Paper or (in) plastic

My newspaper carrier left me a note in the paper on Thanksgiving day thanking me for being a subscriber, and also delivering the news that he was stepping down, retiring. 

He's been a great carrier. After we moved to this house I sent him a note asking if he could please deliver my newspaper "naked": that is, without wrapping it in a plastic bag. He enthusiastically agreed, and even reached out to all of his other customers, offering the them the option to likewise get their papers delivered naked.  I give him a big tip every December, and this December will be no different.

I'm glad for him that he's done -- after all, look at me heading into my own retirement.  I love it!!  But I'm also biting my nails about the next newspaper carrier, and for good reason.

To whit:  

• We didn't get a paper on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I filled out the electronic "missing paper; please deliver tomorrow" form. 
• We didn't get a paper on Sunday (neither Saturday nor Sunday). I filled out the electronic "missing paper; please deliver tomorrow" form. 
• We didn't get a paper on Monday. I filled out the electronic "missing paper; please deliver tomorrow" form, and then I called the office.  

The very nice person (let's call her Sylvia) on the other end of the telephone line looked at our route, and realized that we have a new carrier who already has a bunch of other routes . . . it has to be so, so hard to be a newspaper carrier now that people like me who get physical papers are so few and far between.  Sylvia offered to bring me the papers herself, and so I got Saturday, Sunday, and Monday papers on my porch on Monday afternoon.

• We didn't get a paper on Tuesday. I filled out the electronic "missing paper; please deliver tomorrow" form. 

I got a very nice email from another person saying that my Tuesday paper would be (re)-delivered on Wednesday, and suggesting that maybe my previous papers had gotten stolen.

• On Wednesday, I got the Wednesday paper, but not the Tuesday paper. I replied to the very nice email letting the person know what had happened, as a FYI, and also saying that newspaper theft isn't really an issue I'd ever had, so I don't think that was the reason for my non-delivery.
• On Wednesday afternoon, I got a second Wednesday paper.  But no Tuesday paper.  Sigh.

Since then, I've gotten my newspapers delivered every morning just fine.  But, not surprisingly, they all come in plastic bags.  I really, really want to reach out to my new carrier to ask if I can ditch the plastic, but I also don't want to jinx the delivery.  I'll be traveling for a bunch of January and might put a hold on the paper during that time (not sure, because my husband will be home), and that adds extra complications for a person who already has a bunch of newspaper routes to keep track of, so I think I'll wait until I get back from my travels and then reach out to the carrier to ask about de-plastic-ifying my paper delivery.  

I continue to be grateful that my community continues to support a local newspaper.  I've seen other local newsrooms fold, one after another.  Our own region is fortunate beyond reckoning to continue to have coverage of local events, local politics, and all sorts of interesting items of nearby interest.  (One of my long-time-but-long-lost friends just published a cool book, I just read in the paper the other day!  And she's having an author's event at a nearby bookshop!)  I suppose I could read much of this online instead of on paper, but browsing a website is just not as satisfying [to me] as holding up and folding large sheets of paper, being able to tuck down a corner or clip something out, and put it somewhere in space (as opposed to somewhere on my computer).  Plus, I love love love the crossword puzzles: another huge reason why paper trounces electronic for me.

Because of all that, even if I can't figure out how to eliminate/reduce the plastic that it comes in, I'm going to keep getting the paper that comes inside the plastic.  But I do hope that eventually I can convince yet one more hard-working person in the world to accommodate my quirks, and get back to naked papers sometime in 2024.