My Saturday JOB
Paper-round and delivery boys and girls are not known for their commitment to a fulfilling career.
Mine always shoves the local freebie paper halfway in the letterbox and lets the cold air in. That’s when he’s not walking straight through the gardens rather than using the pathways.
But then, as Alan Atkinson from Sheerness, Kent, explains, their mind is not always on the job.
“My parents gave me a modest allowance each week, which kept me up to date with my Marvel superhero Daredevil and gave me enough chocolate and chewing gum,” explains Alan.
When he needed more cash in his teenage years, Alan ended up with a pocket money job that he hated.
“Mainly because it played havoc with my Saturday morning lie-in,” he adds.
Alan’s dad had secretly put his name forward to help their local Mace shop distribute special offer leaflets throughout the neighbourhood. “I was supplied with a Mace plastic bag, stuffed full of leaflets and sent on my miserable way,” explains Alan.
“After three weeks of trudging around the cold streets, I realised this job wasn’t for me. And one day, I took a slight detour and headed for Walderslade Woods and tipped the entire contents out on to the leafy damp soil underfoot. I was free.”
However someone reported Alan’s fly-tipping to the shop, and his dad was furious – worse, his mum was disappointed. “They punished me by withdrawing my weekly pocket money for a month. No chocolate, chewing gum or Daredevil!”
■ What did you do to make extra pocket money? Email siobhan.mcnally@mirror.co.uk