No news

I really want to cancel my newspaper subscription.

Seriously, how hard is it to get it here in time for me to read it with my breakfast? Apparently very hard. Which is really a shame, because it's not as if the news is breaking: it's already more than 12 hours old by the time the printed word hits my driveway. In fact, if I've watched the news the night before, I've already seen the major stories, and can find anything else I want to know on either the ever-resourceful internet or the morning news shows.

And with the incredible shrinking size of the daily newspaper, one might ask why I bother at all with the printed word. The short answer: I like to read. I like to peruse the headlines, find the stories that interest me, then read until I've read enough. I like time to process what I'm reading, instead of having the news flung at me by a reader in real-time, when they don't always know the extent of the story. I like articles that have been thoughtfully researched, have a beginning, middle and end, and offer a complete picture.

I like to be in control of which stories I read and which I skip entirely, instead of having to listen to everything and tune out what I don't like. I want to learn about what's happening in far-off places, or not. I want to relish the advice column, play with the crossword, and amuse myself with the comics. I want to start with the front page and read my way, front to back, through the entire thing, even if I'm running late and racing through it at record speed. Although if it got here when it's supposed to, I wouldn't have to rush.

So even though I'm frustrated with the lack of timely delivery of an outmoded news delivery system, I'm not quite ready to give it up completely. Especially since, every morning, I have the satisfaction of watching my children devour it as well, developing their own relationship with the printed word. And I just can't deprive them of that.

Yet.