Paper route. Anxiety about collecting.

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Hello, I just want to know if anybody has been in a similar situation as me. I'm 16 years old and I jut got a paper route a couple months ago. I really enjoy delivering the papers but I just have one problem. Going collecting is horrible for me. I've done it twice so far and I have to go again soon. Talking to people makes me really nervous. I don't like making eye contact but I know it's polite to do so, so that is always a struggle. I'm also always worrying if how I'm acting is appropriate. Sometimes people will ask me to step inside their house to wait for them to get the some money. It makes me feel extremely anxious. I'm don't even know if the money is worth the anxiety.
Has anybody had a paper route and felt the same way about collecting? Or maybe you had another job where you felt the same way about interacting with other people?

Maybe have an envelope ready for each person? Leave the flap open. Inside the envelope put a typed letter explaining what is due (money) and why (itemized bill.) Put a friendly greeting in there and sign it

Thank you,
(type your name here)

Hand them that. Or leave it on their door and come back for it.

Should cut down somewhat on the talking. Would that work?

When I was younger, I decided to sell GRIT magazine simply because it was advertised in comic books. Imagine nerdy me selling a rural-type magazine in an urban African-American area, with projects, no less. They probably thought I came from Mars. Silly me. I didn't know about a lot of things back then. I was an immigrant so I suppose that's an excuse.

Popsicle's idea is a good one. If you can tie it to their self-interest, that might help them participate. Maybe you could say that it's an experiment to speed up delivery on the collection day.

When I had a paper route, there were some people who left an envelope with the payment in it. I supposed that they were away, or didn't want to be bothered by some kid ringing the doorbell, or some other such thing. Whatever the reason, it worked for them. So I think you'll find some acceptance for it. On the other hand, the little old lady who lives alone may enjoy having you knock at her door, inviting you in while she rummages around looking for the money – for her, your visit may be a welcome human contact. (I don't mean to stereotype little old ladies, it's just been my experience.)

Would doing it in stages help? See how it goes next collection with, say, the first 10 people on your route. If they're receptive, work on the next 10 the week after that. Then you don't get overwhelmed having to explain the change to every subscriber all at once.

Boomer nostalgia!

I remember those "sell Grit" ads- next to the ads for the sea monkeys, and the X ray glasses, in the back of comics.

So you actually tried to actually "sell Grit" as a child? WOW! My hats off to you.

Thank you Popsicle and OddButWhy, those are good ideas.

I was a paperboy for a long time and this method worked great for me! I still had to collect, but it really cut down on the the face to face time!

@natural plastic - I wrote a very short story of my experience selling GRIT in the ghetto. It can be read here.

http://www.shortstories101.com/funny-sh ... hetto.html

Yes; I've gone door to door collecting money for a school trip.

The first few houses are difficult, before you get your script in your mind. But after that, you can just say the same things to everybody. They might ask questions but those are usually direct questions to which you will probably know the answers. If you don't know the answer, you can roll out whatever you've decided to say when you can't answer a question--admit to not knowing and, if the customer still needs the information, call up your boss on your cell phone to ask them, for example.

You'll probably be nervous the first couple of people, but that's okay. It's just nerves. If you stumble, nobody will be particularly angry at you. They might be confused, impatient, or even somewhat amused at the awkward paper kid. For that matter, you might be amused at yourself, looking back on it. We do silly things sometimes, and feel embarrassed, and then laugh about them later. I do prefer to laugh at my own mistakes, because it's a way of telling myself that they really are honest errors, and I don't need to take myself so seriously. After all, if I didn't hurt anybody, and just looked awkward, then there's no harm done and I can shrug and go, "Well, I've done it again!" 'Course if I managed to offend somebody I usually apologize repeatedly, and it's not nearly as funny, but they usually get over it.

Just get your script in your head, adjust it as necessary, answer any questions, use polite diction, and the worst that'll happen is they'll think you're a bit nerdy. In this age of computers, there's nothing wrong with that.

I can't imagine what Jehovah's Witnesses think when they go door to door selling Awake and Watchtower. I couldn't to it.

They come around here alot, I always wondered how meny in their autistic population they manage to maintain becouse of that, or if any convert to them.

If it helps any my NT half brother dislikes doing this aswell. I recall selling chocolate bars for school when I was young back before the "stranger danger" days, I think I had help then and in later years we just sent them to my parents workplace and bought meny for ourselves in order to sell our $20 box, at least the school usually had good taste. I can hardly go to my neighbours door now without some anxiety, nevermind strangers.

Last edited by rapidroy on 18 Jun 2013, 8:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

They don't exactly sell it. Technically they steal about 15 minutes from your day (YMMV contingent on theological debates)

I had a paper route that didn't require collecting. It was a publication produced by the only newspaper in the area designed to annoy people into subscribing to the actual paper.

I had a paper route once. In my area luckily they switched from the carriers collecting to making people pay by mail so I never had to collect. I wonder what would have happened if I had to? Would I have actually done it or had such bad panic attacks over the idea of knocking on so many stranger's doors (it was a 70 paper route) and having to talk to them that I would have quit after 1 week instead of 2 weeks.