Outrage over neighbor calling police on grass-cutting helps 12-year-old's business

[GMDino]

I suppose we file this under good news!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/07/02/grass-cutting-police-called-maple-heights-ohio/750760002/

Quote:MAPLE HEIGHTS, Ohio — After a neighbor called the cops on 12-year-old Reggie Fields and his summer grass-cutting co-workers, his business has been booming because of the backlash.



The young entrepreneur runs Mr. Reggie Lawn Cutting Service and employs some of his friends in the neighborhood. On June 23, they were mowing the lawn of Lucille Holt-Colden in this Cleveland suburb.


Holt-Colden thought the kids were doing a good job, so she was especially surprised when a patrol car came up to her home.


Her next-door neighbors noticed the kids cutting a small section of their property and decided to call the police, Holt-Colden said on video she posted to her Facebook page. She called the situation "ridiculous."

"Who does that?," she said in the video. "I'm so glad you are out here doing something positive. You should not be getting the police called on you just because you're cutting grass."


She never identified the neighbor.

Lucy Holt-Colden of Maple Heights, Ohio, posted live video on Facebook showing that neighbors called police on Reggie Fields, 12, after he and his friends mistakenly cut a strip of the neighbor's lawn June 23, 2018. (Photo: Linda Dono, USA TODAY)

The two boys and two girls, one child as young as 9, were raking the freshly mowed  grass off the sidewalk and Holt-Colden's and her neighbor's driveways when the police car arrived.


"They should be glad these kids are not out there breaking their car windows out," Holt-Colden said in the video. "They should be glad the kids are not out there stealing their cars."


Not mentioned: All of the young workers and Holt-Colden are black; the unnamed neighbor is white. While Maple Heights officers were called, they talked to both adults and did nothing to stop the cleanup.


Holt-Colden's video has been viewed more than a half million times.


"I was nervous," Reggie told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer on Friday. "I thought they were going to tell me I was in trouble. I just walked away to another lady's house and cut their grass. I just walked away and acted like nothing was going on and back in my own world."


Also on Friday while Reggie and friends were cutting Holt-Colden's grass again, Reggie got a visit from a professional landscaping team, The Grass Guys of Twinsburg, Ohio, to learn more about lawn care, said his mom, Brandy Marie Fields. They outfitted him with a new blower to make cleanup quicker and showed him how to use a push mower that was another donation to Reggie's summer business.


A GoFundMe page that Holt-Colden created Sunday, titled Reggie Boyz Lawn Service, already has raised $37,000 more than its $1,000 goal.



"Please don't let small-minded, petty people ruin your spirit," Robyn Anderson of Ames, Iowa, wrote Monday on the GoFundMe page. "You are a good kid with a good work ethic and a bright future. You can help change the world for the better."

Just a brief commentary from me:  While "adults" keeping saying "today's kids" are lazy they also are the ones calling the cops on kids selling lemonade/water and cutting grass.  Maybe if the "adults" got the sticks out of their rear ends the kids could do their thing and help change the world for the better?  But I suppose the more things change the more they stay the same.

[SunsetBengal]

So, does this now mean that Lucie the lawn Nazi now gets her 15 minutes of shame?

[GMDino]

(07-02-2018, 04:24 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: So, does this now mean that Lucie the lawn Nazi now gets her 15 minutes of shame?  

That would be nice. 

[SunsetBengal]

(07-02-2018, 04:34 PM)GMDino Wrote: That would be nice. 

I'm really surprised that you went with this story, over Pool Party Paula.  The "lady" that used racial slurs in running off invited kids from an apartment complex pool, and then tried to slap the phone out of the young man's hand as he was recording her.  She then assaulted two officers when they came to her apartment.

However, as a man that mowed many lawns for money as a youth, I feel good for this kid.  Back in my day, people were a bit nicer.  For example, if you mowed a bit on the other side of a property line, the owner would usually just come out and point out where their yard begins and the neighbor's ends.

[GMDino]

(07-02-2018, 04:44 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I'm really surprised that you went with this story, over Pool Party Paula.  The "lady" that used racial slurs in running off invited kids from an apartment complex pool, and then tried to slap the phone out of the young man's hand as he was recording her.  She then assaulted two officers when they came to her apartment.

