The war on lemonade stands

**Posted by Phineas

What is it with petty little bureaucrats and children’s lemonade stands? First it was some martinet in Oregon who made a 7-year old girl cry, and now a county inspector in Maryland not only shut down some kids’ stand, but he fined their parents $500:

You can make a fortune selling parking spots outside the US Open, but don’t even dream of setting up a lemonade stand.

A county inspector ordered the Marriott and Augustine kids to shut down the stand they set up on Persimmon Tree Rd, right next to Congressional. And after they allegedly ignored a couple of warnings, the inspector fined their parents $500.

“This gentleman from the county is now telling us because we don’t have a vendors license, the kids won’t be allowed to sell their lemonade,” Carrie Marriott told us, her voice trembling.

The kids can’t seem to understand it. “I don’t agree, I think the county is wrong.” “We’re sending the money to charity.”

A county official claimed there was some sort of risk because of traffic in the area, but the fact is that any vendor in the county, even a child selling ice-cold lemonade from his front lawn, has to register and get a license.

Give me a break. Is common sense that alien to government?

And yes, that was a rhetorical question.

via Tim Carney

(Crossposted at Public Secrets)

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