Saturday, May 9, 2009.... What?!
* The following Ad was answered by an ISYN reader:
1) Nanny Wanted (Iowa City)
I am looking for a Nanny for my two sons starting June 1st (summer only). My sons are eleven and eight and are very independent. The time required would be Monday-Friday, 8:45-5:15. Room and board provided if necessary. Ideally you must have a vehicle to transport them to the pool, park, etc.
Original URL: http://iowacity.craigslist.org/edu/1133578697.html
* Here is the response they received:
2) Wanted to thank you for your response to the "Nanny Wanted" posting on Craig's list. I also wanted to let you know that I have been really busy with work, so I apologize for the slow response. This leads me into an important subject, I am a social worker, so I don't make a ton of money. For those of you that are looking to make considerable money nannying (and I support you), this may not be the opportunity. For starters, despite the long hours (more on that later), it is really not very labor intensive work. My sons are eleven and eight and pretty much are self motivated, so short of you driving to the pool (or walking), you are basically present to make lunch, the odd snack, keep them safe and that is it...you can nap, text your pals, sit by the pool, lay in the park, etc. Also, the boys may be in Arts Shares camp for a couple of weeks, so this would mean half days during that period. So given this fact, this might be a nannying position better geared towards high school folks, as opposed to college students looking for money for tuition next fall. About the hours, I am thinking that I might cut back my hours at work to thirty-two a week for the summer. I am also thinking that if I stay at forty, that I might hire two people for twenty hours a week. I received some responses from males, and while I am an equal opportunity guy, there is so much male energy in the house with the three of us, I really would like the boys to get to hang with a female. Again, I am open-minded about this, but we have dealt with this issue the last few summers, so it isn't new to us. Anyway, all that being said, please e-mail me back if you are still interested and mention what type of salary you are interested in. I will see if my budget allows for it and get back to you. For those folks that are no longer interested, thank you for taking the time to e-mail. Best Regards, Tony
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Special thanks to: alc0035 - for our FeatureAd, northjerseynanny, i.am.not.your.bitch.2009, cityshopper1023, MissDee, Faery71278, umrebelfan and kimmysauce626... all of you did a great job! Remember: CL-WTF will be Posted every Saturday... please send next weeks Ads HERE.
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39 comments:
They are all insane! One of my closest friends is a former nanny who is working in the courtesy booth at a local supermarket. She can't find anything in childcare because they are all fruit loops like these people.
One possible employer claims she took a $2000 a year pay cut and was not going to pay any nanny over $35 a day.
These ads make me so glad I already have my (wonderful) job. People are nuts.
#3... all wifely duties? WT....ohhh!
What the heck is wrong with number 4?
#4 is because the name "Alki," Like someone who is an alcholic. I think, I maybe wrong but thats all I could come up with.
This apparently isn't widely known but it is a requirement for "by the books" hiring that a person be paid an overtime rate for hours over 40.
Nannies can and have taken people to court for not being paid appropriately. So why would you even begin to offer less than min. wage for 60+ hours/week?!
Thanks for another week of the craigslist crazies. They keep me sane.
I don't understand whats wrong with #1/#2??
Donna,
What I saw wrong with number two is that the mom said the job was not "labor intensive work."
How does she know? She doesn't do it. I think a lot of people want to pay a nanny for the job but not for their time, or vice versa. Either way, the job description sounds like a great deal of work to me. I know if I were hiring someone to transport my children anywhere, I would pay them what they are worth. It is a huge responsibility.
I myself chuckled at the "wifely duties" comment on one of the ads. Who does this guy think he is? Maybe he meant it as a joke. :)
Alki is the name of area in West Seattle. There is nothing wrong with that ad. What a stupid posting to include.
I am missing something, I guess. I don't see the problem with #1, especially after the Dad's response. I kind of feel bad for him actually.
