Imagine having a newspaper delivery route. If one person on your route always complained that they didn’t want the paper but refused to call and request not to have the paper delivered anymore, would you keep delivering the paper or skip that house?

In this story, one teen is in that situation, and he is very persistent. He doesn’t let the grumpy man’s words interfere with his job. Instead, he is so determined that he comes up with one creative plan after another to wear the man down.

Keep reading for all the details.

The Side-Door Solution

When I was 13, I had a weird little paper route delivering a free weekly community paper.

I was required to deliver to every house in my assigned neighborhood on Thursdays, and then, once a month, go door-to-door to try to collect fifty-cent “donations” from people for the delivery service.

If I collected from 100 houses, I made my $50 collection target and earned $25. If I collected any more than $50, I could keep the overage. If I missed my goal three months out of any twelve, I would be fired.

It sounds like a pretty friendly neighborhood.

I usually went to almost every door on my route and kept up a good rapport with the people I visited, often chatting with those who wanted to talk or helping out with small tasks when the opportunity arose.

Some people paid regularly, some just occasionally and some almost never, but I was always polite and cheerful either way.

A few times, people said they didn’t really care for the paper and I would give them a number they could call to request that it be stopped.

Very few customers ever called in a stop order on my route.

One grumpy old man wasn’t friendly at all.

There was one guy though, who was usually grumpy with me when he answered the door. He would say he didn’t want the paper and wished I would stop leaving it on his porch, then he often closed the door without another word.

I managed to give him the delivery dispatch number several times but I never got a stop order for him.

One day, in a particularly bad mood, he lit into me. He said he didn’t want my damn newspaper, and certainly wasn’t going to pay me for the privilege of picking it up off his lawn every week just so he could throw it in the trash. He said I should be charged with littering, not given handouts.

OP could only do so much.

I offered the number again but he refused.

I apologized for the inconvenience, gave him a cheerful good night and went on my way.

Honestly, I thought that his comments were pretty witty. I didn’t think much of the paper either but, then I was not the target demographic for classifieds and hyper-local, public-service journalism.

Sometimes people change their minds.

After any negative encounter like that, I usually gave a house a couple of months rest before I went back. But I pretty much always went back.

You would be surprised how many people would complain one month and then, a couple months later would pay me with a smile.

So I eventually knocked on Mr. Grumpy’s door again and asked for a donation.

He was no better disposed toward me than the last time. He ranted about how my “service” was a nuisance and then he said, “I would pay you twice the price if you would just stop leaving your useless paper here.”

He decided to comply.

“Okay,” I said, “You’ve got a deal.” And for the next month, I skipped his house every week. Then I went back to collect.

“Hi Mr. Grumpy! I’m Dustin Wind. I’m collecting for the [paper].”

“What are you talking about? I haven’t received that paper here for weeks!”

“Yes, sir,” I said, “You told me you would pay me to stop delivering it, and that’s what I did. Actually, you said you would pay me double, but you don’t need to do that. It’s just 50 cents.”

Apparently, Mr Grumpy wasn’t serious with his offer.

He looked at me like I had nonchalantly done something very inappropriate.

“Are you kidding me? Do I look stupid? I’m not going to pay you for doing nothing. Get the hell out of here.”

Now, as it happened, Mr. Grumpy lived on a corner and his house had a door facing both cross streets, i.e. a front door and a side door.

For the next several weeks, I left a paper, every Thursday, on both doorsteps.

A couple months later, he went back again.

After two months, I went back to collect again. When he came to the door, somewhat to my surprise, he didn’t seem to recognize me.

“Hi Mr. Grumpy! I’m Dustin Wind. I’m collecting for the [paper].”

“I don’t know what kind of operation you people have going there but I’ve been getting two of those goddamn papers every week. Look, this is my front door. That door around the corner? That’s my door too! I don’t need two papers!”

This is amazing!

I looked at him blankly for a long moment.

Then he laughed, called me a little jerk and asked, “How much is it?” He stuck his hand in his pocket, pulled out 50 cents and handed it to me.

After that, he never said another word about not wanting the paper and, more often than not, he paid me.

Wow! Persistence pays off, I guess! I mean, he could’ve called to request not to have the paper delivered.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

I completely agree.

This is probably what happened.

This story brought back a memory for one reader.

We will never know.

Persistence really does pay off!

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.