Someone keeps swiping my newspaper out of my driveway in the morning. My street leads to a bus stop, and I suspect that someone walking by to catch an early bus sees my paper lying there and decides that he’d like some free reading material. It’s not every day, and of course the days I get up especially early I can’t catch anyone.
The newspaper people are very nice about it. They understand that there’s a thief and they redeliver cheerfully, but by then I’ve usually already left for work. When the thieving gets bad, the delivery person makes an effort to throw the paper farther up the driveway, which helps deter the thievery, but then we all get complacent, the deliverer stops throwing as hard, and eventually the theft begins again.
It’s maddening. Browsing the newspaper is an integral part of my morning routine. Without it, I’m aimless and grumpy. All because some petty thief won’t pay a few pennies a day for his own copy. :mad:
Could be the thief is looking for food coupons. I had my Sunday paper stolen from my front yard every Sunday once until I put a video camera in the window and caught the culprit on tape.
Are you willing to tip? 'Cause if you are, you could request that the paper be on your doorstep. Carriers get less complacent when there are tips involved.
I dropped my newspaper subscription because my paper was stolen so many times that the paper told me they wouldn’t replace stolen papers any more. Which I was fine with me if they’d been willing to knock the cost of my buying my own paper to replace the stolen one at newstand price. They weren’t so I said Abbysinia.
That’s why we never could teach any of our pets to read – we always tried in the living room or kitchen. Should have thought of taking them to the den! :smack:
Take today’s paper. Get some dog doo doo and smear it in the newspaper. Fold it back and carefully place the paper back in its little plastic baggie. Arise early enough to fetch today’s paper and set out your baited one.
I love the way your mind works.
Now, may I consult you on being awakened between 4:30 and 5:00 by the guy delivering my paper to the tube at the road with a booming stereo?
I knew of a large cat who would steal newspapers and carry them through a basement window into his owner’s house. The owner, a woman in her 70’s, was completely unaware of it until someone stayed up early to catch the thief. There were something like a hundred papers, all still unmolested in their bags, in a pile just under the window.
I would be on to the subscription office in a shot if the paper wasn’t delivered right to my front door and placed in the loops provded for that purpose on my mailbox. This is the norm in Canada (or at least in every part of Canada I’ve lived in), and I am always somewhat bemused by the apparently common US practice of the delivery person tossing the paper in the general direction of the house as he/she speeds by. However, I also pay $70 a quarter (~$5.40 a week, taxes included) for my subscription, which appears to be considerably more than the average American pays for their newspaper subscription (the Washington Post offers delivery in the OP’s location for $1.50 a week), so I guess you get what you pay for.
Problem is in the US, if it doesn’t have postage on it, it can’t be placed in or on a mailbox. There was a thread a couple months back about someone who’d put stampless invitations to a party in their neighbors’ mailboxes and got in trouble for it. I get junk fliers tucked into or rubberbanded onto the fence right next to my mailbox for just this reason.
In some areas, there used to be special newspaper mailboxes. Usually placed right next to the postal mailbox. Haven’t seen them anywhere in a long time, however.
I actually had much the same thought after the catharsis of yesterday’s posting. I prepared a baited version of yesterday’s paper and got up in time today to switch them. Although instead of poop, what I included with yesterday’s paper was a strongly-worded note.
(“Yes, Niles was my favorite character on Frasier. Why do you ask?”)
Unfortunately, he didn’t take the bait. It’s Friday in Washington; he may be on a flexible work-week. I’ll try again Monday.
Ultimately, I’d like to think that the Washington Post employs some goons for this sort of situation, like old-style railroad house detectives.
This would be awesome, but I haven’t seen anything around but a bunny.
When this happened to me, I started getting up just after the paper was delivered and taking it into the house. That broke whoever was doing it after a short time. Today I’d get a web cam and try to see who was doing it and when. I do like the booby trap idea, though. How about some sort of loud but legal charge under the paper, so it goes off when the paper gets picked up?
I used to have problems with newspaper thieves. What I did was tell the newspaper that I was on vacation for a week, and when the service resumed, the thief had lost interest. Of course, I was living a little off the beaten track, so the thief had to make an effort to check to find my paper. It might be less effective if they just grab it when they are waiting for the bus.
