A newspaper's weakest link.

I subscribe to the print edition of the New York Times. I'm supposed to get home delivery. Even if the delivery man misses me. I'm told all I need do is call, and they'll deliver the missed paper later in the day, or the next day at the very latest. But that's an empty promise. It's bull shit. Maybe in the last 4 years, I've missed delivery about 25 or 30 times. Only once did the Times come through with a replacement copy. I tell that to the Times representatives. On the telephone. They keep promising the delivery. A replacement copy. I tell 'em it's an empty promise. That they are telling me a lie. A fib. I know they won't fulfill the promise. But still, they keep promising. Maybe some day I'll get pissed. And cancel my subscription. But I don't. Because I like to read the New York Times. The print edition. I used to write for newspapers. Spent 29 years writing for the daily St. Paul Pioneer Press. In St. Paul. Minnesota. And I always had the impression that the Pioneer Press' weakest link was the circulation department. That must go for the New York Times, too. I trust the Times' writers. And the editorial department. But I don't trust the circulation people. They're incompetent. --Jim Broede