Girls Get Donations in Colo. Cookie Case

Yahoo ^ | 2/10/05 | ROBERT WELLER

[beezdotcom]

Did you miss the part where she had been attacked before by neighbors?

Actually, it didn't say she was attacked, it said she had trouble. A later article may indicate why:

The Youngs are no strangers to court proceedings. In addition to the cookie lawsuit, records show the Youngs have sued or been sued at least nine times since 1991. Two more court actions have involved restraining orders.

Many of the suits filed by the Youngs were small claims. In 1994, Renea Young was granted a restraining order against one neighbor after they quarrelled over a shared driveway.

Another complaint was spurred by a July 4, 1997, accident in which the Youngs' pickup collided with a slow-moving hay-bale loader turning into a field as they attempted to pass it on a county road.

Interesting.

[Judith Anne]

I don't have an underdog fixation...one of the reasons I love FR is to be with a bunch of people who think mostly like I do...

Maybe I identify with Mrs. Young, though frankly she looks 10 years older than me, and I'm 10 years older than her. We do live way out, as I've said before...nobody bothers ANYBODY after dark around here, or visits without a call in advance. I'm just thinking, here's a woman alone in a rural area, hubby out of town, taking care of an elderly mother, with a girl teen in the house...it's 10:30 at night, no car in the drive, somebody banging on the back door and not identifying or showing themselves...

The girls said they only went to houses with the porch light on, I've got to assume they mean the front porch light, because you don't see the back porch light from the road...they hid their car, then hopped a fence and a ditch,
honestly, this sounds more like pranking to me than trying to be nice to somebody...

Nobody gets their kids through the teen years without some pranking, and we're no exception, but nothing ever scared me or made me mad--this episode would do it, though...it's why we have a big loud yard dog outside and a mastiff inside, plus of course like all sensible rural people where there are bears and cougars, we're armed.

As a nurse, I do know that there are people with non-fatal arrythmias that can be triggered by fright or alarm, and I'm JUST GUESSING that's why Mrs. Young went to the ER to be checked out the next day...

I was serious when I said that the folks around here think the girls were lucky to get off...I really wonder at all the posters who have contempt for Mrs. Young, who think the poor girls were misunderstood, who feel free to speculate that Mrs. Young was drinking, etc., who approve of people sending money to the parents of the girls, etc.

I do think that going to court is going too far. I wouldn't have, because it's a waste of time and money.

[Judith Anne]

Who is Renea Young? The Mrs. Young I'm talking about is Wanita Young...

As for those haybalers, you have to watch out because a lot of times, there aren't any turn signals. I always tap the horn lightly before passing, so they know I'm there.

I've never been to court or been taken to court...and never want to be, either...

[Judith Anne]

Okay, read your link and I see that Wanita is Renea.

[Judith Anne]

Also, your link said one of the girls was a HS senior, and one a college freshman. Old enough to have common sense.

The link also says that the girls still deliver cookies, although at an earlier hour, according to their mom. Good thinking.

[beezdotcom]

The girls said they only went to houses with the porch light on

Actually, they went to houses that had lights on, meaning somebody was home, without regard for porch lights.

[beezdotcom]

Also, your link said one of the girls was a HS senior, and one a college freshman. Old enough to have common sense.

The father was even older, and thought it was a good idea. I either have to believe he, the girls, and the rest of the neighbors didn't have a lick of common sense in thinking this was okay - or maybe I have to think that the Youngs didn't have enough common sense to not feel so "wronged".

[Judith Anne]

Actually, they went to houses that had lights on, meaning somebody was home, without regard for porch lights.

Okay. My mistake. ;-D

[beezdotcom]

I was serious when I said that the folks around here think the girls were lucky to get off...

And folks around your parts probably wouldn't be inclined to also write letters in support of the girls actions, given the broadly perceived likelihood in your area that a late-night bang at the door might be something more than innocent. Folks in your area know more about your area than I do.

