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. (AP)
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