Many years ago, before email and the internet, I was a senior editor at a midlist tabloid newspaper called The National Examiner. Part of my job involved working with freelance contributors, making assignments, and overseeing their work. One day, I assigned a piece to a new writer with instructions to turn it over as quickly as possible. A week went by, then another. I called the writer, who assured me the piece was in the mail, and I should have received it.
A few days later, the article finally arrived on my desk. The writer, fresh out of envelopes, had placed the manuscript in an airline vomit bag, stuck some stamps on it, and dropped it in the mail. We never used that writer again.
Shortly after, another new writer delivered a great piece,
