Sometimes The Money Just Isn't Worth It!

This past weekend I reached my limit.  I was trying to hold down a full-time job, deliver pizza, be a mystery shopper and deliver papers.  After just one week of the paper route I had to throw in the towel, it was killing me.  I had a couple of nights that I only got 3 hours of sleep.  I decided I would give my 30 day notice and quit my route.  After talking to lots of people on Sunday I decided that I would just quit immediately.  The contract said I had to give 30 days notice or pay a fee.  I realized that paying a fee was still fulfilling the contract so I went with that and enjoyed sleeping in Monday morning.  I love learning when my stupid decisions are behind me.

I will say that I have a whole new respect for those willing to deliver papers with the changes that have taken place.  I have delivered papers for 8 years of my life, but it’s always been a simple walking route or an occasional motor route.  This time it was pure insanity.  I had to be up at 1:30 am.  I then had to fold all of the papers and put each flyer and set of coupon in them.  Don’t they have machines that can do this?  They used to.  I then had to bag each paper according to its type.  I delivered the Daily Herald, Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and the El Observador.  It was insane to do all those papers at once.  On Sunday mornings, some people would get 5 copies of the Daily Herald, 2 Deseret News and 1 Tribune.  Talk about a nightmare to keep straight.  Seriously, I have no desire to have a paper delivered again.  I would rather go to the store and buy it than have some poor soul bring it to me that is probably making far less than minimum wage after their gas expense.  If you do get the paper, please give a generous tip from time to time.

After delivering pizza for the last couple of months I’ve learned a lot about tipping.  Sometimes I’ll deliver one and get absolutely nothing.  Other times I’ll get one that is extremely generous.  I would say my average is around $4.  The other night we were eating at a restaurant for a mystery shop and I decided we should be generous in our tip.  The 15-20% is kind of expected, but when you go beyond that, you really make someone’s day.  It’s amazing how it feels to give good tips.  I look back on my life and think about all of the times that I should have given more to the valet, the bellhop, the waiter, the barber, the delivery man, etc.  Giving is wonderful.  I speak from experience in saying that when you just add $1 or $2 to your tip it makes all the difference to the service provider.