Cookies attack

[Scott]

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.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&e=2&u=/nm/odd_cookies_dc


This just astounds me....

[HarmNone]

Damn! That really sucks! Two little girls trying to do something kind for their neighbor, and this is the thanks they get. That judge needs to be kicked.

Who let's little girlscouts run around like a bunch of reptiles in a zoo in the almost wee-hours of the nightly morning?

Yea, sure, blame it on the liberals of course.

[DeV]

I thought stupid shit like that (the judges ruiling) only happened in Virginia.

[Divinity]

It's amazing what people will sue for these days. What's even more shocking are the judges that let people get away with these kind of things.

What a waste of government time and funds.

[HarmNone]

Call me cynical, but I doubt very seriously that it was an "anxiety attack", or the fear of having had a heart attack, that sent Ms. Young to the ER the next day. I'd be most likely to describe her malady as a "greed attack". :rolleyes:

[Mistomeer]

If a 17 and 18 year old girl knocked on my door randomly at 10:30 at night, I'd be the last one to report it to the legal system.

I seemed to have missed that rather important part.

In conclusion, where can I find these 18+ cookie woman-scouts knocking on doors, preferably mine?

[Vestarr]

::::That judge needs to be kicked.::::

Real Hard

--Vest

[HarmNone]

Thankfully, the cost of Ms. Young's "treatment" didn't have to come out of the pockets of these girls, or their families:

http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_p ath=/news/05/news050205_1.htm

[Trinitis]

"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."

....

Someone shoot this old hag? Apologize? For what? Being nice?!

Originally posted by Adredrin
"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."

....

Someone shoot this old hag? Apologize? For what? Being nice?!

That's fucking retarded. I feel like posting really mean things but I'm not going to.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

next time they should shit in a paper bag and light it on fire in front of her door...

[Divinity]

Have to agree with you there.

It's disheartening when someone can't do something nice without another creating an angle out of it.

Thanks for posting that link Harmnone. It looks like there are some other decent folk out there. I wonder if she's going to sue the radio station for "aiding criminals."

I should get more sympathy for the shit I've been through with my panic disorder. SOMEONE GIVE THAT BITCH AN ATIVAN.

- Stanley, playful as always.

[Jazuela]

If I heard 3 loud knocks on my front door, and got to the door and saw nothing but a package on the floor, at 10:30 at night, I'd run to the phone, call 911, tell them I think someone left a bomb on my stoop, and run out the back door with my cat and my husband, as fast as we could.

No way in hell would I even turn the light on to see what kind of package it is. If it's covered, I don't wanna know. That's what the police are for.

I wouldn't sue anyone for doing something like leaving cookies on my doorstep. But neither would I answer the door at 10:30 at night after looking out the window to see no one there.

[Divinity]

She saw a silouette. If you saw that, why would you do anything else (like you said) besides running to your room and calling the police? Especially if she was attacked before?

You're right, someone is fibbing.

[Snapp]

She sounds like a miserable old crone. Maybe the girls shouldnt have come so late, but it was an awfully sweet gesture. The girls even sent a letter of apology to her, but that wasn't good enough. She wanted them to come in person. I really can't believe our legal system gave her money.


edit to say: I really don't see how an assault 15 years previous while walking to a bus stop would make her terrified to answer the door. I smell BS.

[Edited on 2-6-2005 by Snapp]

[Nakiro]

Originally posted by Jazuela
If I heard 3 loud knocks on my front door, and got to the door and saw nothing but a package on the floor, at 10:30 at night, I'd run to the phone, call 911, tell them I think someone left a bomb on my stoop, and run out the back door with my cat and my husband, as fast as we could.

No way in hell would I even turn the light on to see what kind of package it is. If it's covered, I don't wanna know. That's what the police are for.

I wouldn't sue anyone for doing something like leaving cookies on my doorstep. But neither would I answer the door at 10:30 at night after looking out the window to see no one there.

People are redicliously scared of their neighbors.

[Ravenstorm]

This would never have happened if they had baked brownies.

Raven

[Skeeter]

Originally posted by Stanley Burrell
I should get more sympathy for the shit I've been through with my panic disorder. SOMEONE GIVE THAT BITCH AN ATIVAN.

- Stanley, playful as always.

perhaps mix in a Haldol for a nice cocktail.

[Scott]

Originally posted by Jazuela
If I heard 3 loud knocks on my front door, and got to the door and saw nothing but a package on the floor, at 10:30 at night, I'd run to the phone, call 911, tell them I think someone left a bomb on my stoop, and run out the back door with my cat and my husband, as fast as we could.

No way in hell would I even turn the light on to see what kind of package it is. If it's covered, I don't wanna know. That's what the police are for.

I wouldn't sue anyone for doing something like leaving cookies on my doorstep. But neither would I answer the door at 10:30 at night after looking out the window to see no one there.

You need to move then. If I was scared if a neighbor knocked on my door, I'd move.

[Alfster]

Originally posted by Scott

Originally posted by Jazuela
If I heard 3 loud knocks on my front door, and got to the door and saw nothing but a package on the floor, at 10:30 at night, I'd run to the phone, call 911, tell them I think someone left a bomb on my stoop, and run out the back door with my cat and my husband, as fast as we could.

No way in hell would I even turn the light on to see what kind of package it is. If it's covered, I don't wanna know. That's what the police are for.

I wouldn't sue anyone for doing something like leaving cookies on my doorstep. But neither would I answer the door at 10:30 at night after looking out the window to see no one there.

You need to move then. If I was scared if a neighbor knocked on my door, I'd move.

Yah, no shit, I'd move as well.

Granted, I grew up in a relatively rural town in Wisconsin with a population that has now cleared 4 thousand.

Everyone knows each others secrets and up until this last summer my parents hadn't locked the doors to our house in over 10 years. The only reason they started was because someone "broke" in, which was strange because I heard them in the house and just assumed it was my parents walking around.

Our neighbors have always left things on our porch if we weren't home and I can say I'd never think twice to open a package that I found there......

*edited to add this

When did 10:30 become late?

[Edited on 2-7-2005 by Alfster]

[AnticorRifling]

OHH MY GOD IT COULD BE A BOMB I'D BETTER GET MY CAT AND RUN!!!!!

I really doupt you're important enough for the trouble of a bomb. Why the hell are people so scared these days? If you're afraid of some cookies your neighbor made maybe you should move....to Canada, same goes with the old lady in the story. Seriously if me trying to be nice cost me 900 bones you'd better believe I'd give her a heart attack after that.

[CrystalTears]

OMG IT'S A BIG PLATE OF COOKIES WITH A PINK PAPER HEART ON IT! IT'S A BOMB! CALL THE POLICE!

:wtf:

If you're that concerned about what someone in a small town left on your porch, throw it away. Take a Midol PM and STFU. Since when is 10:30pm late?!

[xtc]

Originally posted by AnticorRifling
OHH MY GOD IT COULD BE A BOMB I'D BETTER GET MY CAT AND RUN!!!!!

I really doupt you're important enough for the trouble of a bomb. Why the hell are people so scared these days? If you're afraid of some cookies your neighbor made maybe you should move....to Canada, same goes with the old lady in the story. Seriously if me trying to be nice cost me 900 bones you'd better believe I'd give her a heart attack after that.

I agree with your post almost completely. All except the Canada part....please keep the old lady. We don't want her.