The salary is't even listed, so it can't be that. My family started out in Iowa City and I am quite familiar with the Iowa and the Iowa economy. I have many relatives there and spend much time there. Living there is cheap to an extent that is only imaginable if you see it for yourself. People are far more relaxed about life and kids are far more free to roam around town unsupervised. (I don't think that's necessarily a good thing...but tell that to people who still live in places where so much of the bad we see and hear about still happens to folks in other places.) I have a couple of cousins who are as vigilant as am about supervising their kids when they are out, but the rest just let them roam. And the streets are full of fairly young kids out alone on their bikes, or whatever. With an eleven year old, I would say this dad, who doesn't earn much, is particualrly responsible, in that many people there would consider him old enough to BE the babysitter. He jst wants somebody there oy be sure they are safe and to get them to some fun activities around town. I guess the best way to sumit up is that they are, in many ways, many years behind, and young teenage babysitters, like many of us were when the world was so much simpler, are still the way they go.
Ok, number 4:
Alki - like alcohol? Just sounded funny, is all.
Thank you, Lindsey.
As for number 1:
It just seemed the kids were a bit young, but more so that he "invites" the Nanny to be a lazy slug, ie:
"you can nap, text your pals, sit by the pool, lay in the park, etc."
MPP, I would normally agree with you, but it's such a different world there. That said, however, I would not raise my own kids like that, even if I did live there.
Another seemingly hugely popular trend there...having babies in high school and learning quickly that the more babies you have the more money the government will shell out so that you never have to get a job. Oh, and that you can live with the father(s), but not marry them because it cuts down the dollars you will get...and if you live with the father you have to lie about it to the case worker, because that cuts down on the benefits too. The government presumes that if the parents are together that at least one of them should get a job...which is apparently a real drag. (Hmmmm...possible link to the general lack of parental supervision?)
Not everybody there is like that...not at all. But oh my gosh how often I see this going on there!
But this dad, for his circumstance, I suspect he's one of the more involved parents around....at least from what I've witnessed in my experience there...
Mom
He may mean well, but I disagree with him putting that in the Ad. Maybe in person he could inform the Nanny that it is a relaxed job, but who knows what kinds of dregs will see this man and his children as easy pickings.
MPP, I've been thinking about that, and you're right. Geography does not excuse how children are raised. People may not know better, but the effects are just the same in the kids in the end.
Also, I was thinking that I have been unduly harsh on Iowa, a place that I really do love. There are a lot of great things and a lot of great people there. I just sometimes get very discouraged when I see the changes that I think are so negative taking place in a place where I was taught a very firm work ethic, and watched my parents and grandparents work as much as they needed to, without complaint, and without asking for a anything from anybody, ot take care of their own responsibilities. It was so ingrained in me that that is how a person ought to be.
I thought of Iowa as the one place I could go and see the "ZAmerican Dream" taking place as it should be...a days work for a day's pay and pride in a hard day's work and a job well done.
I have been increasingly disturbed to see all of these younger people abandoning that ethic hand over fist and simply holding their hands out, purposely working the system...and my Aunt, who was a school teacher for years and years, says that the welfare moms often drive better cars and have more income than the hard working people. And during the last election, talk I heard centered way less on the candidates themselves and way more on which candidate would put more dollars in people's personal pockets. Ugh!
But let's not forget that Iowa is still the place that largely pulled itself out of the disaster they suffered last year without whining for FEMA to do more and more and more. Yes, FEMA was there, but citizens helped one another in a way that did make me very proud of Iowa and let me see the old Iowa that I remember and love.
As for #4 it's an area in Seattle and it's NOT pronounced like "al-key", it's pronounced like the word sky, so "al-ky", so that's why the ad really makes no sense to people who know the Seattle area!
I found #8 to be very creative. I don't see what's so wrong with it.
yup I was confused about #4 as well. Being from Seattle, I had no idea what was wrong with "Alki" or the rest of the ad. A very beautiful area in town!
What I don't get about the Alki ad is that it's clearly not being sent in by someone who lives or works in the Seattle area. So, where did it come from? Are there actually people out there with so little to do with their lives that they troll the craiglist child care ads from other cities looking for things that "just sound funny." Sorry, but i think that makes everyone involved in sending it in or posting look really unintelligent. Just poorly done.
I don't know what thread this is supposed to go on, but that crying baby at the top of the site is adorable!
WTF?
Since that Ad from Seattle is really getting your goat, I will just say this: there are very few Ads I turn away... most are pretty good. As for the Alchi Ad, I am not from Seattle, therefore, I wasn't aware of the correct way to pronounce it. I assumed the same thing Lindsey did, and that it must have been the reason why it was Submitted.
