It Was A Soda, Now It’s A Federal Offense
Posted by: From Arkansas in Are You Kidding Me?, Beyond Bizarre on Sep 20 2008
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A lady took her father to the VA Medical Center in Boise, Idaho. She does this often and brings along a mug that she fills with soda while her Dad is off at his appointments. Usually, when she gets the soda, it costs $1-$1.50 though the prices are not posted. That was the first clue that something was going to go wrong. That particular day, she was charged $3.80 for the same mug full that she had been buying for a long time. Of course, like just about anyone would do, she objected since she had been paying a smaller amount. The manager was called. That person agreed with the highway robbery…which is a big mistake when someone believes they are right. Just comp the doggone mug and be done with it. But no, the manager agreed with the price. So, she got upset and poured the soda onto the counter and left.
She believed the incident was closed since nothing else happened that day. Uh huh. But that was a government facility. For a while, nothing happened. But she got contacted recently by a newspaper to get a quote from her on her Oct. court hearing. She was shocked since she had no knowledge of such a hearing. And now, unbelievably, the government is making…literally…a federal case out of dumping soda on the counter of a VA Medical Center cafeteria. What kind of stupid is this?
I do not usually have much to say about our current administration but this is way too much. This is ridiculous to the extreme and our President has the U.S. Attorney in Idaho bringing charges against this woman for whatever it is they think she did. Unbelievable. What are her offenses? She refused to pay for an OVERPRICED mug of soda and she dumped said soda on the counter when they would not do the right thing and give her the price she was always paying. And what exactly can she get for this heinous crime? Up to six months in a federal prison!!! Oh wait. It gets better…or worse….that sentence is for ONE count. She is up on TWO counts with six months each.
I am offended by my country, my President and all those who are so stupid as to believe that this is the right thing to do on some deal that, at the most, is a misdemeanor in a local court, IF they were to go after her for it in the first place. What kind of idiot would actually try to prosecute this??? I cannot believe that our country has dipped this low to get someone in jail. Well yes, actually I can believe it considering the absolutely stupid, assinine crap coming out of Washington in ALL forms these days. There is little hope for this country if this is the type of arch-criminal we are seeking to jail.
Okay, I want to know what you think. And this time, I would really like to hear from as many of you as are willing and have the guts to answer me. Most of you do not have the guts. This I know because I have asked such questions before and few answer. Frankly, I do not care what side of the argument you are on. Let me hear from you!!!
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9 Comments
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I read the account. They invaded private medical records to harass this woman over an over priced soda. What are the charges for the invasion of medical records? That is something that I’d like to know.
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No idea what that charge is but they certainly did violate laws to get the information, certainly. I cannot see how justice is being served by going after someone who was clearly dissatisfied with a drink price.
She did not kill anyone or threaten anyone. At no time do they say that she offended anyone even. This is all about getting her for a slight at a GOVERNMENT facility. I still am in shock that this is going to a FEDERAL COURT to waste that court’s time and the taxpayer money over something that was clearly a misdemeanor at best. I small fine would be enough IF she deserves that. I do not believe she deserves that since she was getting ripped off by said facility in the first place.
Thanks for your comments.
This kind of ridiculousness is one example of the truth behind all of the political jokes and satire.
At the very most, if something like this were prosecuted at all, I can see that she’d maybe be forced to pay the price of the drink… and that’s on the very outside of reality.
What SHOULD have happened is that the manager in question should have at least given her a break for that one time with notice that in the future the price would be the higher one…. that’s called being reasonable with your customers.
And if things still ended up with a drink dumped out and her refusing to pay for it, I think somebody shoulda cleaned it up and gotten on with life.
This kind of thing isn’t WORTH the expense to prosecute. People are always making so much noise about serious crime and this idiot prosecutor pulls this stunt?
Somebody in the US Attorney’s office in Idaho needs to be fired.
Ah but the Bush administration is apparently behind this wanting to prosecute or at least it seems that way. And what about privacy laws concerning the vet who’s daughter is being so harassed?
Thanks for your comments.
Yeah, the thing about medical records privacy and so on.. funny how that seems to apply when it’s Joe Blow but not when it’s the government.
It all sounds kinda hypocritical coming from an administration that’s spent a lot of time talking about “rule of law”.
Too bad they don’t realize that rule of law is total BS if it doesn’t apply to the government just as much as it does Joe Blow.
This is a pathetic situation. A person is being charged for such a small matter like this.. This seems that the law enforcement agencies have gone nuts and they need a treatment in the same medical hospital.Anyways one can just wish to have some sensible people run the government chores so that we will not likely to hear such craps again ..
The reality is, however, that it will continue because the government agencies are going nuts now. But they are not the only ones doing so.
I completely agree. This is a very small matter and should be handled that way. I agree that she should have objected to the treatment she was getting. Perhaps the pouring out of the soda was too much but even so, she should not be up on FEDERAL CHARGES. That is asinine and patently ridiculous.
Thank you for your comments to this subject!
Can we stop this insanity? Does the wuss that turned her in still work for our government?
The insanity will not stop until they stop the charges. I have no idea if the manager or the ones who pushed this are still employed but I am certain that it will go on until someone gets a brain. That is unlikely to happen. There are no brains in government that I can find.
Thanks for your comments.