Serious Vandalism causing John Adams rolls in his grave

Is the homeowner liable if someone is injured on their property while "flocking"?

I heard some one question this and according to a lawyer - they would only be liable if it were due to something being a problem - something that should be fixed was not. On the other hand, this woman would then have to worry about the mailman suing too. Against popular belief some one cannot be held responsible for some one else imply falling if there was nothing wrong.

Another drive-by flocking!
When will it end?
When will it end?

That is just shameful! What if you don't like pink? Or it doesn't go with your exterior decor? What if you don't like flamingoes? I think this is an offense to all humankind, foisting pink PLASTIC flamingoes onto unsuspecting innocents. This must be stopped! I'll be back later with a petition.

The lady is really a nutcase. Although I live in this fine city - I don't live in that neighborhood (I have enough nutty neighbors to deal with!)

This is what she wrote in the local newspaper website after her story where you can comment and after several neighbors and residents ripped her apart:

"Well, I am pleased that my misery has aroused the City of Presidents, I wonder what John Adams would have done with trespassers on his property? The basis of our country is owning land and caring for it. Protecting it. Priding oursleves on it. I am all for fundraising. Did it for 12 years with the Quincy School system. Telling children that they can go on anyone’s private property, leave them “gifts” and ask for money is incomprehensible to me. At least a resident should be given the chance to opt out once they have been chosen to be “flocked”. A simple call or visit prior to the invasion would have averted this whole situation. I also object to the “flock” word and its connotations. Another great thing to teach our children. I really wonder what this example is teacing them. For the entire 25 years that I have lived in Merrymount, I have always kept my property in tiptop shape. Anyone who drives by my home knows that I take much pride in my property and its appearance. That is not misery, that is enjoyment and the belief that something worth having is worth keeping nice. As for the election, just vote – that is your civic duty. I have not missed an election since I was 18. I am proud to be an American. Isn’t it wonderful to live in a place where we are all entitled to our opinions! P.S. No cats and no husband – happily on both."

Her commented about being able to opt is there - there is a phone number if you want these items to be removed (the request for the $20) is to move them onward to a suggested friend.

So what makes her a "nutcase"? She wants to be left alone with her carefully tended lawn. I don't see that that is too much to ask. Sure, she could have been a better sport about it given that the students were innocent of malicious intent, but being a bad sport does not a nutcase make. Now if she had made a home-built flamethrower and torched all the flamingos, that would have been a great story.

If you listened to her rant and rave on TV - you'd think she was a nutcase.

Calling the police about this when there is a note saying call this number and they will remove the items for a well-known fund raiser in the city.

Come on saying that John Adams is rolling in his grave because some kids put flamingoes in her yard...doesn't sound like a normal comment to me. Just listen to her rant it goes beyond just normal people that don't want some one on their lawn does.

Also there was no damage to her lawn - unless you consider some tiny thin holes where the sticks go in - consider they were irrigating the lawn.

Same type of woman that keeps kids balls that accidently go in her yard.

aerating...

unless they were sneaking a piss by the tree.

(in which case, their balls might be accessible for removal)

I can't speel worth ship.

Maybe there was another broadcast; I did watch the one you posted. All I saw was a very upset woman trying to hold it together. I imagine her opening the blinds in the morning in the house where she lives alone, seeing stuff in her yard and thinking "OH MY GOD, SOMEONE WAS IN MY YARD DURING THE NIGHT!" She calls the police who come out and say "Lady, it was a prank sponsored by the school" and she's embarrassed because she called the police and then she's pissed. Then the press gets a hold of it and wants a statement. In the video I watched, she is shaking, looking a lot more upset than angry. Then it's time for the Internet to hammer her. She eats dogs for dinner when she can't catch children, etc ... all because she was upset that people were roaming her yard in the night.

OK, so maybe it didn't happen that way and she is the Wicked Witch of the West (movie version, not Wicked version), but I understand her position. What happens when someone goes OmSig on those kids? I like to think I'd be more understanding of the prank after the fact, but if someone is roaming around on my lawn while I'm sleeping, I'm not going to be happy. (In an only distantly related story, Serena Williams went into lockdown when a unannounced man showed up on her property at 6AM.) I can see the fun of it but it wouldn't hurt to get an advanced OK both to prevent reactions like this one and to ensure the kids are ok. She would probably have been within her rights to trash all the stuff, costing the school $100 instead of making $20, but there is no mention she did that. Maybe she's only the Wicked Witch of the East.

