Want the news? Buy your own newspaper!

Have you ever walked into almost all the bookstores, shops and vendor stalls in search of a remaning copy of your favourite magazine that has been snapped up in a jiffy while hot off the press? If you have, then you will know how annoying it is to begin reading your newspaper with great gusto, only to have a stranger with foul breath leaning over you for a free read!


Others actually have the nerve to ask that you pass on a section of the newspaper that you are not reading! The cheek of it! The possibility that maybe, just maybe, the article that you are reading at that moment carries over to that section that they are asking for, seems to be lower than low on their list of considerations. What really riles me is that most of the time these people, in their endeavour to snap up some free journalistic titbits, do not greet you and ask to share; they simply lean over you and read or instruct you to hand over the page.


How is it that some people can invest in being human chimneys by willingly buying several packets of cigarettes everyday, yet they become total misers when it comes to paying for a newspaper? If you also find it despisable to have your quiet newspaper reading moments invaded and belittled, here are some tips as to how you can stop the nonsense:


@Decline to allow them a read, but offer to sell them your copy at a 50c less the price of the newwspaper. (If anything will make this lover of freebies bolt like lightning, it is having to pay up!)


@Politely but firmly say that they are welcome to your copy when you have finished reading it in two hours time. (recommended for the more diplomatic character).


@ Pretend that you do not understand your newspaper-buddy wannabe's language and answer him in gibberish if need be. Rest assureed, the "communication breakdown" will also lead to a break down of unwelcome newspaper sharing tendencies.


Remember that even if you are reading your newspaper in a public space, be it a bus, a park, or coffe shop, you are entitled to your own private, personal space, so take no prisoners when defending that right!