Likewise, folks in the girls' area seemed willing to defend it as an acceptable, well-meaning action, as evidenced by the many letters they sent to the court prior to the hearing. I can't easily dismiss their opinions out of hand, really, I can't.

[Judith Anne]

Well, I disagree. When we did something that made a neighbor angry or upset, my parents made sure we did what was necessary to make it right, whether we broke a window, or (as I did) scared an old man clipping roses, or (as my brother did) threw cherry bombs in wet cement, or let our dog tear up a garden, or whatever.

I actually am tired of this story, aren't you? And I could be wrong, Mrs. Young could be the craziest old drunken hypochondriac wicked witch and the girls pure as the driven snow. I just suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle.

[beezdotcom]

As a nurse, I do know that there are people with non-fatal arrythmias that can be triggered by fright or alarm, and I'm JUST GUESSING that's why Mrs. Young went to the ER to be checked out the next day...

Perfectly reasonable...I have no doubt of the immediate impact of the fright. I just wonder who she might have sued, had a raccoon been making the ruckus on her back porch.

[Judith Anne]

Likewise, folks in the girls' area seemed willing to defend it as an acceptable, well-meaning action, as evidenced by the many letters they sent to the court prior to the hearing. I can't easily dismiss their opinions out of hand, really, I can't.

That's a good point. I honestly didn't know about that.

[beezdotcom]

Well, I disagree. When we did something that made a neighbor angry or upset, my parents made sure we did what was necessary to make it right,

Everything I've seen so far indicates that the parents tried to do this very thing. What tells you otherwise?

[Judith Anne]

LOL! Racoons! The loudest noise ever made by a critter in the middle of the night here was an armadillo...

[Judith Anne]

She wanted an apology in person from the girls. She didn't get it, she got a written apology. (My parents would have made sure she did. Then, they would have said, "Honey, Mrs. X is not like other people, you have to be careful around people like that, they can be troublemakers.")

[beezdotcom]

That's a good point. I honestly didn't know about that.

I suspected you might not have heard it. From one article:

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.

Of course, (tongue in cheek, here) now I have to file this whole episode away as an object lesson for how to create a cover story for being sinister, because it would provide perfect cover. Find a group of people that your victim belongs to (in this case, a neighborhood). Do something nice for all the other members of the group, and leave a little evidence behind (the cookies). Take the opportunity to create a hellish experience for your victim deliberately, but leave the same evidence behind. Then, you've got all those other people rooting for you, and nobody believing the victim.

Obviously, I don't believe that happened here...but it WOULD be hard to disprove.

[Judith Anne]

ROFL!

Hmmmmmm.....

Wonder if they went to anyone else's house after Mrs. Young's, that night...

[cspackler]

About 5 years ago, some kids in my neighborhood rang my doorbell and ran twice. The third time, I sprinted out the door just as an M60 went off under my feet.

I was pretty sure who did it, so I had a little talk with the parents.

Never had a problem with the kids again. Man I guess I could have won a BUNDLE off that gig, huh?

[beezdotcom]

She wanted an apology in person from the girls. She didn't get it, she got a written apology.

She says she was upset it wasn't in person. I probably should believe that. But, I also don't know what had transpired between them up until that point. Had legal action already been threatened? Was she even answering her phone, if they called to try to set up a meeting? Would she be just as upset if the girls showed up AGAIN on her property? How was the written apology delivered? (I suppose if they had banged on the back door and left the apology on the porch, that would be certainly be grounds for not accepting it.)

As a parent, I would START by making my kids WRITE the apology. Whether or not it got delivered in person would be dependent on how hostile things had gotten by that point.

I do know this from personal experience; a well-written WRITTEN apology can be very effective. I've done it, it was appreciated, and it was a case where, because of the offense, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed quite the same opportunity to deliver it verbally.

[BushisTheMan]

Some people who think they are never wrong always have to redirect EVERY comment like you just have.