by Clockwork Carruthers
April 5, 2006
CHICAGO--24 year old Jason Jenkins considered himself the best. Everyone in town received their papers on time and never had any complaints. To the neighborhood, the site of Jason riding his bicycle on the street in the morning was what would reassure everyone that the world still turns. It was a circle of trust between him and the neighborhood, the sky and the trees, mother earth and her sons...all good things.
Well all good things cannot last forever. Always ready for a challenge, Jason was double-dog dared by a fellow Chicago Sun Times paperboy to take on the biggest paper route of them all; a cross country trip on the famous Route 66. He would start at Chicago, delivering papers to every single public dining establishment he passed until he reached Los Angeles.
Jason Jenkins lasted almost 80% of the trip. After long nights of restless delivering and 2103 newspapers, Jason was standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona when he collapsed and died instantly.