We Live in A Sad World

[dukedogsmom]

When teens can't do something nice for a neighbor without being sued. I can't believe this woman.

Colorado Teens Fined for Giving Cookies to Neighbor

Fri Feb 4,10:49 PM ET Oddly Enough - Reuters



DURANGO, Colo. (Reuters) - A Colorado judge ordered two teen-age girls to pay about $900 for the distress a neighbor said they caused by giving her home-made cookies adorned with paper hearts.



The pair were ordered to pay $871.70 plus $39 in court costs after neighbor Wanita Renea Young, 49, filed a lawsuit complaining that the unsolicited cookies, left at her house after the girls knocked on her door, had triggered an anxiety attack that sent her to the hospital the next day.


Taylor Ostergaard, then 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitte, 18, paid the judgment on Thursday after a small claims court ruling by La Plata County Court Judge Doug Walker, a court clerk said on Friday.


The girls baked cookies as a surprise for several of their rural Colorado neighbors on July 31 and dropped off small batches on their porches, accompanied by red or pink paper hearts and the message: "Have a great night."


The Denver Post newspaper reported on Friday that the girls had decided to stay home and bake the cookies rather than go to a dance where there might be cursing and drinking.


It reported that six neighbors wrote letters entered as evidence in the case thanking the girls for the cookies.


But Young said she was frightened because the two had knocked on her door at about 10:30 p.m. and run off after leaving the cookies.


She went to a hospital emergency room the next day, fearing that she had suffered a heart attack, court records said.


The judge awarded Young her medical costs, but did not award punitive damages. He said he did not think the girls had acted maliciously but that 10:30 was fairly late at night for them to be out.
Here's a more detailed story with pics
click (http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/05/news050205_1.htm)

[anna_66]

I don't even know what to say:rolleyes:

[kimlovescats]

I understand that this lady was upset and all, but still I would have been human enough to realize they meant no harm, and certainly not have taken them to COURT!:rolleyes: If only they had done this before dark somehow .... poor kids!:(

[stacwase]

"This has turned into quite a fiasco," Young said. "It's something that never should have happened and it's just devastating. My phone hasn't stopped ringing. My life has been threatened and I'll probably have to move out of town."

Good! I hope she does have to move out of town! The witch! I understand her being upset at first, but when she found out it was a gesture of kindness she should have thanked them and let it go!

"All I wanted was for those girls to admit that they used poor judgment and apologize in person. If they had done that, I wouldn't have even asked for the money. I just hope they learned a lesson."

She hopes THEY learned a lesson?!?! Good grief. I hope she keeps receiving death threats until SHE learns HER lesson!

[Laura's Babies]

Makes you wonder why they were out at that time of night.. Old people go to bed early!! But to me, that was a bit of over reaction and you can bet it'll be a long time before those girls try to do something nice again!

[Karen]

We do not live in a sad world. We live in a world where two teenage girls would be kind enough to bake cookies and leave a treat for many people in their neighborhood. Isn't that sweet? Having baked a lot of cookies in my life, I bet they just ended up doing it so late becasue the baking took longer than they expected.

That woman lives in a sad world. She deserves our pity, the teenage girls, our applause.

[Vio&Juni]

The judge here would have laught at the complaint.

Poor woman, she's sick.

[GraciesMommy]

I read this on another site I belong to..pretty bad judgement on the girls part even tho it was a nice gesture...the lady certainly over reacted...she wasn't even alone..there were 2 other people in the house at the time..and police did come and didn't find anything..she should have just accepted their apologies and left it at that

[QueenScoopalot]

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: I can't believe she was awarded any money at all. Sad when neighbors can't get along together, and things end up getting out of control like that. Those two young women can bake me cookies anytime! :) Maybe it's the start of a cookie baking empire for the two! :D

[Fox-Gal]

Sad world is right. I'm always amazed when a judge even goes along with some thing so silly.

Here, I know a boy that is now on probations, because he found the neighbor's mail in their box and sense she wasn't home, he just put the mail back in her box. Someone across the street called the cops and he was arrested!!:eek: All because he was trying to be nice.

The only lesson that they learned is that no good goes un-punished. Is that really what we want to teach our children, never help or do a good deed for another? Be selfish children!! :rolleyes:

[sammy101]

thats rediculous:rolleyes:

[Corinna]

I think the girls were very admirable instead of being out at a drinking party they were bored and thought of others and baked cookies. How many kids really know how to bake (if it don't mirowave most are clueless). Let the old bitty move shame on the stupid heartless judge. Ya to the girls.