Not sure I heard that story. Is that recent? You should have shared the link!

(07-02-2018, 04:44 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: However, as a man that mowed many lawns for money as a youth, I feel good for this kid.  Back in my day, people were a bit nicer.  For example, if you mowed a bit on the other side of a property line, the owner would usually just come out and point out where their yard begins and the neighbor's ends.

Exactly. But we hear all these complaints from one generation that the next is "lazy" and instead of celebrating kids working hard they call the cops because part of their lawn got touched. It's the adults that need to to do better if they want the kids to do better.

[SunsetBengal]

(07-02-2018, 05:08 PM)GMDino Wrote: Not sure I heard that story.  Is that recent?  You should have shared the link!


Exactly.  But we hear all these complaints from one generation that the next is "lazy" and instead of celebrating kids working hard they call the cops because part of their lawn got touched.  It's the adults that need to to do better if they want the kids to do better.

Here you go.  This was on my newsfeed page on Saturday.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stephanie-sebby-strempel-pool-patrol-paula-video-woman-allegedly-assaulting-black-teen-south-carolina-community-pool/

[GMDino]

(07-02-2018, 05:15 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Here you go.  This was on my newsfeed page on Saturday.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stephanie-sebby-strempel-pool-patrol-paula-video-woman-allegedly-assaulting-black-teen-south-carolina-community-pool/

Jumpin' Jebus.

Again, I don't know if there are more of these type of people (I hesitate to "label" her a racist for fear something may happen to her   ) or if the camera phones just lets us see them more.  Either way they are sad, small people.


One thing from the article though:

Quote:A day after the incident, Dorchester County Sheriff's Office detectives went to serve a warrant for the third-degree assault charge at Sebby-Strempel's address. The 38-year-old woman allegedly pushed one detective into a wall and bit another on the arm, breaking the skin, according to the incident report, leading to additional charges. Sebby-Strempel was arrested and is prohibited from contacting the victims in any way, including electronic contact, court documents state. 

But she wasn't tased, cuffed or jailed for that?  (At least the article doesn't say she was.)

That's interesting given the "just do what the officer's tell you" mantra.

Edit: She WAS arrested:

http://www.live5news.com/story/38510522/woman-faces-charges-after-hitting-teen-at-summerville-pool-allegedly-used-racial-slurs

At least she didn't get her head punched repeatedly for "resisting".

[*michaelsean*]

I get that there are people who freak out when they see a black person in their neighborhood, but while they are cutting the lawn? I try to put myself in their place and see what they are seeing, but this one has baffled me.

[GMDino]

(07-02-2018, 05:44 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I get that there are people who freak out when they see a black person in their neighborhood, but while they are cutting the lawn?  I try to put myself in their place and see what they are seeing, but this one has baffled me.

There are just bad people in the world.  Period.

I saw one commentator try to defend calling the police because the kids "trespassed" on her property.  So maybe it wasn't racism...just pettiness.

Either way people can be really hateful.

[SunsetBengal]

(07-02-2018, 05:44 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I get that there are people who freak out when they see a black person in their neighborhood, but while they are cutting the lawn?  I try to put myself in their place and see what they are seeing, but this one has baffled me.

I find it commendable that any youth, regardless of ethnicity, is willing to go out and do physical work for money.  To me, that is a sure sign that he's being raised by someone who cares enough to instill values of work and reward, rather than letting him idle his life away playing games on line, or getting into trouble in the neighborhood.

[*bfine32*]

(07-02-2018, 05:44 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I get that there are people who freak out when they see a black person in their neighborhood, but while they are cutting the lawn?  I try to put myself in their place and see what they are seeing, but this one has baffled me.

To be fair (I know, I know) we don't know if the lady called the police simply because the kids were black or was it because they cut part of her lawn. There could have been an ongoing feud about lawn maintenance (just ask Rand Paul how ugly those can get). 

But it's more divisive if we focus on race. Hell the neighborhood is described as a "white" neighborhood; yet the homeowner who was getting her grass cut was black. Funny.

[GMDino]

(07-02-2018, 05:55 PM)bfine32 Wrote: To be fair (I know, I know) we don't know if the lady called the police simply because the kids were black or was it because they cut part of her lawn. There could have been an ongoing feud about lawn maintenance (just ask Rand Paul how ugly those can get). 

