Posted on 02/08/2005 10:58:03 AM PST by FlyLow
ooops. Well, I guess the girls should have rung the doorbell, come earlier, and signed their full names and noted that they were neighbors and wished her a good evening.And, they should have waited until the door was answered, or put their phone numbers on the note. What a mess.
This woman was on Fox News yesterday and boy, did she lie. She kept saying how she had agreed to the original offer for the $900, but it was never sent. For those of us who have been following this, we know that the offer to pay her medical bills was made with the caveat that she sign something saying indemnifying the teens from any further action. This pig refused to do that. She was so disengenuous on TV yesterday, plus, she looked like a nutjob.
Good post. Thanks.
For rural areas, it definitely is. If I were going to ANYONE's house, at 10:30 at night in a rural area, I'd call first.
I agree. My big dog would have checked them out, too.
Come on. This is not beyond all bounds of social decency anywhere. If the teenagers were breaking into the woman's house to commit a crime - that would be beyond all bounds of social decency. This is not. It may have been stupid, but not beyond all bounds of social decency. The girls were attempting to give a gift, not frighten the woman to death.
That would be just fine if your dog chased them out. That is the risk the girls were taking in doing something nice in not the most intelligent fashion, but they weren't trying to scare Wanita.
Gosh, I know a lot of teens who can think of something nice to do for an old lady without getting the sheriff called and the woman having to go to a motel for the night ON THE ADVICE of the sheriff.
Can't you?
What they did was trespass. They didn't identify themselves, they left a note UNSIGNED with cookies--I wouldn't feed that to a dog, much less eat them. Would you?
In our neck of the woods, you might not get killed for trespassing at 10:30 at night, but you will likely get shot at, with a deliberate miss. Of course, if you are banging on the door at the same time, and refusing to identify yourself....
Yes. The growth in lawsuits has been mainly from Business-to-business lawsuits and business-to-consumer lawsuits. (Many of which could be classified as frivolous - yet these lawsuits do not seem to bother the tort-reformers)
The number of private actions by individuals, especailly tort lawsuits, have been falling for years.
I am not saying the girls actions were smart. If the girls actions were Trespass why didn't Wanita press charges instead of sue. Ask yourself "why are the girls not being brought up on charges" and you will have the answer as to why this lawsuit is pathetic. I probably wouldn't eat the cookies with some of the things that go on today, but after the fact with knowledge that the cookies were indeed fine to eat, and that the girls were just attempting to be nice I certainly would not sue. I would prbably send a thank you letter, but tell them that in the future it probably isn't a good idea to be doing this type of thing so late, or in the country.
My dog is the same way. She is a rottweiler shepard mix. She has a fierce bark when she thinks something is out of place, but any other time she is incredibly quiet and loving. She loves people, other dogs, and kids. I do think she would be pretty good at scaring off intruders or protecting my wife and me if we were to need her to do so.
So, why didn't the other neighbors(living in the same rural area as this woman) have the sane reaction as she? You make it seem as if all people who live in rural areas are paranoid after 10:30pm, when in fact others who received the treats at the same time in the same area testified that they welcomed the nice surprise. More importantly, why is this psycho woman's husband making harrassing phone calls to these teenager's families now? This couple seems like a bunch of grifters to me.
To make matters worse, the father of the girls' offered to pay the medical costs but the witch, er woman, wanted to teach the girls a lesson.
I live in the country. The girls live in the country. The woman and her mother live in the country.
I just don't know why you are sticking up for these girls. I can tell you what rural people here think about this case: They think the girls were lucky they didn't get 1)arrested 2)shot. I agree.
Yes, it was stupid. In my opinion, harm resulted. Not only that, slanted news coverage painted the girls as sweet harmless little things that only wanted to do a favor for vicious, crazy old lady.
Well, I have news for everyone: the media slant was wrong. In my opinion, it's criminal mischief, but I heard the woman say she didn't want them prosecuted and wouldn't press charges.
Rural sheriffs aren't the dumb hicks you'd like to think they are, they came out, couldn't identify anyone from the note left with the cookies, and suggested the woman take her mother and go to a motel and stay the night. She did. I don't think she got a lot of sleep, taking care of her mother, worrying about what was happening at her house, wondering who the people were--she couldn't see them and identify them as male or female, either.
I think she was really nice about the whole thing. I don't understand why people believe the stupid media who REALLY have no idea what rural America is like.
The GOPUSA commentary is way over the top. This is not a case where tort reform -- at least as it's currently being discussed -- would have any impact (since the tort reform plans seem to be primarily aimed at protecting insurance companies in medical malpractice cases and other businesses from class-action suits).
While their intent may have been benign, these girls tresspassed on private property at 10:30 at night, banged on the door, and didn't indentify themselves. If they'd been shot and killed, I suspect there would be a portion of Freepers who would justify the shooting.
My mother-in-law lives in a residential neighborhood in Baton Rouge, not even out in the sticks, and would be absolutely terrified if someone came banging on her back door at that time of night.
IMHO, these girls and their parents excercised poor judgement. How difficult would it have been to deliver the cookies during the afternoon or early evening (in July, they would have had plenty of daylight), go to the front door, and identified themselves?
While I probably wouldn't have sued, this is not a good example for tort reform.
My grandparents live in rural Iowa. They think the women who sued is crazy. You don't represent all rural communities, so get off your soap box. Plus it being a rural community - I think that has very little to do with the story.
Granted, I don't think the girls exercised smart judgement. However, during the summer, sunset is late around here. Like, 9pm-ish. Perhaps the girls lost track of time. Their intent was not to inflict harm. Ms. Wanita's reaction a bit extreme given the circumstances.
I don't know what you are assuming about me, but I live in the country also. I live in Perrysburg Ohio. Ever heard of it? Didn't think so. Further, if there actions were criminal then why isn't there a prosecution? I am not saying these grils were completely innocent. I am saying that the lawsuit that was filed regarding the incident was supported by applicable law.
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