Colorado Teens Fined for Giving Cookies to Neighbor

[Earth_First]

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."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20050205/od_nm/odd_cookies_dc

I am speechless. Whatever happened to doing something 'in kind' for your neighbors. Has our society been so vastly degraded that random act of kindness are now looked upon as suspicious and deviant?

[Spinzonner]

1. That's the way it crumbles sometimes

[DistantWind88]

2. If I lived there

you can best believe I'd PEACEFULLY picket Ms Young's house with a sign that read "Random acts of kindness get you fined." What a vile, disgusting human being. especially after her comment, "I sure hope those two learned a lesson." Yea, they did...that you're a worthless bitch.

[ladjf]

13. Here are comments from the original news release.

"But one 49-year-old woman became so terrified by the knocks on her door around 10:30 pm that she called the sheriff’s department, then ended up in the hospital emergency room the next day after suffering a severe anxiety attack."

My guess is that for a person to have such a strong reaction to the incident, they may well have some type of anxiety disorder. She was alone. Who can know what sort of things she was imagining.

[DistantWind88]

16. Or maybe

she was just a bitch...

[Skittles]

3. honestly

in this day and age this idea was a bit silly. If I found such cookies on my doorstep I wouldn't file a lawsuit but I certainly would not eat them. Perhaps if they had just HANDED the cookies to their neighbors it would have been seen for what it was - a kind, sweet gesture.

[indepat]

4. But wouldn't a $700-$800 fine been sufficient?

[Skittles]

7. I guess I don't understand what you are saying?

nt

[indepat]

17. I'm on strong antibotics and likely don't know what I'm saying other

than trying to inject a ton of cynical scarcasm about the judge's decision. In no way was it shown the supposed-anxiety attack was triggered by this event. Under this criteria, each and every one of us could be subject to fines each and every day for supposed harm triggered by any of our inocuous actions. That lady needs to get a life and the judge a new profession IMHO for absolutely no cause and effect could likely be proved in such case by the preponderance of the evidence. Anxiety attack, my ass.

[Skittles]

18. oh

I certainly agree this woman is an ass

[ladjf]

14. From the news:

"A Durango judge awarded Wanita Renea Young almost $900 Thursday to recoup her medical bills.

"

[ladjf]

5. I agree that the fine was unreasonable. However, knocking

on an elderly person's door at 10:30 P.M. is inconsiderate at best
and dangerous at worst. My wife an I have to get up at 5:00 A.M. We would be very irritated if someone woke us up late at night to receive a plate of cookies. Further, the cookie ingredients might also be in question.

The two teenagers may have meant well. But, they should have given more thought to possible reactions from the recipients.

[DistantWind88]

9. Elderly????

She's 40-fucking-9. That's NOT elderly.

Inconsiderate, maybe. But the neighbor is a fucking kook.

[Earth_First]

10. I agree, 10:30 p.m. is inconsiderate at best...

However the article fails to mention if this was their last stop of the night, being in rural Colorado, neighbors are spread out over distances.

I guess. I am not trying to make a mountain out of a molehill, just thought it was curious that a judge had to rule on this when medical restitution was promised just as in kind as the gesture was.

[WildClarySage]

6. No good deed ever goes unpunished.

[randr]

8. This is a perfect example

of people losing the ability to have personal responsibility for their own actions and, in this case, their own personal problems.
For the court to fine these girls and not to admonish this anxious neighbor sends the message that the state will resolve your personal problems.
This woman should have been ordered to seek help and to apologize to these kind young girls for her behavior.

[da_chimperor]

11. WTF? They're getting fined for giving out cookies? That's fucking stupid.

:wtf::grr:

[RedCappedBandit]

12. um, WTF

If you don't want the damn cookies, don't eat them; fining teenagers 900 dollars is completely ridiculous.

[GardeningGal]

15. The fine was to cover the hospital expenses

I'm not defending it, I think the woman waaayy over reacted. However, she is in rural Colorado which is not the same as a next door neighbor. At that time of night I can see why someone would be frightened.

FYI, the money to pay the fine was raised by callers to a radio station in Denver so the girls won't have to pay the fine out of their own pockets. I checked for the link to the story, but it was several days ago so it isn't there any more.

[Skittles]

19. and may I add

that approaching rural residences in a stealthy manner at night is very dangerous thing to do!