I hate to kick a dead horse but …

The more I talk to folks about the going rate for babysitters these days ($12-$15 an hour), the more upset I get. It started with this Facebook post from Keeley Kirk, a friend whose youngest daughter Hallie celebrated her first birthday over the weekend.

“I just read your column from Monday about babysitting. I just want to add that I pay MORE for a high school student to watch my kids (and sometimes they are just plopping them in from of the TV) than I pay for my Masters Level Teachers to educate my child at preschool - hmmm......”

Which got me thinking about the conversation my business partner Kelly and I have been having about how much we can afford to pay our intern – a talented University of Evansville graduate who’s also a great techie – on top of her non-paid internship hours. The answer’s not pretty.

Starting pay for a police officer or fire fighter in Brentwood is $33,033. Now, Asst. Fire Chief Brian Goss did tell me it’s hard to break that down into an hourly rate because firefighters work 24 hour shifts, not standard 40-hour work weeks. But for conversation – and column’s sake --$33,033 divided by 52 divided by 40 equals $15.88 an hour.

These are the people who protect and save our homes.

In Williamson County, a first-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree makes $33,485, working a 200-day contract. That works out to almost $21 an hour – but for only nine months of the year. If averaged out on a regular, 40-hour work week over a full year, that’s just over $16 an hour.

Granted, our police officers, fire fighters and teachers pay also comes with benefits, which greatly increase their total compensation packages.

I’m not disparaging the care teenage babysitters give our city’s children. If that’s what the market will bear, more power to it. And I’m sure few full-time sitters make $15 an hour with benefits, though I’m not sure the going rate for nannies.

OK, I’m going to stop kicking that horse now, but I doubt I’ll stop thinking about it!

Here’s a date to mark on your calendar: Friday, March 25. That’s when Brentwood Country Club will host a community-wide Red Cross blood drive dedicated to Frank Corrigan. Courtney Cooper, the club’s marketing and membership director, shares that Mr. Corrigan is a special member of the club who is battling Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC).  He plays in the Dirty Dozen, a golf group at BCC, and he and his wife have been club members since 1999.

The membership wanted to reach out to the Corrigan family and the Brentwood community, Courtney said, and the idea of the blood drive was born.

 The Red Cross will set up the drive in the Midway Room and will collect pints of blood between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.  To donate, just set up an appointment at www.redcrossblood.org and enter sponsor code: brentwoodcountryclub.

See you there!