the paper route

i was one of those kids that had a paper route when i was a kid. the route was handed down from my older sis and bro to my younger bro and me. we had 2 streets, the street we lived on and the next street over, so the logical way to split the route for him to take one street and me to take the other. the street we lived on was a longer street, and it was closer, so it must have been the preferred route. however, i somehow ended up with the other street, farther away with fewer houses (and subsequently, less pay!). i can't remember how i ended up with the less favourable street. my little bro is more vocal than me, so maybe he was more insistent. or maybe i requested the other street because it was less work and i was lazy. or maybe, just maybe, it was because there was a girl in my class who lived on that street, and i was hoping for a chance to "accidentally" run into her after school when i delivered the paper!

back in those days, the paper boy (or girl) had to go door-to-door every two weeks to 'collect' for the paper. i hated this part of the job. people were invariably out, and i'd have to go back. i was a shy kid and i feared that interaction, despite the fact that i meant i got paid. the only time i enjoyed collecting was around december when people were a little more generous with tips. a $2 tip was a lot to a 11 year old kid.

my best friend in grade 5 lived on that street. i've written about him in this blog i think. we later drifted apart and he died of leukemia by about grade 9.

there was also this old house on a hill at the end of the street. all the other houses were built around the same time, except this one, which was built in the early 1900s. it was one of those old stone houses, and their lot was huge. i imagine it was an old farmhouse before developers came to the scene. this was in the northeast end of toronto, and back then, there was no development north of us. now there is, for many more miles. of course, my paper route was some 30 years ago.....