The Tips You Can’t Forget (The Friday Ficks S5 E33)

I called them tip misers (and maybe a few other things too - but this is a G rated column).

On my morning paper route, the tip misers got the damp papers, the slightly crumpled ones, or the ones missing the Thursday coupon inserts. Hypothetically, of course.

Seven days a week, 365 days a year, I delivered in frigid New England winters, blazing summers, and everything in between, including fending off dogs with questionable intentions.

A Texas college professor once wrote about "the invention of the paperboy," and commented that "paperboys were businessmen, establishing relationships in their own communities."

He was right. My papers had to be on the porch, masthead facing the front door, by 6:00 a.m. (6:30 on Sundays). I hustled hard, relying almost entirely on tips from 50+ customers. I knew exactly who tipped well, who didn’t, who paid on time, and who didn’t, and I serviced those accounts accordingly.

Years later, at a charity golf outing, an old customer approached me. “Do you remember me?” he asked. “Absolutely,” I replied. “You were one of my tippers.” Nearly 50 years had passed, but gratitude has a long shelf life.

Paperboys may be history, but new generations continue to establish “relationships in their own communities.” Girl Scouts selling cookies, Boy Scouts selling popcorn, Little Leaguers selling gift cards. They’re learning goal-setting, money management, business etiquette, and teamwork.

Support them. Encourage them. Invest in them. They’ll remember you - just as I remember the people who supported me.

And trust me...nobody wants to be remembered as a tip miser

Own the day. Own the weekend.

Carl