Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Yet another paper route but different

I never had a real, legitimate, paper route in LeMars. I found a much more interesting way to make money with the local paper.

It came out every Thursday, for most people. However if you had a little ambition and patience you could get the papers hot off the presses on Wed. nights.

I learned that I could buy papers at a discount on Wed. nights so I bought about 20 of them every Wed night. I'd have to sit thee until the first press run was done to get the papers but it was worth it.

There were 5-6 bars in town and I would get the early papers and then take them to the bars and sell them. I made something like a dime a paper but the tips were better than that. Because I knew a lot of the drunks and had paid attention I knew approximately how many papers to buy so I never lost any money on the deal.

As usual, like ambitious kids everywhere, I mowed lawns in the summer, raked leaves in the fall and shoveled snow in the winter. My seldom given allowance didn't cover everything I needed for living expenses.

Yes, I was still stealing what I could from my parents and I still had some of the money left from the bus depot in Fairmont. Cashing 20's was never a problem in LeMars. I've never really stopped to think about why that was. Lol, didn't care as long as I could get them broken.

There really was nothing to do for kids. Hangout at the pool hall/cafe where I ran the pool room Sunday mornings, play pinball machines at the bowling alley or hang out at the truck stop.


I also stayed home a lot and read books or sat of the downtown roofs and watched. Lol, if it wasn't for my insatiable curiosity and books I'd have been in a lot more trouble during my life in LeMars. I managed enough the way it was.

It didn't matter tho because all I had to do was wait a few years til I could quit school, get a job and take care of myself without all the hassles and beatings that went with living at home.

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