Darren Campbell
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 14/98) - If you are just sitting down with a coffee and reading the latest Globe and Mail or Calgary Herald that you bought at the local corner store, chances are Bernie Bennett is the one who delivered it there.

Bennett is a wholesale distributor of various out-of-town newspapers that end up on the stands at stores around Yellowknife. The papers he lugs around range from the Financial Post to the Newfoundland Herald.

The 37-year-old took over the business from his father, Claude, two years ago after doing a variety of jobs in the city.

A Yellowknifer since 1970, Bennett has worked at everything from being a dispatcher for City Cabs Ltd., a miner for Con Mine, and a security guard.

"I've pretty well done everything and anything that came my way," said Bennett.

Those years working for somebody else also taught him a valuable lesson and got him interested in his dad's business.

"Working all those years for someone else, I thought it would be nice not to have a boss," said Bennett.

It's hard to beat the hours he works. Bennett usually picks up his bundle of papers at the airport at 10 a.m., and after a quick look at the Edmonton xxxSun's Sunshine Girl -- "I don't go anywhere until I read that part" -- he delivers them.

By 1 p.m., Bennett is usually done and then has the rest of the day to himself. That gives him time to look after his two sons when they are finished school and pursue his two passions -- tennis in the summer and badminton in the winter.

Bennett said he makes good money at what he does, although he can't divulge the amount due to contractual obligations with the newspapers he delivers.

He said he enjoys his job but it does have its downside. There are no company benefits or pension plans, he only gets one day off a year (Christmas Day), and then there are flat tires.

He noted that six or seven times a year his van gets a flat tire during his deliveries. And it almost always seems to happen in the dead of winter.

"It's difficult when it's -40, the wind is picking up and I get a flat tire," said Bennett.

Delivering papers also means he gets daily requests from the many people he knows in the city who are trying to scam a free paper.

"If I see somebody smiling while the back door of my van is open, I know they're not just coming to chit-chat," said Bennett.