I became a newspaper carrier for the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind.
I took over a route that Pete and Pam Castillo held for several years. I could not have asked for better people to learn the trade.
Hard working describes Pete and Pam as well as younger sister Patrice. It came via their parents Pedro and Pat.
I cannot thank them enough for giving me this chance.
But the learning didn't stop there for me.
I had a route that started with 38 customers and grew to 49 in the four years I carried the J&C.
It was a six-day afternoon paper when I started with no Sunday edition. That changed a year after I took the route. Then the paper switched to morning delivery on Saturday and added a Sunday morning edition.
It meant more work, but it also meant more money.
I remember walking the route with Pam prior to taking over. I recall she talked a lot to the customers. It was a mixture of older people, young families and some single people.
It was about a year into the route that something turned on inside of me.
I thought of giving the customer first-class service. That meant getting the paper to their home early, not cutting across lawns and being prompted while collecting.
It is a work ethic that has followed me all the way through adult life.
Along with doing those things came unexpected rewards.
The tips I received from customers became bigger. Christmas tips were plentiful. And the biggest gold nugget was the compliments from my customers for providing good service.
I learned from my father, a letter carrier, to be prompt with thank yous. Heck I had to be prompt with thank yous to my grandparents and other relatives.
It was a great learning experience.
One lesson I learned was saving money.
I had some spending money, but a large portion of my income went into a savings account. The first thing that money was used for was a Schwinn Varsity 10-speed. It was decked out with fenders and a light. It was sky blue and was a dream.
I have been proud of many things, but that bike I was very proud of since it was my first purchase. And I took care of that bike and held on to it for many years.
Something else I held on to through the years were the relationships I built with customers.
Every other week I collected. I would start on a Wednesday and have it wrapped up by Friday.
This would take me about 2 hours the first night and a hour the next two days.
I do believe that time became more like three hours when I talked to the people.
It was great to learn about their families and what was going on. There was also political talk, I loved politics back then. We talked about world news, the weather and even my parents, who some of the people knew.
Years later my Mom tells me stories of running into some of the people and the nice things they had to say about me. She also kept me up on the old route and how things were going./
Mom loves to walk about 20 miles a day. She goes through the old neighborhood on her trek.
I still have the three newspaper bags I used to carry my papers. They are in the garage of Mom and Dad's place.
Would I carry the newspaper now. You bet.
It was a lot of fun besides hard work, and now the customer pays the bill through the newspaper. Carriers receive a check or direct deposit.
However, there is nothing that compares to clicking the coin changer in the middle of winter when it was 20 below and snow up to my nose.
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