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Now, I'm not a mom, but I thought what this mom did was pretty awsome and took some guts, bet her kid won't end up in prison!!!!

'Meanest mom' sells teen son's car

January 9, 2008
FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS
DES MOINES, Iowa — Jane Hambleton has dubbed herself the ‘‘meanest mom on the planet.’’

After finding alcohol in her son’s car, she decided to sell the car and share her 19-year-old’s misdeed with everyone — by placing an ad in the local newspaper.

The ad reads: ‘‘OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don’t love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet.’’

Hambleton has heard from people besides interested buyers since recently placing the ad in The Des Moines Register.

The 48-year-old from Fort Dodge says she has fielded more than 70 telephone calls from emergency room technicians, nurses, school counselors and even a Georgia man who wanted to congratulate her.

‘‘The ad cost a fortune, but you know what? I’m telling people what happened here,’’ Hambleton says. ‘‘I’m not just gonna put the car for resale when there’s nothing wrong with it, except the driver made a dumb decision.

‘‘It’s overwhelming the number of calls I’ve gotten from people saying ’Thank you, it’s nice to see a responsible parent.’ So far there are no calls from anyone saying, ’You’re really strict. You’re real overboard, lady.’’’

The only critic is her son, who Hambleton says is ‘‘very, very unhappy’’ with the ad and claims the alcohol was left by a passenger.

Hambleton believes her son but has decided mercy isn’t the best policy in this case. She says she set two rules when she bought the car at Thanksgiving: No booze, and always keep it locked.

The car has been sold, but Hambleton says she will continue the ad for another week — just for the feedback.

Ok....I'm done (can you tell I prosecute drunk drivers?)


Becky

Good for mom.. If people saw what i see at work, they would stop drinking cold turkey

Jeez, I guess my wife will have to turn in her sash...

Quote:

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The only critic is her son, who Hambleton says is ‘‘very, very unhappy’’ with the ad and claims the alcohol was left by a passenger.

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Yeah. Sure.
Isn't it always left by a passenger? .


Good for her

Never had an issue with my kids concerning cars and alcohol.
I told them they'd be done driving until they were on their own.
And by the time they reached driving age, they knew that Dad never bluffs.

At 19, I would have wanted to ... umm ... cuss my Mom out or something. At 43, I gotta give the lady a major amount of credit. Been in the news in Chicagoland and I say more power to her every time I hear it. It is sad though that this seems to be the exception rather than the rule. My Mom would have sold the car and probably made sure I had a bruise or two that I would have had to make stories up about how I got 'em.

hear hear Becky!!

Thankfully I've never had to be this mean to my kids.
The worst I did was tell my then-teenage daughter no phone for a week.
She requested a beating instead. (request denied)

Generally, we spend about the first 25 years of life considering our parents to be idiots, half wits and stooges. Then suddenly a light goes off and we realize they are amazingly intelligent. My hat goes off to this mom!

I loved this story.

I tell my daughter it's my job to be mean and uncool. Although I've yet to say, "Just wait till YOU'RE a mother."

"Children should be seen and not heard!"

(...and there's still some question about the visual aspect of the above statement)

Payback is cool when your children get to be parents and they say to you "I see why you were that way" or "did that".

She should get a friggin metal. People coddle their kids too much these days. They have to learn that actions have consequences. Of course, by the time they're old enough to have a car, it's probably too late to teach them anything.

I just remembered I heard on the radio that the mother is a professional copywriter. It shows.

She did the right thing, ain't it great?

Ian,

It is, unfortunately, not a lot different when there are charges. We get a weekly email from the county with everyone that was processed by local law-enforcement (including those who grin for their mug shots).



What always makes me very angry is the included list of stuff for which they have been arrested in the past. Some have rap sheets longer than my resume; one has to ask: How is it that they are being arrested again? Why were they not already in jail?

Yesterday while searching for a cop killer here in Atlanta, the cops first detained a "known drug-dealer". I want to know why they did not already have him detained if he is a known drug-dealer...

It kills me that these people are not properly punished for their crimes. Maybe it is partly due to space in jail and cost of keeping them, I don't know. I sat my butt in jail when I was a juvinile offender and then for awhile as an adult. I was a "bad a$$ biker" in my younger days. I am older and wiser now but my point is I was punished for what I did and learned that I don't want to go back there ever again and now live within the law and have for the last 20+ years. If I had not been punished for my transgressions who knows what I might be like today.

if you ask me, not that anyone did, but i will say it any how. In Ian's case this is a perfect example of what i call "street Justic".. The law wont do anyhting to punish the people who hurt his family, so whats left? By the time its said and doner someone has been hurt BAD or even killed due to the law not doing their job. Not that Ian , Wendy, his daughter would stoop this low, but in genreal its how it starts. Police will turn a blind eye untill it becomes a capitol crime.. Sad if you ask me..

Ya know, I've said this before around here, but almost without except I've noticed over the years that whenever some parent wants to bend my ear about their "wayward offspring", it usually becomes clear to me halfway through their lament that THEIR "porchlight is a little dim" themselves.

(sure is a good thing that this lad's mother appears to be runnin' a good strong 100W bulb out there on HER stoop, huh?!)