[barend]

Colorado Teens Fined for Giving Cookies to Neighbor
Fri Feb 4,10:49 PM ET

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.

news article

poor lady... those girls should have offered to make it up to her by baking her a pie.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
someone should tell this crazy bitch that poison needs to be ingested for it to work its magic... ...or at least it has to be present in thecookies...
sitting on your porch isn't going to realy do much

however, i like that several thankyou notes were used as evidence

This post has been edited by barend: 06 February 2005 - 11:15 PM

[Kirby]

Teens today, giving cookies made from their heart to neighbors as good will. Tisk Tisk

I blame Video Games and Janet Jackson's boob!

Really though, how does that look to the doctor diagnosing the spitefull hag?

[Slade]

It looks like she's paranoid and over-reacts to small kindnesses left in the world. Although she might just be trying to be vindicative because the girls don't like cursing and drinking. The gnarled old witch!

Seriously, this saddens me. I can see some caution involved in eerily cheerful cookies left on a doorstep, but suing someone for an anxiety attack caused by said cookies? Nothing like some healthy abuse of the legal system.

[rock_dash]

What I think is the worst part of it is that the judge saw fit to award the nasty old bitch. It's like the whole world's gone stupid. If she had filed the claim and the judge had just looked at it and laughed, I would have still been mad, but at least satisfied that the courts still work.

This, along with all the other shit that's going on in Colorado makes me glad I got out of there when I did.

[J m HofMarN]

I offer a ten dollar reward to anyone who places a bag of flaming dog crap on this dumbass' porch.

[Chyld]

I further JMs claim with a thousand pounds (about $2000) for anyone that just grenades this emotionless void of a crone into kingdom come. These girls take the time (and to some degree, money) to miss whatever dance it was to bake cookies for the locals, and she sues them for it? Where's the community spirit? The sense of camarade? The simple recognition of kindness given? I couldn't be more pissed off if I tried. The only thing stopping me actually going over and burning her f*cking house down is the fact that I don't know where it is. Plus, the whole America thing.

Jesus christ, plus the old people are always moaning about how drinkings sending the youth down the pan. Well, now they're complaining when they don't. Make up your freaking minds, people!

If I was anymore pissed off, I'd write off the day as a bad one and be done with it...

[Helena]

Teens today, giving cookies made from their heart to neighbors as good will. Tisk Tisk

Yeah, it's disgusting. What's the world coming to?

Still, I'm sure it's taught them an important lesson: Given the choice between baking cookies for your neighbours and going to a party where people are cursing and drinking, go for the cursing and drinking every time!

[Chefelf]

This would never happen to me? I've always wanted someone to leave fresh baked cookies on my doorstep but so far, no luck.

[Slade]

I think I need a drink to cope with a society where shit like this happens frequently.

[Laura]

It's not their fault they were out at 10:30. They probably didn't even get the idea until 8, and then first batch probably came out shitty so they had to make another one, and they were kind of fooling around anyway, and then it takes like 45 minutes for them to bake...

To be fair, they might have wanted to give the cookies in person, not just left them mysteriously on doorsteps, but still. $900. What the hell.

[Chefelf]

In situations where I receive mysterious cookies I generally don't use legal measures to receive money that I think I'm entitled to. I usually just opt to throw the cookies away or, more often, just eat the cookies and enjoy them.

[barend]

more importantly... i know most of you here are quite young, maybe too young to appreciate this...

but isn't 49 a bit young to be a mean old bitch... i mean she could at least wait another ten years before acting like this... i don't think there's a nicer way to really put this... but, this woman needs some manly attention, if you know what i mean.

of course seeing as how she reacts when people make her cookies, i'd hate to see how she reats when someone offers to make bacon...

[J m HofMarN]

There really aught to be a wing of Al Qaeda specifically created for people like this person. I mean its all fine and good that they want to strike back against the great satan and whatnot, but since they're not governed by any laws and they're willing to throw their lives away for very little effect, why don't they do some good in the world while they're at it? Imagine all the stupid people they could wage jyhad against!

For instance, when this woman came out of the courtroom remarking about what she might do with her money I like to imagine a turbaned gentleman running up to her, yelling "allahu akhbar!" and then blowing them both to smithereens. The same thing could work very nicely on the people who decided to create an anti-terrorism submarine, or on that chap who screwed a pig, and maybe they could have even prevented the unholy union of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. Actually, I think I aught to illustrate this in cartoon form sometime.

[Chyld]

That sounds like a fine idea! I'd bloody fund it, were it not for the slight issue of not having any money.

[Laughlyn]

That sounds like a fine idea! I'd bloody fund it, were it not for the slight issue of not having any money.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Get a job in a call center, unscrew one of the wheels for your computer chair then fall off and bang you head. Claim this accident caused you to develop Tourette's syndrome, (randomly swear at people to get the point across) then sue the company for large sums of money (randomly swear at the judge for good measure).....

Oh wait, then you'd have to get someone to blow you up....