New Jax Witty: Viral NextDoor Child Care Post

Normally it's the crime posts that get the most comments on NextDoor, but one slightly out-of-touch grandma set off a firestorm of responses, so I figured I'd give her post another boost on here:

Childcare Needed
For our 4 year old granddaughter......We prefer an adult, with or without children, but a responsible college or high school student will be considered.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
* We live in Cobblestone
* Provide Care in your home
* We will pay you $5 per hour cash, weekly
* No set hours, but mostly afternoons and evenings, including weekends
* * Anywhere from 10 to 25 hours per week.

Let's look at this post to see where the grandparents are coming from and where the flaming response came from.

They want a responsible adult who will welcome a 4-year-old for cash. That's done so that you can avoid paying taxes, which might be worthwhile for someone who is really, really poor and gets public assistance. Or someone in the top tax bracket who doesn't want to report any more income. Let's assume those folks don't really need $5 an hour with odd working hours, including weekends, so the post is targeting people who are really poor.

If the person had a car, he or she could at least drive rideshare or get a job for $10 an hour. So we're assuming the target audience is a really poor person who needs any kind of cash and doesn't even have transportation. Maybe someone's mother-in-law who sits around the house and watches The Price is Right and soaps all day. Or someone with a disability. The problem is that the hours are after work, when that person could be pulling her weight in her own family.

So it's a really poor recluse without family. Maybe lots of cats or drugs in the house. Maybe here illegally. Probably.

Some of the comments from other NextDoor users are below. The original poster had not changed the post after several days and lots of jabs, so it seems $5 is the desired rate. She basically wants an on-call person for as little as $50 a week who is seemingly responsible and keeps an adequately neat home. All for about 1/3 the going rate. I suppose this grandma would want her grandkid's future school teachers to eschew $45,000 salaries for $15,000 cash. In a state without income tax to begin with.

Did you miss a 1 in front of the 5?
The US average price for a babysitter is $16.75 per hour for one child. I would be very concerned at the level of care that your grandchild would receive for a $5/hr babysitter.
I personally would never leave my kid with someone i paid less than 20 an hour but i do understand that sometimes that's just no an option for people.
The pay range in Jacksonville is $13-$20/hour and you get what you pay for. No one will work in childcare for less than minimum wage.
Offering slave wages...nice.
I am only hoping that $5 per hour was a typo and you meant to type $15!
I pay $15 for a dog walker. I surely hope that’s a typo....
Too funny thinking 5 an hour maybe the grandparents went by pay when they worked years ago
I’m not sure $5 an hour would cover snacks and juice, yikes
What is this? The 1930's
No the person posting this is still the inconsiderate person. They are asking to hire an adult. Its not the summer....its not the the 1970s...when asking rate was 50 cents an hour
$5.00 per hour is what I got as a teenager back in 1980!
You can edit your post to change the price

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Thursday, February 27

Viral NextDoor Child Care Post