Wanted: two drinking buds for dad, $14/hour

The poor performance of the dollar can have its advantages. Especially if you get paid in pounds…and beer. Backpackers looking for a seasonal job opportunity, listen up.

The son of an elderly British widower who could not find a drinking buddy has provided him with two new companions after advertising the post at a rate of £7 ($14) an hour, plus expenses, The Guardian reports. When he moved from a flat to a care home 20 miles from his old stomping ground of Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire, Jack Hammond, 88, a radar technician during the second world war, struggled to find someone suitable to have a beer with.

As a last resort his son Mike, 56, put a notice in the post office asking for someone with similar interests or background to accompany his dad, a former charge engineer at a Lancashire power station, to the Compass Inn in Winsor, twice a week for a couple of hours.

He was so inundated with offers – including one from a 16-year-old – that he had to interview candidates by phone before asking a shortlist of three to join him and Jack for a trial drink.

I hope my kids look out for me like this.