It’s quite well known among anyone reading here that in my youth I did delivery papers to the locals in my area, I also may have been slightly under what was the legal age to make deliveries at the time but I was very persuasive and nobody else was interested in the job at the time. It certainly was useful for my needs. I needed to walk around and explore which was a desire I couldn’t shake. Not so much the case now I’m very much a happy homebody who only occasionally needs the adventure itch satisfied.
Forming the papers each morning having to place flyers and pamphlets inside each paper in the mornings before school was challenging while giving them a little read and then making the deliveries was quite calming for me and being able to socialise with the customers was a perk as generally most of the customers wanted their papers delivered in person and not just left by the door or shoved through the mailbox. The conversations had with these people was the most beneficial aspect of the task at hand.
That’s a part of the story I did not share, elaborating on the people I met and formed relationships with during that time.
Busy Parents of local school aged children , Politicians, Teachers, Retired Published Writers, recent reclusive Divorcées and several Senior Citizens who were the Parents of prominent individuals who had countless stories to tell me each day since nobody else would listen and many other unqiue individuals where their profession or lack there of made no difference to their interest to me hearing them out with what they had to share.
They were all very interesting people and some were clearly very lonely where I truly felt I may have been the only interaction they had each week. Some made it very clear that indeed I was the only soul they’d see frequently (except interactions with Peter the Shopkeeper, my employer and trade mentor initially) unless they were forced to venture out of their home.
Somehow these 5 minute conversations didn’t slow me down on my route as I still managed to get everyone’s news delivered on time in the wee hours of the morning. You could say time stopped when they’d talk to me, they could of sworn an hour went by with all they’d be able to talk about each session but no only 5 minutes would of past.
It wasn’t clear to me at the time what made these grown adults want to open up to me but they certainly did. I know now of course why anyone feels comfortable to open up to me. I do like to hear from others.
I do have a complex history with traditional media especially newspapers and I’m not going to talk about the debate of reporting the objective truth or the unethical implications or essentially writing articles and taking pictures of ones self for financial gain just to make some coin but the way people receive their news “today” is different and who they get it from is very different.
To provide news is to have an agenda in itself for the simple fact you are always trying to say something with what you produce or what you share. It will never be unbiased. That’s not a negative or positive thing it’s just something to keep in mind.
I wonder what it is I’m trying to say with this post. Is it just a walk down memory lane?
Am I sharing anything new here? Who Knows.
Regards,
Alexander/Zenchi
