greeneyes

I was browsing Yahoo! News today and came across this from Reuters:

Colorado Teens Fined for Giving Cookies to Neighbors

While reading this, I just kept waiting for the "something else." As in, there must be something else going on here, maybe the neighbor and the girls often butted head... something! But according to what is here in the article, apparently there isn't a "something else," apparently you can do a good deed and be sued for it.

And 10:30 is late for them to be out? The girls were 17 and 18 at the time and Colorado curfew law is midnight for anyone under 18, so they weren't breaking any curfew laws by being out at that time. And what is the judge trying to say here, that had it been at an earlier time he would not have held a judgement against them?

This just furthers the thought that you can't be nice for fear there will be repercussions.

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AquaFox

some people are just big cry-babies, if i was the judge i would order the lady to bake the kids a batch of cookies


i have a feeling, that lady is really gonna get some heat from this... expecially with her name published...

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Moskie

That'll teach 'em.

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Destrox

Welcome to today, land of shit that shouldnt be.

Enjoy your stay.

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Paradise Lost

It seems like the lady actually SAW them run off after leaving the cookies at her front
doorstep and she still flipped out. You would think after seeing cookies on the ground
would calm you down a little bit, and the fact that you would probably know these
girls (what out-of-town stranger leaves cookies at your doorstep?)

I think it's just a little selfish on the woman's part. People will do anything for money
these days it seems.

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ForgottenKnight

That is the stupidest court rulling I have EVER heard of! All that did was show the girls that they should have gone out drinking underage and causing trouble rather than being kind to their neighbors! The girls didn't break any laws. 10:30 was not too late for 17 and 18 year olds to be out, and they most likely wouldn't have left her cookies if they had known the lady would be distressed from a random act of kindness. When acts of kindness cause fear and distress, it's a sign that a lot needs to change in this world, starting with the rulling getting reversed, the lady getting some thearapy, and the judge getting fired.

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Carno

Jesus, that is so screwed up...

KMA-628

lawsuit aside, you shouldn't be knocking on anybody's door at 10:30pm that isn't expecting you.

If my kids got this idea, I would applaud them. But they aren't going to go running around the neighborhood, late at night, knocking on anyone's door.

What were the parent's thinking?

/the cursing and drinking thing is a red herring - has nothing to do with the issue at hand other than try to elicit an emotion not relevant to the case

maleficent

It's not showing a lot of sense on the part of the teenagers.

maybe I live in a much more cynical world than rural Colorado, but if someone were to knock on my door, when I wasn't expecting them, then leave a package, that I wasn't expecting to get, and then they run off? I'd be calling the police, then and there.

Who actually bakes cookies and delivers them to neighbors at night? Where's the common sense? And why ring the bell and run off? Did they actually think someone would eat the cookies baked left by a stranger? Most people would have just tossed out the cookies.

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Frowning Budah

And then we wonder why people are hesitant to get involved when someone needs help. I was appalled by the decision.

Carno

I agree that it was kinda stupid to knock on the door at 10:30 and then run away, but to get sued for it??????

EDIT: also, this was in rural Colorado, not NYC or LA or something..

f6twister

I certainly would have been suspicious of a box left at my front door, that said "Have a Good Night, at 10:30 at night, from someone I don't know, and who was running from my place. I probably wouldn't have even opened the box because you just never know what could be in there. Yes, I would be thinking worse case senario only because there are some really f'ed up people out there.

This isn't to say that the punishment wasn't way too severe bordering on completely unnecessary. While suspicious in nature, they were simply doing something fun and beneficial. Under these terms, I could sue the next person who walks their dog past my house at night and the dog barks. I'll go to the hospital with a panic attack and sue.

I wouldn't have paid the fine. I would have appealed.

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StanT

As someone who lives in rural Colorado, if you knock on a door at 10:30PM, you are likely to be greeted with a 12 gauge or a big dog. We call the police after the fact.
We've baked cookies for our neighbors, our neighbors have baked cookies for us. We do things like that during the day, however. Suing for emotional distress? What a crock of shit. Plently of stupidity on both sides here.

Really, Coloradoans aren't generally this stupid.

skier

Just curious about what this statement makes about the sense of community that seems to have been lost in our society. Don't you think that 50 years ago, people wouldn't be suspicious of a random act of kindness?

