I considered initiating my first-ever pitting about this, but decided I am more sad than angry.
Time was, one of the first things I did upon arising was to open the front door and retrieve the daily paper. I’ve always appreciated this little slice of routine, never took it for granted.
Now, newspapers - at least reliable daily home delivery - are going the way of spittoons and wringer-washers. I swung by the local 7-11 this morning on a whim to pick up today’s paper and the result was me paying one dollar for what amounted to be little more than a pamphlet.
Sure, I can still get home delivery twice a week; but the two times I agreed to a trial subscription, the paper ended up at the bottom of the driveway - some times literally in the street. Complaint calls did nothing to correct it.
Back when I delivered - when the delivery force was made up of nothing but kids - I was expected to put every single paper inside of the screen door. These days, adults drive down the street flinging papers toward the general direction of each subscribing home.
Cripes, maybe this should have been a pitting after all.
mmm
If you think you’d enjoy the good life in Bloomington Indiana, I can recommend you a nice place with the most awesome daily delivery EVER. The paper may not be much, as we’re a little slow news-wise, but it would at least be near your door every day. 
Best,
karol
I used to love my morning breakfast and paper ritual. Pick the Globe and Mail clean six days a week - Saturdays with the big ham and egg breakfast and gallons of coffee.
I also used to fret about how the sun was setting on actual, physical newsprint.
Now, I can’t really remember why this seemed like a bad thing to me. My subscription costs $15, and I don’t have a big bulky newspaper to dispose of every day, and see a tangible benefit in obviating the need to use so much material and energy in putting ink on paper and putting it into my hands to be read once (mostly) before being thrown away. Also, since it’s streamed wirelessly to an 8" X 5" X .5" device, it’s not such a pain in the ass to arrange things in such a way that there’s room for my news and my breakfast on the same table. Hey, I can even take a seat at the counter.
E-ink displays and comfortable portable devices have wiped out any objections I used to have to the replacement of print news with electronic delivery. I don’t miss the paper at all - in fact, when I read a physical paper because that’s what’s there, the experience doesn’t really compare favourably with an e-reader anymore.
I still have home delivery of two newspapers - one local and one national, plus we’re adding the Sunday New York Times.
Having Sunday breakfast with your laptop just doesn’t compare to being able to stretch out with newspapers that you can spill goop on without harm.
And the papers make great weedblock that breaks down leaving you with the makings of good garden beds.
Delivering of newspapers by kids started to end in the 80s when all those boys started disappearing from Des Moines, Iowa
There was Johnny Gosch and in the span of a few years a total of three other boys went missing as well in and around Des Moines.
I get the local rag, which costs almost nothing, and the New York Times (which costs a fortune but is worth it) delivered, and have very few problems. And you are going to have to pry the paper newspaper from my cold dead fingers.
I delivered papers as a kid, and sure as heck didn’t put any inside doors. I tossed them onto the driveway from my bike the way God intended. It was an afternoon paper, so it did not involve getting up early in the morning at least.
The thing I still like about the hardcopy newspapers is the puzzles. I like working on the NY Times crossword or a sudoku when I’ve got some idle time somewhere.
I just signed up for a free two-week trial for the Detroit Free Press on my Kindle (it’s actually pretty cheap - $6.99 a month). So I read today’s e-paper; I’m pretty underwhelmed.
I love the Kindle for books, but I really prefer to hold newspapers in my hands, folding the page back so you can hold it in one hand while sipping coffee from a mug or dunking a piece of toast into some egg yolk with the other.
mmm