And you thought your mom was mean

Onhell

Onhell

Infinite Dreamer
'Mean mom' sells son's car after misdeed

Wed Jan 9, 5:39 PM ET

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.
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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.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080109/ap_on_fe_st/odd_car_ad
 
Ha, ha.  It is interesting that you posted this.  My local radio station had a talk show discussing this incident.  Most call-ins congratulated the mom.  There were a few who criticized the ad post which they stated would cause shame for the teenager and thus have an adverse effect.  I wonder if she told the teenager the consequences of a broken rule.  He'd probably have thought twice before allowing his buddy into the car with booze.  I hope she got decent money for the car.  Teenagers are welcome to disagree.
 
I fucking detest the modern school of thought that discipline is bad for a child's self esteem. I too am glad the mother followed through, this is a life long lesson that will outweigh any immediate "adverse" effect (the only obvious one: having no car!). Frankly, sure bullying, teasing and disciplinary actions, make a person feel bad, but if overcome they fortify the person, rather than destroy them.... hmmm there is a sociological study! I'm sure it's been done I'll look it up.
 
Modern schools (in Ontario) are all for modern school of thought on discipline.  More often than not, it sucks for the authorities.  Parents pass it on to the schools.  I thought the mother did the right thing; I'm just wondering if she told him the consequences of his behaviour.  I believe that she should have.
 
Onhell said:
I fucking detest the modern school of thought that discipline is bad for a child's self esteem.
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I'm with you on that. The trouble with this school of thought is that it has led to a generation of teenagers with little or no respect for others and other peoples property.

And it's good to see a parent follow through on the rules already laid down and not back down for whatever reason.
 
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