The World Is Changing: Newspapers Are Arriving Later

I can remember when the newspaper arrived before the sun came up.  I distinctly remember this because, when I was younger and still living at 'home', I had gone out one night with some friends.  Well, when I came back home, one of my 'friends' had followed me, and we were still 'hanging out' in the driveway (at 4:30 am) when the newspaper delivery car drove by and tossed our paper into the driveway.  Scared us a little bit, but we went back to 'hanging out'.  Well, the next thing you know, I look over and see my dad on the sidewalk, in his robe, retrieving the newspaper.

Being calm and collected like he is, he didn't even seem to look our way.  He picked up the paper and walked back into the house.  I noticed the lamp in the living room come on, so I told my 'friend' good night (morning, whatever) and walked into the house, head hung in shame.

He lowers the paper long enough to peer over it, then lifts it back up and after a slight pause (seemed like an hour) he says "kind of late to have friends over, isn't it?"

"Not if we were planning a fishing trip" was going to be my response, but a sudden sense of "I don't want to get whooped" came over me, and, instead, I said a simple "yes, sir".

I went off to bed, only to be woken up at 7am with "the grass ain't going to cut itself".  That, my friends, was a rough day.

Anyway, sorry to get off on a side story there, but it seems that things are changing:  the newspaper, as evidenced by that photograph taken at 7:45 this morning, comes later and later.  Letters aren't getting written nearly as much as they used to; 'service stations' have all but disappeared; you don't hear 'Swap Shop' on the radio anymore; speeding tickets are being given out by robots; parents are leaving their kids home at night so that they can 'trip to da club'.

People don't pull over for funerals anymore; most people's grocers don't even know their customer's names; some musicians have more 'bleeps' in their songs than actual lyrics; corporations are so hell-bent on the bottom line that they forget they have humans working for them; corporations are running the country (figuratively, of course); and barbecue pits don't last like they used to.

ON THE OTHER HAND:  In my parents' time, they had to go 'out back' to go to the restroom.  They had to go to the well to draw some water.  They had to walk to school.  They had to rely on the neighbor's horse and wagon to get to a doctor, and they always brought a chicken or some preserves or something to barter for treatment.  They didn't have a phone, a car, a television, an automatic coffee maker, computer, a washing machine or traffic cameras.

I wish my paper still arrived before the sun came up.