Dear Boston Globe,
You really need to stop delivering my newspaper to my neighbors. It was funny for a while when nobody was living in that apartment, but now some students have moved in. It’s only a matter of time before one of them wakes up early (perhaps for an exam) and thinks she’s gotten a free newspaper.
If you’d like to also leave them a free newspaper after delivering mine, I support that. College students should be well informed. However, that is not my primary motivation for taking out a subscription. I want to read the paper myself on the train in the morning.
One helpful trick is to look at the number on the apartment door before leaving the paper. If it’s identical to the number on the subscription list, the paper can go there. If it’s different – even by just one or two digits – other people probably live there who didn’t subscribe, and you should keep looking. In my case, you’ll find the correct apartment is literally across the hall, and it will require no additional work to find.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter,
Someone who doesn’t live with his college student neighbors
Dear Someone who doesn’t live with his college student neighbors,
While your desire to educate our fellow man is noble, must you advocate the increased utilization of an outdated inefficient technology? Is it still too early to support alternative distribution methods, such as a usable e-ink device? This one from Plastic Logic shows promise: http://news.google.com/news?q=Plastic+Logic+E-Newspaper
You still buy an actual printed newspaper, grandpa?
People who live in cities that don’t have subways can’t throw stones.
Consider the Wikipedia article on mass transit in New York City. What’s the third picture? People reading newspapers!