In today's "Annie's Mailbox":
http://www.creators.com/advice/annies-mailbox/would-home-alone-make-everyone-happy.html
I kind of feel sorry for the 17-year-old. At the same time, I wouldn't leave anyone that age home alone where the house could get trashed via an impromptu party when friends of friends of friends of friends drop in!
Wow I was living on my own at 17! Funny how things change over the years.
Oh, yes! Times have changed!
I remember one of the TV court shows where the defendant took advantage of a house-sitting gig and trashed EVERYTHING that the plaintiff owned! What made it worse was that the plaintiff's family had known the defendant's family for years, had hired the defendant to babysit, pet-sit, or house-sit for short periods of time so the plaintiffs had come to trust the person they were hiring to house-sit again while they were taking a two-week dream vacation that had been planned for several years. Within 24-hours after the plaintiff's family left for their vacation leaving the family vehicle in the driveway, the defendant invited her "friends" over, (without permission), and the "friends" invited their "friends", who, in turn, invited their "friends" until it got completely out of control and the neighbors were forced to call the police. The defendant took the plaintiff's car, that had been left at the house, and wrecked it while trying to take off with her "friends". The plaintiffs were contacted by the neighbors about what had occurred, which forced them to cancel their dream vacation and return home to find everything TRASHED! To add insult to injury, the defendant's attitude was: "Not her property, NOT her problem!" The judge told the defendant that since SHE did it, WITHOUT permission, while the plaintiffs were away, SHE IS RESPONSIBLE for paying for ALL the damages. The defendant's parents got all huffy because someone had DARED to say "NO" to THEIR DAUGHTER!
