The King of Pointland

The Struggle

Announcing an exciting new feature: The TNR Files!

I subscribe to The New Republic, a weekly magazine of news and (sometimes bone-headed) opinion. The fine folks in their customer service department tell me I should be receiving my magazine no later than one week before the issue date. Here's how it works: take the issue date, subtract seven days, and that's the last day before my issue is considered late.

Example:

Date printed on cover: October 6, 2003.
Date by which I should receive it: September 29, 2003.

Here's the thing: I've been getting my issues the day after the issue date. For example, I received the October 6 issue on October 7. Because the material in the magazine is time-sensitive, this is a serious problem. By the time I read my copy, I'm thinking "Donald Who-sfeld said what? Where is Iraq, anyway? Is that next to Kumar?"

I made a few inquiries over the phone last week. The TNR said the issues are being mailed out on-time, so I had my local post office put a "watch" on the magazine. I'm to call this Wednesday and see when they received the most recent edition.

What makes this feature so exciting is that nobody -- not even yours truly -- knows whether I'll ever succeed in getting The New Republic on time! Even if I do, how long will it take to iron things out? How many phone calls? It's a total mystery!

Stay tuned for further developments on The TNR Files!