Saturday, August 04, 2007

The Free Stuff

Every day on my commute, there is a three-way battle between myself, the Metro vendor, and the BostonNOW vendor outside of North Station. It's the same daily routine. In the mornings, I say 'no, thank you,' to both while feeling slightly guilty and in the afternoon, I grab whichever is closest to me and avoid eye contact with the other vendor. It gets awkward sometimes when they stand next to each other and I have to make a choice between the two. They're both free papers and they're both terrible, but they also help kill some time and well, the vendors are rather heartbreaking. Handing out free newspapers to commuters in a rush in the summer heat while acting friendly and personable cannot be lucrative or very enjoyable.

Just how bad are the papers? Here's a quote from a restaurant review yesterday:

"The restaurant traffic is steady, with the most people eating at meal times." Wow. Really, wow.

Maybe this writer should also review books for the Orient. Snap! I just went there, Gak!

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