hope this teaches them a lesson or No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Taylor Ostergaard, 18, and Lindsey Zellitti, 19, decided to stay home from a dance in July in order to surprise their neighbors with an anonymous delivery of homemade cookies.
But one of their neighbors, Wanita Renea Young, 49, became so terrified she suffered an anxiety attack and called the police. Young sued the girls and this week was awarded $900 to recoup her medical bills.
The two teens recounted the incident on "Good Morning America," and said that though they were disappointed by the judge's decision, they weren't angry and would continue to do good deeds.
After finishing farm chores for the evening, Ostergaard asked her father if she and Zellitti could bake cookies and deliver them to a few neighbors in rural Durango.
"We think outside the box a little more than usual," said Zellitti. "We just wanted to do something nice for other people, [to] let them know other people care about them even though they didn't know who it was."
The girls knocked on the doors only of homes with lights on, left the cookies on the porch and ran away, wanting to keep their good deed anonymous. The packages included heart-shaped cards that read: "Have a great night. From the T and L Club."
At around 10:30 p.m., they knocked on Young's door. Young, whose home had reportedly been burglarized before, became frightened and called the police. The police determined no crime had been committed. But the next day, Young was admitted to the hospital suffering from an anxiety attack.
Despite receiving a note of apology from the girls and an offer to pay her medical bills, Young ended up suing them. On Thursday, a Durango judge ordered the girls to pay about $900 for Young's medical bills. She was awarded nothing for pain and suffering.
"I know there wasn't any intent to cause harm, but I think that they made some poor choices," Young has said. "I think there should have been some accountability."
The girls said they were surprised but still respected the judge's decision.
"It kind of startled us because we were trying to do something nice. It was kind of a blow," said Zellitti.
But now the girls are getting support from all over the country, including monetary contributions to pay their fine.
"America's been wonderful," said Zellitti. "They're just supporting us, making us feel so much better about this." (Agencies)
This judge and Ms. YOUNG SHOULD BE SLAPPED.
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RE: hope this teaches them a lesson or No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Read that last week. Those "horrible" girls stayed home and baked cookies for all the neighbors because they didn't want to go to a school party with classmates because they feared there would be alcohol there and they didn't want to be around when/if trouble started.
RE: hope this teaches them a lesson or No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
The person I hold responsible for this is the woman who sued. She should have had better judgment and been a little bit more level headed. Now, the issue at hand was that she had some medical expenses. She got so bent out of shape and frightened that she actually went to the hospital, I recall, perhaps in an ambulance. All of this medical stuff cost some money and she wanted to recover this money.
Please, that woman is just a little too over the edge to be living in a rural area (I got the impression she lived out of town). Oh my god! I saw shadows on my porch! We have had prowlers around here before! Well, maybe it is time to stand on the front porch and shoot the shotgun into the air to warn off prowlers if that is what you are afraid of. That is the right response, not to hyperventilate and have a heart attack and have to call the ambulance -- that does her young children that she is supposed to be protecting a lot of good! Yah! Those prowlers and burglers will run off quick when they see her chest heaving and her eyes rolling back into her head!
Well, I'm being silly I guess. The girls should not have been out delivering cookies at 10:30 PM (I don't like my kids on the phone after 9 PM and I don't like receiving phone calls after 9 PM, because I view this as an inconvenience and invasion of my privacy -- and I don't turn in until 11 PM). The woman shouldn't have been so freaked out by nothing. Oh my god! Hobbgoblins are flitting about! It is the boogey man! Give me a break!
RE: hope this teaches them a lesson or No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Wanita and the judge both need to be smacked up alongside the head with a 2 X 4 just for starters. Who was it calling for chlorine in the gene pool the other day? This would be a good place to start!
RE: hope this teaches them a lesson or No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
If someone delivered cookies at my door at 10:30PM, running off and leaving an anonymous note, I'd have probably wondered if someone was trying to poison me.
Quote:
From the T and L Club.
That would have really thrown me for a loop.
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RE: hope this teaches them a lesson or No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Their only poor choice was delivering the cookies so late, but that didn't warrant being sued or paying medical costs.
That is the problem with today's society and court system. Everyone wants to blame someone else for their own problems and expects to be paid. Ironic how more civilized we become, the more easily we have become terrified.
hope this teaches them a lesson or No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
