Publisher's Note

Publisher’s Note
It was 22 years ago when I arrived in Canada and chose Calgary, Alberta to be my home. Leaving my family and friends behind, it was a new adventure for me to be in a new country without knowing anyone. That was the time I looked for a Filipino community paper and never found any, [...]
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Page added on January 19, 2017

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RED DEER REPORTS: By Prodie Gar. Padios

The Paper Carries

THE WILL

Doug Smith is on his deathbed, and knows the end is near.

His nurse, his wife, his daughter and two sons are with him.

So, he says: “Bernie, I want you to take the Mayfair houses.”

“Sybil, take the apartments over in Pall Mall.”

“Jamie, I want you to take the offices over in the City Centre.”

“And you, Sarah, my dear wife, please, take over all the residential buildings on the banks of the Thames.”

The nurse is just blown away by all these, and as Doug slips away, she says: “Mrs. Smith, your husband must have been such a hard-working man to have accumulated all those properties.”

Sarah replies: “Properties? The arsehole had paper routes!”

THIS anecdote, e-mailed recently by a paper carrier to us, we, District Managers and Supervisors of the Red Deer Advocate, made my day upon reading it.

While smiling, I remembered one of my former carriers who became a millionaire.

This carrier, a fellow Filipino, had at least $1,300.00 month remuneration for almost three years.

That amount was converted to pesos, with a money rate by those times of $1:P45=P58,500.00 a month.

Multiplied that in 2.5 years is equals to P1,755,000.00!

All his earnings as carrier, he sent to his wife in the Philippines.

And his wife invested to a bungalow house, grocery store, two passenger tricycles, and for their children’s educations.

This carrier is already went back to the Philippines and reaping the “fruits” of his hard-work—as a paper carrier of the Red Deer Advocate.

WITH this piece, I want to take the opportunity to thank and commend all our paper carriers with the Red Deer Advocate.

My smartest salute exclusively for all of them!

I considered our paper carriers as the 4th wheel of a vehicle.

The “vehicle” is the whole company—it has four wheels to run and operate smoothly and productively.

Without the 4th wheel, the paper carriers, a publication company like the Red Deer Advocate would not absolutely meet the needs of the customers.

The significance of our paper carriers is inevitably far-fetched.

Incredible.

Fantastic.

Even extra-ordinary.

Rainy or shiny; snowy or slippery, they deliver out their respective routes for the flyers and papers.

With the extreme cold, especially during winter, and all the different kinds of risks, they are out there to execute their essential obligations for the customers.

If a carrier unable to distribute, or possibly overlook his deliveries, there are some inconsiderate customers who get upset, piss off and threaten the office that they will stop their subscriptions if the “poor services” continue.

Oftentimes, the carrier frequently suffers the consequences if a certain customer is not satisfied with the service he/she renders.

Likewise, if there is a jerk subscriber who always complains and judders even the carrier does all his best to please the valued customers.

I want to share a particular situation a carrier experienced from an irate customer.

This customer put a sign on the lid of her mailbox: NO FLYERS/PAPERS.

Naturally, the carrier had stopped to deliver to the customer’s address.

After a week, the customer complained again that she was not receiving her flyers and papers for three months!

The carrier started to deliver again.

But the next morning, he found a note appended on the paper he previously delivered: PLEASE STOP DELIVER!

The carrier got confused and took a picture to the reminder and sent it to his Carrier Supervisor.

The Carrier Supervisor advised the carrier not to deliver to the customer anymore.

The Carrier supervisor tried to call the customer, and asked why she was always complaining, and yet the carrier was doing his job reliably.

The customer didn’t say anything, instead, banged down the phone as hardly as she could!

For a week, the customer had stopped complaining.

But lately, she started again to exacerbate the office, and telling that the carrier was not doing his job well.

“He needs to be fired out!” the customer said to the supervisor. “Or else, I’ll call all your advertisers and tell them that you are paying your carrier without doing his job. You must be ashamed to the advertisers who are paying for their ads and yet, you people, are not doing your job!”

It is really hard to deal with this kind of customer.

This is one of the reasons why some of our carriers get affront, and the worse they renounce their respective paper/flyer routes!

TRULY, it is really hard to maintain the services of the carriers nowadays, especially during the winter season.

According to them, the payments they receive are not even worth, especially if they are using their cars, spend lots of mileages and gas in delivering their papers and flyers.

“How’s that, it looks like I am only delivering my routes for free already, eh!” a carrier said disappointedly.

If the carriers quit, it is really hard to hire new carriers either.

We, District Managers/Supervisors, are all doing our best to oversee our current carriers, and incessantly appoint any potential carriers.

But oftentimes, in this time of the year, we typically hire one or two new carrier/s, and yet three or five carriers would quit!

In our part, every so often, it is really frustrating; exasperating—that triggered us to become stressful and feel like we want to quit our own jobs also.

As parts of our job, though, hiring and managing carriers are relatively challenging.

As part of our strategies and how to persuade the carriers, especially in my part, I always telling them that: “While doing your paper routes, you have your own free exercise, and at the same time, you are being paid!”

With this, I hired lots of carriers, and until now, they are still working with me and in my respective district.

Actually, I hired a septuagenarian man as my early morning paper carrier.

This carrier was sickly when I first met him.

He was suffering diabetes, and he needed exercise, as advised by his family doctor.

I swayed him to work as a carrier.

After more than three years, he is still delivering papers, and you believe me, he became healthier; so vigorous like a sturdy moose!

I have also a paper carrier whom I hired, more than three years ago.

He used to have an erratic heartbeat, and was gasping for breath every time he walked for a few steps only.

I offered him the job as a papers/flyers carrier.

He accepted it, and he works as a very dependable; always acquiescent carrier.

Actually, with his hard-work and loyalty, I chose him as carrier of the month—not only once but twice!

Until now, even maybe I want to fire him out, he doesn’t want to relinquish (his paper/flyer routes) anymore!

“Being a carrier, my life becomes healthier, happier and longer,” he owned up to me. “Thanks a lot for hiring me. If not, I might have been six feet above the ground already!”

He has the valid reason why: his erratic heartbeat became normal; and no longer gasping for breath.

“And you know, my sexual life improves, too!” he confessed also.

Actually, when I drove him around to deliver his papers when his car wedged out and broke down on the middle of the tones of snow before Christmas, I observed him that he hardly got tired, and yet he was running (just to catch up the delivery dead-line) in doing his paper routes.

Instead, I was the one wheezing for breath while helping him!

He realized that, and teased me: “You have to go out also from your office and deliver! Look at me, I lost more than 50 pounds, have a flattened abdomen and I am physically fit now!”

I observed that also, and in my mind, doing paper routes is really of immense help.

I agree 100 percent with that!

WORKING as a paper carrier, for me, is a decorous and beneficial job.

Yes, you have your own exercise, and yet you are being paid.

If you are an aspirant, don’t listen to the people who are always dispiriting other people, especially the potential carriers, that “working as a paper carrier is a very revolting, mediocre your persona and well-being, and under paid!”

The most important is, it helps you with your health, prolong your life, and of course, fills up your empty pocket!

Consequently, if you want to become a millionaire like my fellow Filipino who used to work with me as a paper carrier; become healthier like my old carrier who suffered diabetes; and losing your weight, acquire a six-packs abs (or flat abdomen), and totally eradicate your sickness with your heart like my carrier, you start off calling the district managers/supervisors and apply as a paper carrier in your respective area without more ado.

What are you waiting for—then?

RED DEER REPORTS: By Prodie Gar. Padios

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