How old was I when I had that paper route?
14? Younger? I had to wake up at 4 AM, every morning (imo, you should only ever be awake at 4 AM accidentally). A guy in a van would drive by and throw a bundle of papers on the sidewalk in front of our apartment complex. Then, I would take them all inside, scissor the plastic twine and individually roll and rubber-band each paper. It would leave my fingers dry and covered in loose ink.
Next, I’d load them up in my paperboy sack - which was attached to the handlebars of a bike that your boyfriend’s son would later see me riding in a latchkey kid news report and giddily mock, “oh shit, that’s a girl’s bike!”
The paper company would give me a list of addresses that needed delivery and I would try to balance it on my handlebars as I searched for numbers in the dark. The heaviness of the papers always made the handlebars uneven - Sunday papers were especially bulky - causing me to awkwardly wobble around.
The route went through semi-rural and suburban areas about 10 blocks from where we lived. It was mostly unmemorable except for the air, which was always very still that early in the morning. Sometimes, the sound of a pitbull would pierce through as it chased me down a driveway.
Early in the route, my bike would constantly tip over but, as my sack emptied, the race home became more stable.
Though, a day of school still waited and when I met it, I was too tired to care.
I’ve never been adept to mornings and would occasionally sleep through my alarm. On those days, I would beg you to drive me through the route so I could get it done on time. Sometimes, you did. At each address, I would hop out to throw a paper on a doormat and run back to your tired, disappointed grimace.
I hated that job and all it got me was $100 a month. When I finally quit, I left with relief. If I learned anything, it was the nature of exploitation.