When Shorewood student Kyle Hughes-Knudsen was 11 years old he told his mother he wanted to be a “working man.” The declaration was the start of a new job for him as a newspaper carrier.
Seven years later, Hughes-Knudsen, 18, continues to deliver about 40 copies of The Enterprise every week. His customers are like another family, he said, and his route has become an extension of his own neighborhood.
“One time I caught most of my customers outside,” Hughes-Knudsen said. “I was walking my route and I saw most of my customers and most of them were pretty happy to see me.”
Hughes-Knudsen has come a long way since he first walked his route in February 2001. He’s learned how to control his anger and work daily to manage autism and depression. He has learned how to be comfortable talking with people along his route between Fremont Avenue and Aurora Avenue and how to manage the responsibilities that come with delivering a newspaper.
“I used to not ask for money because I had an inner feeling of stealing,” he said. “I would go door-to-door collecting and get anywhere from five to 20 bucks and I thought it was a bit much.”
Now he leaves envelopes with his name and address with customers when it’s time to collect once a month. A typed note thanking his customers and telling a little about himself or his family is also left with the envelope.
Providing good and reliable service to his customers is important to him, Hughes-Knudsen said. And it’s also an integral part of a family business.
Twelve years ago, his mother, Angela Knudsen, worked as a carrier supervisor for the Ballard News Tribune and would train kids to manage their own paper routes. Among those she trained where Hughes-Knudsen’s two older brothers and two older sisters.
“I felt it was very important that they have (routes) to learn how to do their first jobs,” she said. “I could see with my own kids that what they learn from their newspaper routes was being able to talk to their customers, being able to approach people, being responsible and being dependable. Those were things they were going to use their whole life for any job.”
Knudsen said she accompanies her son on his route when she’s able but flare ups of Multiple Sclerosis have caused her to stay behind recently.
“It makes it difficult sometimes because I need to help him but he does have supportive friends and his older brother and stepfather help him too,” Knudsen said. “There are times I’m just too dizzy or I can’t move or my muscles are hurting…it’s too bad because I’m a very active person but it just teaches patience for Kyle.”
Some of his practice in patience has proven handy while he’s been on his route, according to Hughes-Knudsen.
When he recently witnessed someone mistreating a dog, he asked them to stop. And although he was angry, and worried about the animal’s well being, he was able to walk away and make a phone call to report the abuse.
Now he and his mom incorporate his love for animals with his route and take a few dog treats with them for the dogs that belong to his customers.
“It’s a good policy because then all the dogs like him and the customers like it too because they can see he’s a pet person,” Knudsen said.
But dog treats or not, those along his route have come to know him. He’s spent time practicing the keyboard with a retired jazz musician on his route, picked up a political yard sign from another and learned his great-grandmother attended school with one other customer. Still another along his route gives him encouragement to keep working on his own writing projects.
Hughes-Knudsen doesn’t have any plans to stop working his route any time soon. But he does hope to begin a work study program at Boeing through Shorewood’s Directed Studies program and save enough money for a computer. He would like to major in the arts, perhaps at Shoreline Community College, after he graduates next year. One day, he would like to create a movie.
“Basically right now, I’m like a super hero — I’m paper boy,” he said and laughed.
“Really, I would just like all my customers to know how much I care about them.”
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