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rainbow_goddess.
Two Durango teens thought they'd surprise neighbors with nighttime deliveries of home-baked treats. But one woman was so terrified, she sued and has won
She was scared of... what, exactly? Cookies?
The July 31 deliveries consisted of half a dozen chocolate-chip and sugar cookies accompanied by big hearts cut out of red or pink construction paper with the message: "Have a great night."
The notes were signed, "Love, The T and L Club," code for Taylor Ostergaard, then 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitti, 18.
They've got a picture, very cute box. Sounds yummy, the cookies.
Inside one of the nine scattered rural homes south of Durango that got cookies that night, a 49-year-old woman became so terrified by the knocks on her door around 10:30 p.m. that she called the sheriff's department. Deputies determined that no crime had been committed.
Remind me to never move someplace rural, where you have to be scared of people knocking at the door....
A Durango judge Thursday awarded Young almost $900 to recoup her medical bills. She received nothing for pain and suffering.
Remember this part, it comes up again later.
"The victory wasn't sweet," Young said Thursday afternoon. "I'm not gloating about it. I just hope the girls learned a lesson."
What lesson? Don't bake cookies for neighbors?
The judge said that he didn't think the girls acted maliciously but that it was pretty late at night for them to be out. He didn't award any punitive damages.
10:30. That's not "pretty late". I've come home later than that, even at that age.
Taylor and Lindsey declined to comment Thursday, saying only that they didn't want to say anything hurtful.
Yeah, that'd be my reaction at this point.
Court records contain half a dozen letters from neighbors who said that they enjoyed the unexpected treats.
The cookies were good. It was a nice surprise. They weren't scared.
They had no need to be scared. It's cookies.
[Young] thought perhaps they were burglars or some neighbors she had tangled with in the past, she said.
Hm. I wonder why she'd think that neighbors would want to harass her. If this is how she normally acts, I'm not surprised.
The girls wrote letters of apology to Young. Taylor's letter, written a few days after the episode, said in part: "I didn't realize this would cause trouble for you. ... I just wanted you to know that someone cared about you and your family."
The families had offered to pay Young's medical bills if she would agree to indemnify the families against future claims.
Okay. Remember the $900 the woman won, no pain and suffering? She could've gotten it without the trouble of the suit. They offered to pay her medical bills, they apologized.
Young wouldn't sign the agreement. She said the families' apologies rang false and weren't delivered in person. The matter went to court.
...
Honestly, I don't know what to say.
Young said she believes that the girls should not have been running from door to door late at night.
"Something bad could have happened to them," she said.
Oh, yes, it's all about them, you're concerned about their safety. I thought rural areas were supposed to be, like, these safe places, where you weren't just randomly accosted in the street after 10 PM...?
rainbow_goddess.Two Durango teens thought they'd surprise neighbors with nighttime deliveries of home-baked treats. But one woman was so terrified, she sued and has won
She was scared of... what, exactly? Cookies?
The July 31 deliveries consisted of half a dozen chocolate-chip and sugar cookies accompanied by big hearts cut out of red or pink construction paper with the message: "Have a great night."
The notes were signed, "Love, The T and L Club," code for Taylor Ostergaard, then 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitti, 18.
They've got a picture, very cute box. Sounds yummy, the cookies.
Inside one of the nine scattered rural homes south of Durango that got cookies that night, a 49-year-old woman became so terrified by the knocks on her door around 10:30 p.m. that she called the sheriff's department. Deputies determined that no crime had been committed.
Remind me to never move someplace rural, where you have to be scared of people knocking at the door....
A Durango judge Thursday awarded Young almost $900 to recoup her medical bills. She received nothing for pain and suffering.
Remember this part, it comes up again later.
"The victory wasn't sweet," Young said Thursday afternoon. "I'm not gloating about it. I just hope the girls learned a lesson."
What lesson? Don't bake cookies for neighbors?
The judge said that he didn't think the girls acted maliciously but that it was pretty late at night for them to be out. He didn't award any punitive damages.
10:30. That's not "pretty late". I've come home later than that, even at that age.
Taylor and Lindsey declined to comment Thursday, saying only that they didn't want to say anything hurtful.
Yeah, that'd be my reaction at this point.
Court records contain half a dozen letters from neighbors who said that they enjoyed the unexpected treats.
The cookies were good. It was a nice surprise. They weren't scared.
They had no need to be scared. It's cookies.
[Young] thought perhaps they were burglars or some neighbors she had tangled with in the past, she said.
Hm. I wonder why she'd think that neighbors would want to harass her. If this is how she normally acts, I'm not surprised.
The girls wrote letters of apology to Young. Taylor's letter, written a few days after the episode, said in part: "I didn't realize this would cause trouble for you. ... I just wanted you to know that someone cared about you and your family."
The families had offered to pay Young's medical bills if she would agree to indemnify the families against future claims.
Okay. Remember the $900 the woman won, no pain and suffering? She could've gotten it without the trouble of the suit. They offered to pay her medical bills, they apologized.
Young wouldn't sign the agreement. She said the families' apologies rang false and weren't delivered in person. The matter went to court.
...
Honestly, I don't know what to say.
Young said she believes that the girls should not have been running from door to door late at night.
"Something bad could have happened to them," she said.
Oh, yes, it's all about them, you're concerned about their safety. I thought rural areas were supposed to be, like, these safe places, where you weren't just randomly accosted in the street after 10 PM...?
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no subject
Date: 2005-02-04 06:57 pm (UTC)Btw with the overly perfume people. Alot of them I think are chain smokers who can't smell how strong they smell. My mom has this problem. And so do a few other family members who I note are heavy smokers. My mom however has learned that unless she's going out if she's around me to please not wear perfume or only a little bit. I've blacked out from the smell of tar and even good smells can make me very ill if strong enough.(such as fresh bread) :(
This woman that sued could of put a sign on her door. She could of sought help for her problems too. But I doubt she'll do either and I bet now alot of people in that town dislike her and keep away from her. The answer on things isn't always to sue. Particularly if people said sorry and offered to already help pay for medical stuff.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-04 07:04 pm (UTC)I don't have a problem with strong smells, but i'm either allergic or somehow sensitive to some perfumes. Never tracked down what ingredient. But some of them just irritate my throat, make me sneeze, and every so often I just can't breathe.
I don't really care if the people smell insanely strong, but if I can't breathe or even if it just means I'm constantly coughing, that's a real problem for me. However, usually I can just move away from the person. And I know that they don't intend to cause the problems for me, no more than I would intend to cause harm if I opened up a jar of peanut butter in a park during a picnic. But I know people who would have serious problems if they were nearby and someone opened up a jar of peanut butter.
You just have to try to work out a way to try to respect everyone's needs and rights as smoothly as possible.Which may sometimes means the person with the fearsome dog allergy leaves the restaurant so the blind person with the guide dog can have a meal.
I'm wandering... but basically, yeah, it sucks to have real problems. And I take them seriously. They're real and they should be respected. But it doesn't mean you should always get your way. And sometimes it sucks and you have to give up on stuff you want because of health problems. It's not fair, and it's not nice. But it's life. Having problems isn't fun. But it doesn't mean you should blame the people who set them off. Blame the problems themselves.