The notice arrived in the mail. In this economy it's the news every employee dreads. We hear of layoffs and pray that our loved ones' jobs will be secure. We hope that the effects of the recession will not have dramatic effects on our lives. Unfortunately, a member of our family has received the dreaded pink slip, but it was the last one I would have expected.
Sam was layed-off from his job as a paperboy. It appears that our local paper is downsizing it's number of editions per week, and will be using other sources to deliver for their scaled-down operations.
He was understandably upset when he received this news. His paper route has been a good experience for him...a chance to learn responsibility and earn his own spending money. He's trying not to take it personally, but feels a bit like he's been fired.
It makes me sad to see more evidence of financial hard times affecting our little town. As one of my co-workers said, "It seems un-American not to have paper boys around anymore." Will I miss arranging my after school schedule and Saturday mornings to make sure Sam can get his route done? Not a bit. Will I miss having to fill in for him when he is sick or away at camp? Nope.
It's not like he paid for groceries with income from that paper route. But it was nice for him to have a constructive daily activity that required fresh air, exercise and initiative, along with earning spending money of his own. In the future, I'm sure there will be lawns to mow and sidewalks to shovel to earn money and practice saving and spending.
I'm also sure he'll never forget his first big lesson on economics.
1 comment:
Aw that is really sad :(
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