys were the early birds of each day, zooming around their local areas on bikes and throwing papers at every front door. I myself thought this was a practice of the past until my friend Callum Crossman got his first job at the local paper shop a little over a year and a half ago.
To me, a young adult who very much appreciates every spare second I get in bed in the morning, the idea of getting up so early every day is NOT appealing, especially given the temperature, weather and hostilities that the early morning can sometimes bring. So I decided to interview Callum to find out a bit more about his job and what motivates him to do it.
Callum starts work at 6.15am on weekdays and 7.15am at weekends. His regular round takes about half an hour during the week but double that at weekends, when there is more demand and the newspapers and supplements are heavier. During Covid lockdowns he took on extra rounds, as customer numbers increased but there were fewer staff. During that time Callum sometimes delivered essential groceries as well as papers, particularly to vulnerable elderly customers or those shielding.
Firstly, What’s it like getting up early every day?
You get used to the early mornings - it just requires discipline. It can be a bit of struggle on dark winter mornings when the weather is hostile. The best mornings are when there is a beautiful sunrise.
What are your favourite things about the job?
The money! I also enjoy the early morning banter in the newsagent shop; the people you meet early in the morning tend to be cheerful. And of course I get to read all the daily headlines before everyone else as I make my way round.
Do you encounter any issues whilst doing the round?
Umm.. well sometimes I fall off my bike when the papers are too heavy or if it’s icy.. Often, in the winter, bad weather makes it too dangerous to cycle and in heavy rain it’s hard to keep the papers dry.
Many houses have dogs that try to bite my fingers as I push the paper through the letterbox. One time a dog was outside in the garden and chased me back on to the street. That really gave me a kick start to the morning!
Obviously I'm not always wide awake when doing my round so there have been occasions when the wrong people have had the wrong paper, but I generally try to correct my mistakes to avoid any unhappy customers.
The most challenging part of the job is trying to get weekend papers into tiny letter boxes. People should be banned from having tiny letter boxes!
...So yes, quite a few problems I guess but that's all part of the fun of the job.
Those sound like quite funny problems to have! What’s the pay like?
The pay is minimal but it adds up over time and I get loads of tips at Christmas which helps make up for the dark freezing mornings.
What are your funniest recollections/stories from the job?
One morning when I was covering for another paper person I got stuck behind a large automatic gate when I couldn’t find the button to re-open it. It was 6:30am and I had to wait 15 minutes before an old lady walked past, who I managed to convince that I wasn’t trying to rob the house and merely needed help getting out to continue my deliveries.
Another time, I got to the paper shop on a weekday morning only to find the owners hadn't opened the shop yet. I sat outside waiting for them to come down for a full 10 minutes before I checked my watch and realised I'd accidentally set my alarm for 3am rather than 6! I was in fact sitting outside the shop 3 hours before it would open.
What do you think about the future of newspapers?
Many of my customers are elderly as I think younger people tend to stay in touch with the news online. I think that there is potential for physical newspapers to fade out in the quite near future which I think will be a real shame.
Some quite amusing recollections from my friend. I have great respect for the hard work and commitment shown by him and other paper deliverers alike. Think you have what it takes to be a paper boy? Here’s the news from Callum… say goodbye to your sleep schedule.
