very simple

I had a stretch for about a year where my newspaper regularly went missing if I didn’t claim it by some ungodly early hour (I only get delivery on weekends, so of course, my sleeping-in time was greatly expanded at the exact times when I needed to be most paper-vigilant). It finally stopped when the guy across the hall moved out and a new person, who was apparently not so interested in committing petty larceny, moved in.

I was constantly calling the Times hotline to complain (seriously, I still have them on speed-dial on my cellphone), thinking that it didn’t get delivered, and they’d always send a new one either later in the day or the next day, but still. I want my Sunday crossword puzzle with as many weekend hours as available to try to complete it. And then I realized that it wasn’t so much a delivery problem as a neighbor stealing problem…I would think about elaborate gimmicks to try to catch them in the act (wake up at 5, set up watch at the peephole? sounds good in theory, except sleep always sounded better).

Since moving, I haven’t had a problem. It probably stems in part from the fact that (a) I now only have 4 neighbors on my side of the floor, (b) one of them goes away on the weekends, and (c) the others all get the paper (or some other paper) delivered as well. Plus, with only 4 apartments, my ability to narrow down suspects becomes considerably easier. I actually got back from Thanksgiving, after forgetting to cancel my paper, and found both Saturday and Sundays’ papers sitting all pretty, waiting for me. Now I just have to remember to recycle more often.