Too bad that didn't happen! That would have put an end to those pesky pranks!

Clearly she is a nutcase when she claims John Adams had no sense of humor.

You seriously think that normal people would think John Adams would be upset by such a prank and claim he is rolling in his grave?

I am familiar with this area of Quincy - it is a very much a family neighborhood. Everyone in the area knows about these flamingoes and the fund raising. Some one provided her name and address and paid the $20 to have her yard "flocked". She doesn't seem mad at them - yeah she is a nutcase. Didn't you read her response to her neighbors.

Also, I found a police community discussion board - they had topic on it and all the police were responding with what a nutcase.

I think that if you take an upset person and stick a mic in her face she might say something silly. I also think there is a perception difference. Most see this as a harmless prank. She seems to feel this is an invasion of her home. When I was young, someone wrote words on one of our cars with shaving cream. Completely harmless. My parents did not see it that way. They were talking in hushed voices and inspecting the lawn, doors and windows looking for a break in. Not everyone is going to see a pack of teens roaming their yard in the night as completely harmless.


Exactly. Her complaint has been completely blown out of proportion and now she is being attacked by people who don't even know her. She doesn't know how to respond and she is lashing out. While she may be nuts her response thus far just looks like that of someone under attack who has not yet been completely beaten down by the wrath of the Internet.

Maybe she is nuts, maybe not, but I'm somewhat sympathetic with her complaint (schools should not be directing students to go into people's yards at night) and as in all things Internet, I think the public's response in tarring her as the crazy cat lady is overblown. Leave the lady be. She did not hurt anyone nor did she ask for this.

As ever, you are the voice of reason and sanity.
What the hell are you doing on A2K?

But the whole thing is - she has to know this is a fund raiser - it is known in the community and even more so in her neighborhood - there was no need to involve the police. There was no need for her to get the press involved. She did both of these things. If she did not want the press involved she wouldn't talk to them. She talked to the press on and off camera - she has posted in local blogs/commentaries, etc. If all she wanted to be was left alone - a reasonable person would not talk/comment or be involved.

Perhaps because you do not live here - you do not realize how prevalent this fund raiser is.

That's fair - I don't live there but this woman does not appear to have school aged children so maybe she doesn't know. If she went outside, saw the display, read the sign and then called the police and press, I'm more on your side. If she looked out her window, said "Oh My God, someone's done something to my yard!", called the police then fumbled through an interview when an intrepid reporter with a scanner showed up, then not so much. As you say, you know the neighborhood better than me. Still, this has turned someone who was probably a decent neighbor who kept up her lawn and didn't bother anyone into the neighborhood villain. The most p0lite comments to that article are calling for her to be flocked again and others are calling for egging or worse. I'm with the principal who said something to the effect of "Sorry, we meant no harm." I'd be content to leave it there without all the ridicule.

Do you have links to the other comment boards you are following?

She saw the signs (if the report is correct) and pulled the flamingoes out of the ground herself....(not in this article, but it was stated in another I read)...


Carol Abbott, a longtime resident of the Merrymount section of Quincy, found about a dozen plastic flamingos and two signs stuck in her front lawn around 10 p.m. Sunday.

The signs read, “You have been flocked.” A flyer attached to the back called the “flocking” a “fun, community fundraiser.”

The Quincy police capt. stated this is not vandalism.

This particular article probably clarifies why she called the police - basically she doesn't agree this is an appropriate fund raiser. But is calling the police about it right, or even make sense? Makes me feel she highlighted it the press because of her displeasure with the fund raiser. I could see meeting with school committee or prinicipal on it, but does it warrant a police call?

this is from the local paper - so you get lots of comments at the end from neighbors and locals.

http://www.patriotledger.com/features/x394188496/Quincy-High-s-flamingo-fundraiser-ruffles-some-feathers

Here is the link to the masscops discussion board - I certainly do not advocate bothering this woman as a result like some of these boards do....I do think she went just a little more than a tad overboard.

http://www.masscops.com/f39/quincy-prude-upset-over-flocking-qhs-senior-after-prom-party-fundraiser-101009/index2.html