I'm so old I Remember when:

[notabitail]

I think it's more a sign of the times. Kids don't have the work ethic needed to get up at ridiculous o'clock or to go out after school and lose precious time from gaming or social media, plus adults with cars have taken over the routes and can do much more territory than a single kid with a bike or on foot. Plus, parents don't want their kids out on their own doing this and don't want to or can't accompany them either.

That's exactly what happened. I wouldn't mind some extra money though. I just don't do mornings.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I have wonder about that... is it not safe anymore for kids to walk around the neighbourhood by themselves?
We used to see our neighbourhood kids riding their bicycles passed out house, and my brother ride his bicycle to see his friends vs versa, seeing a few bicycles in front of the house was a norm those days.

Kids don't know how to ride bikes now days.
Idk what happened to paper routes. My ex Bil was doing it for awhile. Ya he's a grown man but not much of an adult.
I laughed about it till I found out how much it was paying. Good pay for a side gig.
I actually looked into it. The crazy part was that your vehicle was as much employed as you. They told me if you couldn't work one day that your vehicle had to be available for a sub.
That made absolutely no sense to me and no no one else was gonna drive my vehicle.
We ended talk at that point.

 

[SkyAJK]

I think it's more a sign of the times. Kids don't have the work ethic needed to get up at ridiculous o'clock or to go out after school and lose precious time from gaming or social media, plus adults with cars have taken over the routes and can do much more territory than a single kid with a bike or on foot. Plus, parents don't want their kids out on their own doing this and don't want to or can't accompany them either.

That is true, the passing of times.

 

[notabitail]

Kids don't know how to ride bikes now days.
Idk what happened to paper routes. My ex Bil was doing it for awhile. Ya he's a grown man but not much of an adult.
I laughed about it till I found out how much it was paying. Good pay for a side gig.
I actually looked into it. The crazy part was that your vehicle was as much employed as you. They told me if you couldn't work one day that your vehicle had to be available for a sub.
That made absolutely no sense to me and no no one else was gonna drive my vehicle.
We ended talk at that point.

I learned how very early on. First training wheels, then around 7 Mom got sick of them so I got to ride like a big person.

I ride it almost every day for thirty minutes.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I learned how very early on. First training wheels, then around 7 Mom got sick of them so I got to ride like a big person.

I ride it almost every day for thirty minutes.

I saw a video where they were asking teens and only a couple knew how.
I was curious enough to have my daughter ask her friends. Same thing.
We rode the hell out of some bikes when I was growing up.

 

[notabitail]

I saw a video where they were asking teens and only a couple knew how.
I was curious enough to have my daughter ask her friends. Same thing.
We rode the hell out of some bikes when I was growing up.

Wow.

I'm really grateful I ended up with this one. My Uncle was going to put it on the curb. Nope. Took it to a friend who's a bike mechanic. We fixed it up. That bike is one of my prized possessions now.

 

[SkyAJK]

Wow.

I'm really grateful I ended up with this one. My Uncle was going to put it on the curb. Nope. Took it to a friend who's a bike mechanic. We fixed it up. That bike is one of my prized possessions now.

That was the thing then, riding bicycles, hang out with friends and work on the bikes. People my age that I know all had a few bicycles in their youth. I don't remember our parents were every worry about us. We were not out at night, and talking about the phone, we fight each other to talk on the phone to our friends, and yes we were told to get off the phone.

 

[tripletfeb]

I think it's more a sign of the times. Kids don't have the work ethic needed to get up at ridiculous o'clock or to go out after school and lose precious time from gaming or social media, plus adults with cars have taken over the routes and can do much more territory than a single kid with a bike or on foot. Plus, parents don't want their kids out on their own doing this and don't want to or can't accompany them either.

This is not it at all. There are barely any newspapers for kids to deliver anymore. Nobody reads the newspaper anymore and many of them went belly up. Or they have everything online, where people read it for free. People won't pay for something if they can get it for free and I don't blame them

 

[RoyalChick]

That was the thing then, riding bicycles, hang out with friends and work on the bikes. People my age that I know all had a few bicycles in their youth. I don't remember our parents were every worry about us. We were not out at night, and talking about the phone, we fight each other to talk on the phone to our friends, and yes we were told to get off the phone.

I think my parents had no clue how far a couple of 12 year old girls can travel on their bicycles. I suspect they would have been shocked if they had understood the miles we covered!

And I am sure this doesn't happen any more - and maybe never did in the US - but where I grew up the Post Office would hire high school students over the Christmas holidays to deal with the extra volume of deliveries around that time.

We did a one day apprenticeship with a real postal worker and then we were on our own. My apprenticeship consisted mainly of being shown which houses gave out warm cookies if you rang the doorbell!

I think my shift started at 4:30am in the main post office where I did a couple of hours sorting (and making giant rubber-band balls) and then set out on my bicycle for my delivery round. I did it for several years - maybe from age 14. It was a blast and paid really well. I don't think we got union rates, but it was real money for our age.

 

[Bawkbok]

I think my parents had no clue how far a couple of 12 year old girls can travel on their bicycles. I suspect they would have been shocked if they had understood the miles we covered!

Yep - as soon as I got home from school, I was out the door. Home in time for dinner, then out the door again until the street lights came on. That was the curfew. If not on the bike, then on foot, walking miles and miles to friends' houses. I had to cross over a large 4 lane (5 with a middle turn lane) road without crossing signals to get to one house. Would kids today even know how to cross a busy road without any walking signal to help them?

Then after everyone was home, we would get on the phone and talk for hours -- remember the party lines where you could have 3 or 4 people hooked up in the same conversation? Those were the good old days and we didn't even know it.