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KMA-628

50 years ago kids weren't going around knocking on doors at 10:30 pm so the argument is moot. Acceptable behavior was actually taught and enforced by the parents.

tspikes51

Most people wouldn't have gone any further than that, though. Yes, 10:30 is a bit late to be knocking on people's doors, but this woman took it entirely too far. The kids obviously weren't strangers, and there is the possibility that they left because the woman wouldn't come to the door, and she made an overstatement by saying that they ran off (obviously she's overreacting about everything else, so why not this detail). Maybe the kids could sue this woman for being a total asshole and waste of human life.

EDIT:

One thing we're failing to realize here is that these girls had to have known the woman, and vice versa. How else would she have known who they were (it was dark and they were running, according to her).

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greeneyes

I completely agree with what you are saying, 10:30 at night is a bit late for someone to knock on your door when you aren't expecting them. But we were all teenagers once, sometimes you just don't think things through and you just do things that on second thought maybe aren't so smart. At least this was cookies and not something serious.

I also would have been calling the police if strangers left a package on my door, but when we got it all straight, it would have been something to laugh at and learn from, not something to sue someone over.

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Fiver

I know that lawyers are not all of the problem, but I blame them. I am baised. I guess it's the system. Waste time and money, the courts do!

Seething

I'm with some of the other posters here. If someone leaves cookies on my doorstep and runs off, I'm not gonna eat them and be all cheery. I'd think that the cookies would have poison, or been made with dirt, or with "special" chocolate chips(courtesy of their dog). Maybe I'm slightly paranoid, or maybe that's just the way society made me. I think if the girls had stayed until I showed up and handed the cookies to me, I'd be a little less skeptical.

This thing happened during the summer, so it was probably only dark for an hour at 10:30. That's not exactly middle of the night antics. I think the whole situation is stupid. The lady overreacted and the kids picked the wrong time of day to do that.

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shakran

Well that's flippin' brilliant of you.

This is small claims court. Lawyers generally aren't involved with such cases.

Sheesh.


Everyone loves to jump on the "let's hate the lawyers" bandwagon until they actually need one.

j. dakar

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turbofish

enough said.

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dirtyrascal7

so the cookies were dropped off at 10:30pm. the NEXT DAY the old lady goes to the ER... wtf?

someone explain this to me. thanks.

greeneyes

Were you looking over my shoulder? I was just about to type the same thing!

I'm thinking that going to the doctor and subsequently suing the girls was a brilliant idea that was concocted with her friends or something along those lines. If she really thought she was having a heart attack, why didn't she call an ambulance or at least go to the ER that night?

/smells something fishy

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guthmund

Well, this time she got cookies.

Guess what she'll be getting on her doorstep next time.....

This is fucking stupid. I live in a nice little neighborhood. Although I've only been here a little over a month, I know the vast majority of my neighbors. I probably wouldn't have eaten the cookies, but it wouldn't have sent me to the hospital. It's not like the two girls were complete strangers and she saw them drop the box off, right?

Going out at 10:30 and knocking on doors is pretty stupid. Nearly $900 stupid? Apparently.

The judge should've reprimanded the girls for being out late. He should've then told the lady to walk it off as she's a big girl now and this is not how big girls properly function in civilized society. He then should've ordered her to have a stiff drink occasionally to prevent stupid shit like this happening again.

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Latch

The girls should buy her $900 worth of (prepackaged) cookies.

Not exactly valid, but it's funny (in my mind).

KMA-628

FYI

Cookie girls won't have to pay fine, Station raises money

flat5

In another artical it says the girls stated in the hearing that they ran away because the cookies were to be a surprise on the doorstep. A note was attached.

If it was in summer then I suppose in may have been one hour after dark on a weekend. This may not have seemed too late to the girls.

Blaspheme

From the aforementioned news story.
When the courts fail to provide justice and reason, the crank callers step in. My heartfelt thanks go out to anyone and everyone who took a step to make Ms Young's life miserable.

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Latch

That's good...

Doubt she'll sue the girls for moving costs.. but she'll definitely have thought about it.

The girls did something stupid, but not $900 worth of stupid. I'm glad they won't have to pay. In the article it said they (the girls) offered to pay for medical costs, but the lady wanted to take them to small claims court. To get more money out of them, I suppose. That just cut any sympathy I had for the lady.