Pointing out that you posted something stupid in error is hardly "getting my goat." I think it just shows how little thought or research is put in to these posts. It's just a witch hunt. It's no longer coming about organically by job seeking nannies who run across these things. Some idiot is searching them out and submitting them based on ignorance. But, hey, I can see you have no intention of admitting you were wrong about the ad. I expected as much from someone who would post an ad about infant self defense, wondering if it was legitimate.
WTF?
I have no intention of spending any more time researching every single Ad that comes in than the amount of time it takes to post them. If you don't like it, don't read it... simple as that. I don't question the validity of each post, and quite frankly, I could care less.
Oh, well don't let the idea of accuracy or fairness get your goat or anything. ;)
How the hell is anyone able to check each Ad for accuracy? It's Craigslist!
Eh. You could at least aknowledge it when you've posted something wrongly and it's been pointed out to you. Those ads are someone's way of making a living.
WTF?
What more do you want? I already admitted I didn't know how it was correctly pronounced. Please go find something else better to do. I'm done.
Yes, and you keep devoting yourself to the noble and worthwhile pursuit of mocking people on craigslist. LOL.
Oh brother! The Craigslist ads are simply a sampling of what's on Craigs List. The baby self defense ad was hilarious. My entire family got a huge laugh out of it. So what if it was a joke? It was on Craigs List and it was a good read.
Seriously WTF, lighten up. It's a blog. Sometimes the posts are deadly serious, sometimes they're amusing...some are a huge deal and some are sort of petty. Personally, I enjoy the variety.
WTF,
One more thing...with all of the demands that MPP "admit she was wrong" (regarding something you have personally deemed her wrong about), you are reminding me a LOT of the OP from the privacy thread. Are you the same person?
I don't know what the privacy thread is. Care to remind me? This is the only name I post under if you're trying to imply something rude about me. You'd know it was me if I'd been arguing with you or something. What are you trying to say here, MOM? Do tell.
I don't post on every thred nor do I post as much as you do. I'll admit that I find this whole craiglist feature pretty annoying ~ even more so now that I hear how little thought is put in to the whole thing. But, whatevs. I enjoy most of the blog. No one needs to get riled up because I expressed an opinion, ya know?
I think the Craigslist ads are great: it really brings awareness to how people seek out childcare, and how people seek out jobs. I think it is not only humorous to read, but also reminds us of the dangers of finding strangers to care for your children on CL and how many parents are willing to take advantage of caregivers by paying them well below minimum wage.
In all honesty, you really do need to be super careful of CL: it can be a very dangerous thing. You should be careful who you hire to care for your children, and who you meet (and where) to purchase or sell items.
I don't know who had the idea originally or how it started, but I look forward to the CLWTF posts.
As MPP said, if you don't like it, don't read them.
WTF: as Mom would say, you seem to have a "chip on your shoulder." Get over it already!
WTF,
I didn't imply (it's not allowed under the blog rules.) I asked you directly and have no intention of piecing together a case against you. You just sound a lot like another poster, so I was curious. A simple yes or no would have sufficed.
Mom
WTF? is not the privacy poster... but I would like to ask her why she chose the moniker WTF? if the CL Ads have always been something she's despised from it's inception. I just find it rather humorous.
And for anyone who cares, it takes several hours to put together CL-WTF? Going through and reading each e-mail, organizing and then formatting... so it's not like I just throw it together. I just don't have the extra time to research the validity of each Ad.
And for MinuteMuggle, the idea for CL-WTF? was actually started by "CraigslistCrusader" and Jane and I thought to take it step further and make it a Feature.
Thanks MPP,
I was choosing to believe her at her word, but just thought I'd ask....
I never assumed that you checked all the ads. I thought that other people submitted them, you read through them to whittle it down to a few of the most interesting and "presto" WTF.
Interesting, though, about the moniker. I never picked up on that before.
WTF, there have been times I've very much agreed with your posts, but you seem in a really bad mood lately. (Although I suppose we all have times like that.)
mpp, I have no problem believing you when you say that it takes hours to put the list together. I almost never read it because it is so long!
Oh well
I know. But you can't make everybody happy, right?
After reading the CLWTFs, I can only conclude that either a great many people out there don't love their kids like I love mine, or they have EXTREMELY impaired judgement and reasoning skills.
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