I can’t believe I’m even asking. I grew up with the N&O. When I was a year old, my parents moved here from Hertford County so my Dad could take a job in the N&O composing room. When I was 16, I went to work in the newsroom as a copyboy. I stayed there 10 years, earning advanced degrees in journalism, politics and human behavior.

Now I’m thinking of banning this long-time breakfast companion from my doorstep?

Of course, how long will it be before they cut the print edition to only three days a week? Or no days a week?

As it is, many of the good stories in the print edition ran online the day – or days – before.

A print/digital subscription costs me $600 a year, apparently because the bean-counters in Sacramento have an algorithm (damn that Al Gore!) that says I’m a gullible geezer who’ll pay whatever they charge. I’ve looked on that subscription rate as my small way of supporting quality journalism.

Now I look like a sucker. I see a lot of the stories posted on Facebook and Twitter – for free.

Then there’s the editorial page. Too many days now, the N&O’s great liberal voice is taken by John Hood and the like.

I’m about ready to cut the cord. But where will I read Zits, Frazz and Pearls Before Swine every day?