November 13, 2007
Vacationing Chronicle Subscribers Robbed
This one goes out to all of you octogenarians out there who still receive print papers at your door every morning.
You know how you notify the Chronicle to temporarily halt having the paper sent to your house? You know, before you go on vacation? That way burglars won't see piled up papers and break into your house and steal all of your diamonds and rubies you had since the war between the states? Well, some ingenious criminals found a way of getting around that.
ABC 7 reports that Grant Whiteman -- a young piece of tail, we must admit -- made a profitable habit of dumpster diving over at the Chronicle's distribution center in Concord. Why? Brilliantly, to gather all of the change-order sheets that drivers use to see who wants their paper temporarily withheld. "Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds" of these sheets, it seems, contain personal information such as addresses, phone numbers, dates of return...pretty much everything you need to know in order to swipe grandma's sapphire brooch. Sheets that by all logic should be shredded post-use.
It's a great article, and you get to see Whiteman get all pissy and walkout during his interview after being questioned about using the sheets. (And as delighted as we would be to see Dan Noyes at our door, we probably wouldn't answer it if he had a microphone in hand and camera close by. Really, what kind of interview did Whiteman expect, anyway?) And this is further proof that you should cancel your print publications and start going online. (Like, say, um, to SFist, of example.) Does anyone out there still subscribe to print issues of their favorite newspapers? A strange habit, indeed.
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he's a genius for a run of the mill b&e guy. well done! why on earth aren't these being shredded?
These probably weren't being shredded because today's newspaper delivery people are among the laziest people on earth.
When I delivered papers in apartment buildings (a couple decades ago now, really), I'd toss or drop papers in front of people's doors in their apartment buildings. Nowadays, mega-routes are usually handled by a guy in a pickup truck who drives up and down the sidewalks putting a stack of papers in front of each apartment building. It's no wonder they dispose of vacation lists along with the newspaper bundle wrappers and other recyclables.
I like how the Chron is distancing themselves by insisting their delivery people are "independent agents".
Hey now - some of us Chronicle subscribers are 30-somethings. :) If banks, clothing retailers, and many public universities cannot seem to keep a good grip on their customers' information, I'm not surprised in the least that a newspaper operation has an issue.
Freeze your credit reports folks .. and buy a big German Shepherd.
Did the guy in the Noyes hotseat do "the clap" like Mayor Newsom did before um...well you know....
Solution: Have a neighbor or family member you trust collect the paper every morning.
Brock, your horniness is officially tired. Jack off or something.
done.
Ha! Brock, I now love you. Sorry I'm a woman...
brock, you awright. got to, er, hand it to you.
sunday mornings just aren't the same, lingering over coffee & the laptop, reading the Chron online! The comics! The Pink section! The ads!
Hopefully, when would-be theives learn I spent a whole $19.99 for my 12 month Chron subscription, they'll realize I don't have anything of value worth stealing.
You know, if you like to read news while eating at home or in a cafe or on the bus, the print edition is the most foldable and highest-resolution solution available. Plus: Flip it up to obscure your face when MR. WRONG-O appears. Try that with a MacBook. You'll look like PacMan is eating your head.
Good point, Hilarie. Plus, everyone I know (okay, TWO people I know) have had their laptops stolen from them while working at cafes.
There is still something to be said for being able to HOLD a newspaper in your hands, and no, printing out an article off the internet is NOT even the same, so don't give me that.
Holding the paper in your hands vs.on-line versions in important for those with chronic diseases like TB.
You can just hurl your phlem balls right into the paper as you're reading.
I need, NEED, my crossword puzzles. Will Shorts of course.