Vincentt

"The victory wasn't sweet," Young said. "I'm not gloating about it. I just hope the girls learned a lesson."

A lesson?

I hate that woman.

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VitaminH

WHAT LESSON?!?!?!

Not to do good deeds? Don't be nice to your neighbors?

VitaminH MAD!!!! GRR!

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greeneyes

First of all, I just have to ask: what the fuck is wrong with people? These were cookies for crying out loud! And on top of that (and I know this may seem like a snipe on women, but I assure you it isn't) she has a husband! If she was that damned scared, why didn't she ask him to go check it out?

And no shit it has turned into a fiasco, by your own choosing!

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Grasshopper Green

The judge should have thrown out the case from the beginning. It's one of the stupidest cases I've ever heard of. If the girls offered to pay for the medical bills but she insisted on trying to make a buck on her sob story by taking them to court and is now getting threats and harrassment, she only brought it on herself. A true case of karma biting her in the butt.

raeanna74

Oh my word - I can't believe this is real? I can't imagine someone being so selfish, self-righteous, and stupid! I must agree with the other's here - the girls shouldn't have just run off. YET the woman obviously knew who it was in the first place so that should have eliminated almost all anxiety there. Once the judge found out that the girls had offered to pay for medical services out of court he should have dumped the case. I'm glad that other pitched in to show the girls that their good deeds won't get crapped on all the time. It's worth the try to do something good for a friend or neighbor and take the chance.

I almost feel sorry for this woman. Instead of the stress of going to court (if her emotions were so fragile that the girls caused her an xiety attack then a court hearing couldn't have been easier on her heart), instead of all the prank calls, loosing the friend she had in neighbors, possibly moving to avoid the negative responses from people in the town and neighbor hood this woman could have smiled, enjoyed a plate of cookies, and thanked the young bakers for the ingenuity, and thoughtfulness. She's missing out on something special. I hope it doesn't sour these girls against doing thoughtful things in the future.

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guthmund

After reading the second article, I've got the sneaking suspicion maybe the lady and her husband are just 'bad eggs.' At least, that's what my grandmother used to call them. Took the gals to court just because she wanted to and one of the girl's fathers had to take out a restraining order on the lady's husband. They should be mocked unmercifully.

Good. I believe Tom Petty said it best, "...don't come around here no more."


I still hope she gets a flaming, big, bad bag of dogshit dropped on her derserving doorstep (alliteration can be fun )

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yellowchef

ok, as much as I agree that she knew the neighbors, and the neighborhood seems very very safe at 10:30 even in my parents neighborhood if you left something on my porch that I didnt let you borrow, or ask for.....or stay till I opened the door... I would be pretty pissed and if I saw you I would probably have gone to get their parents. I know 10:30 isnt LATE by any means, but they KNEW the lady was elderly and to most people that have families and the elderly 10:30 is late. This shows very little thought and responsibility on the girls half and even LESS responsibility and supervision on the parents half. Even now if I leave the house.. I cant get to the car without my Mom or Dad opening the door or their bedroom window to ask where Im going.. or if theyre asleep, I get a phone call because they heard the door open. I dont know that I agree the punishment fits the crime, but the girls should have known better. There are people in my parents neighborhood that I wouldnt even bother after about 8pm. I know their intentions were good, but they knew the lady was elderly, and 10:30 isnt late but by 9pm most business are closed and in rural areas by 9 damn near everything is shut down.. so they should have known.

tspikes51

Anybody here ever seen "Boondock Saints???" Let's do that to her. I get to be el Duce!!!

I think we, as the human race, should get a restraining order against these kind of people. They should be put on an island by themselves so that they can't interact with and be assholes to everybody else.

None of this has explained how she knew it was them without knowing who they were while they were running off. What a lying sack of shit.

My stomach hurts and I'm shaking from reading this, maybe I'll sue her now. To quote "Friday," "I want a hundred and fifty THOUSAND!"

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Doctor_Max

Elderly? She's 49. Probably close to the age of the girls' parents. She brought all of this on herself.

greeneyes

Since this a thread about excessive punishment, it seems ironic that you would want to do the same to this woman. No need to get all Boondock Saints on anyone.

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