Raymond Pierce
- Nov 25, 2021
- 3 min read

Raymond Pierce’s The Evening Times Globe - PART FOUR

Updated: May 25, 2023

Newspaper Delivery Helps & Hazards.

(Part 4 of a 4 part series)

Every customer on my paper route had their own preferences about where they wanted their paper delivered.

Some customers who lived in second floor flats wanted their paper right at the door of their flat. Tossing the paper up a long flight of stairs was an art I never mastered. I tried several times but the paper usually came apart in mid-air so I had to climb the stairs if I wanted to keep the paper together.

There was one house on Poikok Rd. that had less fortunate people living there. The building was shabby and not well maintained, likely the sign of an absentee landlord.

The people in the bottom flat had a huge hole worn through the middle of the kitchen floor because of the rotting floorboards, and the people upstairs had their inside walls covered with cardboard in the winter for warmth. I still feel sad when I think about their situations.

Then there was Mr. Taylor, a customer who owned a butcher shop in a building set off Victoria St. It was interesting going into his busy shop to deliver the paper. As I entered I would hear the roar of a band saw cutting through a side of beef to make T-bone steaks, and the sounds of a meat grinder preparing fresh ground beef. The staff wore long white coats heavily stained from their work cutting up sides of beef and wrapping orders for waiting customers.

Some of my customers had dogs I had to contend with, and some of those dogs were not too friendly.

At the home of one customer on Bridge St. I learned the hard way to keep my paper bag against the front of my legs so their little dog would not nip my ankles whenever I arrived to collect my money.

The first time I knocked, the dog made a dash for my ankles just as the door opened and the owner said, “Oh he won’t bite!”

“Oh yeah, sure!” I said as he nipped my ankle for the first and last time! That dog was a real yapper making a loud racket whenever he heard me knock.

Another home with a dog was on Pokiok Rd. They had a bulldog named Cuddles. His name didn’t match his temperament. At this home my instructions were to deliver the paper to the back door because the elderly customer lived on the second floor. I was instructed to collect my money at the front door on Friday nights where I wouldn’t risk meeting Cuddles.

So here was my delivery strategy to avoid Cuddles: The house was built on a slope and backed on to the hill, so the back door, which also led to the woodshed, was about seven feet above the ground connected to the hill by a wooden ramp.

I would creep quietly below the ramp.

The woodshed door was always open because that is where Cuddles came in and out on his leash.

From there I could toss the paper into the doorway, then run like hell because as soon as the paper flew in, Cuddles would come charging out the door, barking ferociously. I had to run because I didn’t know how long his leash was and I didn’t want to find out.