Mom Offers $500 Reward to Get Daughter a Job

A mother in Southern California is on a one-woman mission to get her daughter a job. Linda Smith took to holding up a sign at a busy intersection in Menifee on Friday, offering $500 to anyone who takes her daughter's resume and gets her employed, reports the Press-Enterprise. “I’m offering $500 cash the minute she gets hired for $15 an hour or more as an executive assistant or an office job." Daughter Lisa, 36, has been looking since June and reluctantly embraced the strategy. "After so much trying and trying and trying, I started acquiescing."

The story has an added twist: Lisa had been her 61-year-old mom's main caregiver since a 1996 car accident left Linda with head trauma and mild dementia. But a doctor recently deemed Linda well enough to live on her own again, putting an end to the stipend that Lisa was receiving. Mom's effort may be heartwarming, but the Consumerist notes that it might not be enough: "Motorists often stop and tell the mother that they’re looking for a job, too." (More strange stuff stories.)