But it's more divisive if we focus on race. Hell the neighborhood is described as a "white" neighborhood; yet the homeowner who was getting her grass cut was black. Funny.

Well "we" didn't focus on race.  It is mentioned halfway through the story though as the lady was white he called on the black kids.  

In fact "we" said we don't know the reason.

But "we" didn't want to be accusatory to others who thought it might be race related even if a black person lived in the neighborhood.

[Beaker]

(07-02-2018, 05:47 PM)GMDino Wrote: I saw one commentator try to defend calling the police because the kids "trespassed" on her property.  So maybe it wasn't racism...just pettiness.

Exactly. Seems more like a petty "get off my lawn" neighbor than a racial thing, yet it is pointed out that the kids were black and the neighbor was white. Why couldn't they have just been mentioned as the kids and the neighbor? These are the small types of details that I think cause more divisiveness. 

[*bfine32*]

Am I the only one that found MS Holt's comments to be insulting to the children?

Quote:"They should be glad these kids are not out there breaking their car windows out," Holt-Colden said in the video. "They should be glad the kids are not out there stealing their cars."

Would anyone view that statement differently if a white person would have made it?

[Dill]

(07-02-2018, 03:51 PM)GMDino Wrote: I suppose we file this under good news!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/07/02/grass-cutting-police-called-maple-heights-ohio/750760002/



Just a brief commentary from me:  While "adults" keeping saying "today's kids" are lazy they also are the ones calling the cops on kids selling lemonade/water and cutting grass.  Maybe if the "adults" got the sticks out of their rear ends the kids could do their thing and help change the world for the better?  But I suppose the more things change the more they stay the same.

HMMM. That grass these kids shredded was someone else's property.  So you are going to look the other way when this group or maybe "gang" of kids vandalizes private property while the adults make excuses for them and harass the police. Cheap labor and good intentions are not the issue here; boundaries are to be respected. Either we are a nation of laws or we are not.

[GMDino]

(07-03-2018, 12:56 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Am I the only one that found MS Holt's comments to be insulting to the children?


Would anyone view that statement differently if a white person would have made it?

Indeed.  Compliments to children saying they are better behaved than some other children are very insulting.  

[*michaelsean*]

(07-02-2018, 05:47 PM)GMDino Wrote: There are just bad people in the world.  Period.

I saw one commentator try to defend calling the police because the kids "trespassed" on her property.  So maybe it wasn't racism...just pettiness.

Either way people can be really hateful.

Either way the police need to tell her not to call again.  

[fredtoast]

(07-03-2018, 12:56 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Am I the only one that found MS Holt's comments to be insulting to the children?


Would anyone view that statement differently if a white person would have made it?

Only people who think white kids never break windows or steal cars.


Basically people like you.

[*bfine32*]

(07-03-2018, 01:24 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Only people who think white kids never break windows or steal cars.


Basically people like you.

I have no idea why you would assume I don't think kids break windows and/or steal cars. Just struck me as a little insulting toward them that we should be "glad" that they are not doing bad things.

IMO we should be glad when they do good things, sad when they do bad things, and content when they do what is expected from society.

I will just take you at your word that you would have had no reaction if the remark was made by a white person about black kids.

[GMDino]

(07-02-2018, 05:55 PM)bfine32 Wrote: To be fair (I know, I know) we don't know if the lady called the police simply because the kids were black or was it because they cut part of her lawn. There could have been an ongoing feud about lawn maintenance (just ask Rand Paul how ugly those can get). 

But it's more divisive if we focus on race. Hell the neighborhood is described as a "white" neighborhood; yet the homeowner who was getting her grass cut was black. Funny.

(07-03-2018, 12:56 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Am I the only one that found MS Holt's comments to be insulting to the children?


Would anyone view that statement differently if a white person would have made it?

(07-03-2018, 02:13 PM)bfine32 Wrote: I have no idea why you would assume I don't think kids break windows and/or steal cars. Just struck me as a little insulting toward them that we should be "glad" that they are not doing bad things.

IMO we should be glad when they do good things, sad when they do bad things, and content when they do what is expected from society.

I will just take you at your word that you would have had no reaction if the remark was made by a white person about black kids.