Why Ill Never Babysit Again Chilling Scary Podcast
You probably already know this urban legend, love reader, merely here'south a retelling just to refresh your memory:
One night, a teenage girl got her first babysitting job. The children were already comatose upstairs, and the parents would call to check in. The babysitter has a quiet night. She chats with her gal pals on the phone and watches TV.
Around ten o'clock, the phone rings. The bodyguard picks up, expecting it to exist the parents. Instead, she realizes, it's a heavy sabbatical. Disgusted, the babysitter hangs up and goes back to watching Boob tube.
ten minutes subsequently, the phone rings once more. The babysitter picks up, and again hears a heavy sabbatical.
"Pitter-patter," she sneers into the phone before hanging up.
A few minutes later, the telephone rings again. The bodyguard assumes it's the heavy breather, simply she can't not pick up. It could be the parents.*
Tentatively, she picks up and answers, "Hello?"
Again, heavy animate. She virtually hangs up again, but this time a low voice on the other terminate said, "Have yous checked the children?"
*Once upon a fourth dimension, there wasn't such a thing as cellphones, cordless phones, chosen ID, or even voicemail . Truly the dark ages.
The bodyguard feels a chill go downward her spine. She quickly hangs upward the phone.
The creepy caller calls a 2d time, a third time. Each time, asking "Accept you lot checked the children?"
Afterward the tertiary time, the babysitter remembers her senses and calls the constabulary. The police propose her to keep answering the calls so that they tin be traced.
The phone rings. The babysitter picks up. The vox on the end laughs and says, "I know yous oasis't checked the children."
The babysitter, terrified, slams the telephone back on the receiver. The phone rings back immediately and she jumps, startled. Hoping it'southward good news from the constabulary, she picks up.
The dispatcher on the other cease of the line says, "Become out. The calls are coming from inside the firm."
The babysitter flees. The police arrive and enter the house. Within, they discover the children massacred in their beds. They find a 2nd phoneline in a guest bedroom.
But they do not detect the crazed killer.
He's still on the loose. Who knows when he'll strike once more?
This urban legend is called 'The Babysitter and The Man Upstairs'. It'south been an inspiration for slasher movies like 'Halloween', almost notably played out in 'When A Stranger Calls'
Urban legends tend to be borne of one or a combination of three elements:
• A mode to express societal anxieties
• Morality tales
• Real life events made hyperbolic
The babysitter urban fable is interesting considering it involves all 3 of these elements.
Babysitting as a concept can easily be a source of anxiety for a teenager. Information technology's in many ways a rite of passage. It could exist the first time you're earning any money on your ain. It's likely the offset fourth dimension you are 'in accuse'. You're being entrusted with responsibleness over someone who is more vulnerable than you. And if y'all get into trouble, yous tin can't run abroad.
Babysitting can besides be a real source of anxiety for parents and children. Babysitting is the act of bringing in a stranger to the dwelling. Can this person be trusted to keep the children safe?
These fears are timeless (until Alexa gets upgraded to full-on babysitter AI). Only the anxieties and moralities of this urban legend are besides deeply tied to celebrated context. 'The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs' fable was reported as fact in some newspapers starting in the early 1970s.* It was likely circulated orally starting in the 1960s.
A lot was going on around that time regarding young women moving across the home—both physically and economically. This was the start of 'career girls'—young women who would motion out and become for actual jobs after high school or college rather than staying at home with their parents and focusing on finding a married man. Babysitting was a budding role of that change—teenage girls finding some economic independence through their ain enterprise. Shockingly, society in the 1960s wasn't totally down with that.
*Look, I'1000 all about 'Democracy Dies in Darkness', merely 'faux news' has also been a thing since before any of us were born.
If you wanna be a real nerd like Your Intrepid Host and get down a rabbit hole learning near the history of babysitting, godspeed because in that location has been extremely trivial study into it. But the book 'Babysitting: An American History' is a comprehensive overview of babysitting as a exercise and its depiction in pop civilisation.
Babysitting is a very Americana establishment, budding into common practice in the 1930s and really taking off in 1950s suburbia. Prior to this, wealthier families had servants to watch children whenever, and poorer families had family unit members who watched children.
In 1950s suburbia, you had:
• A baby smash, and so lots of kids needing watching.
• Family members living too far apart for other relatives to exist a childcare option.
• Families that were well off but not plenty to have servants.
• A solid heart class of parents with money to spare for dates and for a sitter
• Teenagers who wanted money to spend and as well something to exercise with themselves.
While babysitting was/is performed by any teenager, in the 50s and 60s the exercise was a good middle ground for teenage girls to accept some independence by taking on responsibility and financial proceeds while still staying in the neighborhood. Information technology was also seen as slap-up practice for childrearing.
Would you believe even that was seen as too much independence?
