Collect!

"Collect!"

That was the word we all used in the late 60’s. We knocked on doors to be paid for the newspaper delivery in our town. You see, us paperboys had to buy the papers ourselves. We were required to pay the newspaper bill we owed, first. Then, any monies “collected” after the bill, was ours to keep. If someone did not pay, or went on vacation without canceling the delivery, us paperboys got stuck with the shortage. I looked down at my collection book. The Johnsons. Five overdue collection tabs. I sighed, and hit the doorbell.

"Collect!"