JudoWolf.com

The older man glided down the hall to his front door, opening the door, he reached down and picked up his newspaper off the stoop, which was wrapped in plastic so the elements would not get it soggy; as there was nothing worse than a wet newspaper. The pages would stick together,  and the print would become so blurry it would be unreadable. Gliding back down the hall, he made a left into the kitchen and sat down at his kitchen table. His second cup of coffee was waiting in its designated place. His morning ritual was about to begin. Taking the paper out of the plastic he first inspected it for any damage. There was none. Second, he checked to make sure all the sections were in place. Then he separated the paper into the different sections: sports, comics, entertainment, local, national, business, and finally classified. A sip of coffee first and then he lit his first cigarette of the day. After the first puff he placed it in the ash tray, took another sip of coffee and spread out the sports section. This was the first and most important section, as all the scores were now at his disposal. He checked all the box scores, team standings in each sport, and then read in detail about the home teams. If they lost, the reporters would be all over their butts about what they had to change in order to become winners. Winning was the only thing that mattered. The older man closed this section, put it to the right, and picked up the funnies. Glancing down, he thought about the sports reporters for a moment and remembered how in the past it was how you played the game, not whether you won or lost. Oh, well. He read all the funnies. His favorites were “The Lockhorns” and “Pluggers”. This section was then closed and placed on top of the sports section. The entertainment section was next. Sometimes they had book reviews that the older man liked to read. Today, there were a couple and he read them; neither good nor bad. He wasn’t even sure if he would buy those books. The local, national, and business sections quickly followed the entertainment section on the pile. He stopped at this time, went and got another cup of coffee, moseyed back to his chair, lit another smoke and looked at the last section. Taking a hit on his cigarette he watched the smoke drift into the air and wondered if his father had ever read this section. There was not much in it unless you were looking for a job or something to buy. He had learned to read the paper from his father, when he was a teenager. After waking up for school, he would go into the kitchen and pour himself a cup of coffee. His father would be at the table with the newspaper, a cup of coffee and a smoldering cigarette in the ash tray. As, he came out of his memory he thought about the article he read a few days ago about the many newspapers that were going out of business. The internet had more news and quicker up dates than the newspaper could possibility keep up with. More and more people every day were cancelling their subscriptions and going online. It was just a matter of time before there would be no more newspapers. That would be a very sad day for him, as he would miss the feel of the paper in his hand. Reaching over he placed the classified section on top of the pile. After putting it back together according to sections he folded it carefully and placed it on the table. When he finished his coffee and cigarette, he picked up the paper, opened his cupboard and placed it in the recycle bin. Retracing his steps he picked up his smokes, dropped them in his top pocket and headed for the front door. A smile crossed his lips as he opened the door, for another successful day had begu