Then and today, the act of a woman gaining her ain finances of any form can be seen as unfeminine. As rebellious. As also much responsibility for her to be trusted with. Even in the very domestic human activity of watching some kids for a few hours for a few bucks was seen every bit girls forgetting their place.
For decades, American culture couldn't seem to actually brand upwards its mind most where it sat with the whole babysitting practise. It became very normally promoted as a way for teenage girls to take on some responsibility and express skilful one-time fashioned American entrepreneurial spirit.
But at the same time, ire over these 'uppity' girls working outside of the home was largely expressed through disdain and mockery.
"Since spending money seems to exist a constant demand of teenagers, this new occupation [of babysitting] has become a thriving business."
Tin you hear the eyeroll? Information technology's the same attitude you lot'll hear in former ads and Goggle box about housewives misusing her weekly allowance.
And if trying to work wasn't bad enough, babysitters were derided for existence bad workers. Not satisfied with ii dollars for four hours of watching the kids? What a crock! Rejecting taking intendance of troublesome kids? The nerve! Non taking on additional non-childcare tasks like waxing the floor? How lazy!
There were even PSAs all about lecturing girls how to be semi-competent sitters. "If you are serious about earning a few dollars, shape up!"
It remained a common trope for decades to depict babysitters every bit spending their time yapping on the phone when they were supposed to be caretaking.
And isn't it therefore articulate why the telephone is the weapon of malevolence in the urban legend? "Harassing [her] through a device that is her favorite means of communication" (yes one of my sources actually phrased it that way).
In many ways, the babysitter of the urban legend is a character of total inaction. She doesn't attend to her charges. She doesn't check the children. And she fails horribly. She doesn't confront her predator, she only runs when the police force tell her to. In other versions, she doesn't survive the encounter and is found killed likewise.
This story is also a alarm of what happens to girls who exit dwelling house. They're targeted, subjected to sexual harassment (heavy breathers), and face violence at the hands of strangers.
This was a big serious concern in the 60s. And of grade the proper response was to focus on lecturing girls well-nigh how to not be reckless by, ya know, existing or whatever.
There were PSA films, some even made past law departments, all alarm girls almost all the horrible 'unnecessary' things that can befall girls daring to watch the neighbors' kids for some cash. The films focused on girls learning 'proficient judgment' like not letting strangers into the house while babysitting. How helpful!
The message was "Well, daughter, if yous want to step into the real big world and play at being an developed, fine. But it comes at a toll."
Why tin't you just be happy in your overnice secure home, protected by a father, brother, or husband?
Why can't you stay in a nice safe business firm that doesn't inexplicably take two phonelines?
Why do you accept to exit there and bait psychotic maniacs? So irresponsible!
Ha ha ha, celebrated sexism is so funny and out of control in retrospect.
Except.
The babysitter attacked while watching her charges?
The maniac who slips away from the police?
It's real.
The 'trope' of babysitters inexplicably murdered while watching their charges has occurred multiple times. Two notable cases occurred in the 1950s, and were likely the existent life stories that were hyperbolized into the bodyguard legend.
In 1950, Janett Christman was violently murdered while babysitting at her neighbors'. She was 13 years old. They never identified her killer.*
In 1953, Evelyn Hartley** was abducted from a neighbors' dwelling house in while babysitting. She was 15 years sometime. She was never institute, her attacker never identified.
Similar incidents in later years likely accept helped the urban legend stay alive. In the 1970s, Sheila Srock was babysitting when a burglar broke in, viciously assaulted her, and murdered her. She was 14 years old. Fortunately, her murderer was identified.
*At least one paper of the time reports a second babysitter being murdered in the surface area around the same fourth dimension, just I couldn't find whatsoever additional information.
**Hooray…another good ol' Wisconsin Is Creepy story.
In all three of these incidents, the children being babysat were never harmed. That's an interesting disconnect between real life and the legend. In the legend, sometimes the babysitter survives or not, sometimes the children survive or not. When the children dice in the fable, it'south not a reflection of reality but just some other fashion to punish the babysitter. In real life, children are more likely to be spared than teenaged girls—even if the age departure between the two is minimal.
On the ane hand, women are controlled past being told how scary the outside globe is. On the other hand, it isn't incorrect to admit that women are targeted by random violence.*
*Oh hey, remember the awesome Career Girls existence all contained in the 60s? Yeah they got violently randomly murdered and used as societal warnings against women working outside the domicile besides.
There is a risk in being independent. In that location'due south a risk just presenting as a female out in this earth. We're stuck with paying that price regardless of our desires or deeds. But truthful freedom is acknowledging that, and moving forrard anyway. The call is coming from inside the house. But we can't abandon responsibilities nosotros've chosen, wants we've decided to pursue, or independence that we take a right to.
Source: https://whyhorror.blog/2019/10/08/why-babysitting/
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