Any way you cut it, stealing is stealing

Here’s the deal: You drop your change into the slot of the newspaper rack, open it, take out your paper, then decide to take three or four more ... what the heck, take them all. The newspaper won’t miss the rest of the money for the papers, and, besides, it’s big enough losing a few papers won’t hurt. Right?

Wrong, sticky fingers! You just messed over a working stiff by stealing money out of his pocket.

A couple of weeks ago, the sheriff’s office released a security photo of a woman liberating copies of The Bulletin from a news rack outside a store. In taking those newspapers, she ripped off the carrier and became a thief. Such thefts are common, unfortunately, and many of our carriers and route delivery folks have been victimized lately.

I guess the thieves figure since The Bulletin is owned by Gannett, a multibillion-dollar international corporation, then stealing 10 or 15 papers from a rack isn’t going to be a big deal. The company probably won’t even notice it, they think. But that’s not the case.

You see, it’s not The Bulletin, or Gannett, or almost every other newspaper, who loses money when people steal papers. The ones you see in the newspaper racks are the property of the people who run those routes. They work under a contract and buy those papers to distribute them. In return, they get the money from the rack sales. Steal the papers, they don’t get their money.

I got to visit a few minutes this week with Eric Soeken, who’s one of The Bulletin’s route carriers. He’s been experiencing a lot of theft on his route. Somebody, or several somebodies, have been paying for one copy, then cleaning out the rack. It adds up before too long.

According to Eric, he lost $800 last month because of theft; $800! That’s a lot of money by anyone’s standard. And it’s not like Eric just has $800 to throw away. None of the carriers and route people can sustain that kind of loss for long.

Stealing newspapers from a rack is no different than stealing something off a store shelf. But, for whatever reason, some folks don’t think of it that way. If you wouldn’t slip a DVD from Walmart under your shirt and walk out with it, or take a Dr Pepper from a convenience store without paying, then why would you think it’s OK to take extra papers without paying for them?

Of course, Eric said he thinks if someone will steal newspapers, they’d probably steal anything else they wanted.

Saturdays are big days for newspaper theft, at least here, because of the coupons. The national couponing craze not only inspired folks to save money shopping, it also inspired some folks to start stealing coupons, which usually are delivered via newspaper. So, to get the coupons they have to steal the newspapers.

Well, I guess they could just take the coupons and leave the papers, but it’s still theft; like stealing the stereo system and leaving the car.

You might scoff at the idea of coupon theft being a big deal, but across the county its impact is in the millions. So, since it tends to go hand-in-hand with newspaper theft, it’s really a big problem nationally.

Times have changed quite a bit since the days when newspaper boys hawked papers on street corners, and neighborhood youngsters with cloth bags slung across their shoulders rode their Schwinns and tossed newspapers on front lawns. These days, your newspaper carrier likely is to be an adult working a second job, or maybe a student doing it part-time to make a little extra money. Instead of bicycles, carriers now drive their routes to stock newspaper racks, or deliver the morning paper to your home, at their expense.

You might think it’s easy, but it’s not that easy. The job starts in the middle of the night and needs to be finished before sunrise so that you have your paper with your morning coffee. Whether the weather’s clear, or its raining, or snowing, hot or freezing, their job is to get the paper delivered. Sometimes, as happened this winter, the roads may be just too icy and slick for them to make their deliveries; I realize people getting their newspaper is how I make my living, but even at that it’s not worth risking someone’s safety or life for it. We apologize for those occasions when a paper might not arrive and do our best to make it up to you.

I realize I’m probably preaching to the choir here, since most of you paid for your copy of The Bulletin, or are reading it online. But, it sure would help the folks on the graveyard shift getting the paper to your homes and to the news racks if you’d remind anyone you see taking extra papers without paying, or hear someone talking about taking them, that it’s theft, a crime. Sure, it’s a petty crime, but it’s still a crime.

And remind them they’re not hurting The Bulletin or a corporation, but friends and neighbors.