Prizes

The mother actually kept the prize?

Is she aware that her daughter took it from one of the guests?

The prize obviously belongs to the person who won it. Her soda, her prize.

The mother OBVIOUSLY paid for the food, it was her kids birthday party.

I'd take her to small claims court.

That seems a bit extreme, don't it?

I'd call the mom and make sure she knew the score; and it she did, chew her ass out good.

Yes, the mother kept it, and knew where it came from.
I have to agree with Tico though, that any legal action would be a bit extreme.
My grand-daughter is usually very self-confident, and doesn't normally take any crap from anybody, but when this happened she was completely gobsmacked, and being 10 years old didn't know what to do, so did nothing, which I suppose is what the mother counted on.

Sorry, I meant take her to court if what I asked prior to that was true. (did the mother know?)

If she wasn't aware her daughter took it from her grand daughter, educate her and ask for it back.

In that situation, if she won't give it back, even after learning the facts, or if she was aware in the first place, and was shitty enough to keep it, I move forward with legal action.

I'd take her to small claims court for the value of the prize, plus the cost of my time away from work, expenses, etc.

The woman, realizing she'd likely loose the $100, PLUS her wasted day (let's say her loss of pay from her job) could just call it quits and give me what she owes.

To continue what I said above, i.e. the mother was aware, etc. and she said she won't give it back.
I don't think it's extreme, if I sue for the prize, plus my time/expenses.

I'm totally not into blood pressure raising back and forth drama games that could go on forever if the mother let's say, is that type.

If someone is willing to talk, that's fine, if they're going to be douchebags about it, I'm not going to waste my breath with them.

Hit 'em, hit 'em hard once, get what's yours, move on.

You are a living testament of living in a sue-happy nation. I guess there will always be people who wants to make a quick buck over frivolous litigations.

I've never sued anyone in my life, or had to threaten to do so.

It's not about making a quick buck. It's about getting exactly what's owed to you.

You owe me a hundred bucks, you don't give it to me, you'll end up giving me what you owe me, plus what I lost through the process. Not a penny more. It'll make the person who trifled with me think twice about screwing someone else.

**** you.
Consider that my hard hit to you, I'm moving on.

seems crazy to me

<shrug>

glad I don't deal with people like this in real life

word

for a hundred bucks, I cannot bite off that much drama and negativity.

I would encourage my granddaughter to seek a better class of friends...

I don't.

I don't deal with people who steal from me or my family.

But if I did, it would stop.

No drama or negativity.

A hundred bucks is a lot of money, especially to a kid, and the lesson learned would be don't let others take advantage of you. The offending child at this point is learning they can take something that isn't theirs, and the other learned that she should just lie down and take it.

It's a hundred bucks today.....What will this offending kid be taking from others over the next 20-40 years, and what might the other kid have taken from her in that time? It all adds up.

I'm all for deciding which hill to die on. For me, teaching a kid not to let someone steal a hundred dollars from her today, is teaching them not to let someone steal an exponential amount in the future.

My granddaughter wouldn't be hanging out with this kid anymore either.

you've not spent a day at small claims court, eh?

lots of drama and negativity...

I would use this as a teaching moment, but there would be no further involvement of the offensive parties.

How would you use this as a teaching moment? I mean to hopefully teach the concept to a young one not to steal (meaning the one who is doing stealing)? It would be an easy teaching moment to the kid that had her stuff taken, but what about the kid who's getting the message it's ok to be the thief?

Serious question, interested in the answer. Is more than likely better than the one I came up with.

No, I've not spent the day at small claims court, but believe me, I could totally zone out and not be troubled.

Would be nothing compared to other situations I've had to go through.

for starters, it seems to me that the OP resides in the UK.

and my track record there is admittedly poor...

but not knowing the actual participants, I see a number of possible lessons to be learned here.

not the least of which is picking which battles to go all in with.

other people's drama is best left to them when possible...

ok, in general, how would you teach a child, one who has stolen from you or yours, that stealing is wrong?


Where do you draw the line, as far as the vlue of what was stolen?

Is it ok to try to educate someone that their thievery is wrong if it's worth $500?
$400?....only if it's above $5000?

Is stealing something from someone less wrong if the victim has plenty more, or won't miss it?

People who are thieves probably didn't start out taking high value items....they started by thinking it was fine to take someones candy, especially when they weren't looking, or taking someones McDonalds peel off prize.

heh. We wonder why there are so many thieves out there, but don't want to get our hands dirty by doing the right thing and calling them on it when they first start stealing.

unless she purchased her own soda, it was not stealing.

had she quietly peeled her prize off and put it in her pocket, none of this would have happened, either...

BTW Cherie, you asked what other people thought of this.

That is what I think of this. Stealing is wrong.

just for the record, I'm against stealing as well.

I think most of us are.

I'm also against the kind of self-centered behavior exhibited by the girls mum.

people kinda suck...