[sirrahbed]

That is a sad story:( What surprises me most is that the judge awarded the woman at all:rolleyes:

I feel sorry for that woman. I can understand having the anxiety and all - being late at night, and no names on the cookies - but the only thing wrong was perhaps a lack of judgement by the girls - but that was all explained and revealed!! The girls - well, I hope they can shake it off and still be willing to do kind things in the future without turning cynical after this mess. As for the way the woman continues to act - I hope she DOES move!

I remember back when I was a girl - maybe 14 or so. There was a young married woman on our street who was always friendly to the younger teens. One evening, a few of us knocked on the window where we saw her to bring her something and visit her. It really scared her because her husband was gone and she had been sitting with her back to the window where we knocked. I remember her scared face and feeling so dumb for doing this!! She was never as friendly again and I have always felt bad about this. Isn't it too bad how experiences like this affect young people and stay with them?? I hope the girls get over it:rolleyes:

[wolfsoul]

That is so sad. It's these types of stories that make me want to cry. It's not often people do something so nice for their neighbors, and when they do, they get in trouble for it. :(

[popcornbird]

That is awfully sad. I cannot imagine knocking on my neighbor's door to give them something nice, only to get in trouble for it. Our neighbors have knocked at our door many times past 10pm, to give a pie, cookies, something they baked for us. We do the same thing. We usually give our neighbors stuff like that earlier, but sometimes, when they're late from work, we give it later. It always makes them happy. I cannot imagine having such a neighbor. Poor girls. What a great reward for doing something nice with the best of intentions...:(

[catnapper]

How sad. I hope they still continue to do nice things despite what this woman put them through. They should take her to court for making them feel like bad kids when all they were doing was acting with neighborly friendship.

[carole]

I am totally gobsmacked, this is outrageous, this just would not happen here, you cannot go around suing everyone left right and center in my country, well not yet anyhow.

A small part of me feels sorry for that woman, because she is so pitiful to have complained and gone ahead with what she did, she is one sick evil woman really.

No judge in his right mind should have fined those girls, disgusting, what on earth is that teaching our young people, we are forever complaining about the young folk, they do a good turn and look how it turns out, shameful.:(

[Kfamr]

A very sad world indeed.

Lesson learned? Not to be giving to old cranky people.

[Prairie Purrs]

The one piece of good news is that a Denver radio station raised enough money to pay the girls' fine.

The bad news is that the girls initially offered to pay the woman's medical bills, but she insisted on going to court. :mad:

Durango seems to be a magnet for weirdness. Check out the police blotter at the Durango Herald sometime--there's an amazing assortment of odd behavior that goes on in that town!

Durango Herald Police Blotter (http://www.durangoherald.com/index_police.asp)

[rizzy]

Omg people these days! You think you have better things to do with your time then to take 2 teenage girls to court over cookies! I can see that it might have "frightenend her" because it was late and they ran off. But that was way overreacting.

[Aspen and Misty]

How sweet of that Radio Station!

What a horrible women! :mad: :mad:


Ashley

[Vette]

That just really sucks. now they wont do anything nice for anyone anymore,, they'll be drinking it up now instead thanks to the dumb old bitch-hag.

it is nice to hear that people care for others. :D
there was something on the news here not too long ago about a 80 year old woman shoveling snow out her neighbors drive ways when there asleep. when they wake up they have a nice surprise. :D

[RICHARD]

I hope her next surprise is a flaming bag of dog crap on her porch....


Now, How the EFF can you associate an assault with a batch of cookies??

Granted, she might have thought that they were poisoned, I'll give her that....


BUT what idiot would have their picture taken for the newspaper???


Hey, aren't you the cookie/heart attack lady??

:rolleyes:

[Logan]

I do not think that the lady did the right thing, at all, totally overreacting. She simply could have ignored the late night buzz of her doorbell.

But, who delivers cookies to an unknown neighbor at 10:30 at night??? Give me a break!!!!! I can't imagine ringing someone's doorbell that late at night, or even after dark, if you don't know them well and they aren't expecting you!

Seems like both parties could have had better judgement in my opinion.