The war on kids’ lemonade stands marches on

**Posted by Phineas

Nanny says, no fun for you!

What is it with petty bureaucrats and children who want to make a few bucks? Is it a form of bullying? Should we alert Michelle Obama? Now a couple of martinets in Georgia have busted up a speakeasy are the latest warriors in the desperate fight against lemonade stands:

The girls had been operating for one day when Midway’s police chief and another officer cruised by. They had been trying to earn enough money to go to a water park.

The girls needed a business license, peddler’s permit and food permit to operate, even on residential property. The permits cost $50 a day or $180 per year.

Midway Police Chief Kelly Morningstar says police didn’t know how the lemonade was made, who made it or what was in it.

Thank God the cops intervened when they did; who knows how many unsuspecting people might have bought a cold glass of lemonade on a hot summer day from girls who were —gasp!— unlicensed?

Really, what’s more “Norman Rockwell’s America” than some kids starting up a front-yard business? Like newspaper routes and washing cars, it gives a sense of responsibility, self-reliance, accomplishment, and teaches a little bit about business and capitalism. And shouldn’t we be happy that these girls wanted to earn the money on their own, rather than ask their parents for it?

Instead, they get a lesson in the dead hand of the State.

In the end, the young entrepreneurs took down their stand and did chores for the money, but they should never have had to. As much as I’m annoyed with the cops for not just showing some common sense (and maybe buying a glass or two), the idiots who passed these regulations need an educational kick in the keester. It’s one thing to regulate an adult’s business for health and safety reasons… but this?

What’s next? No kite-flying without filing a flight plan?

RELATED: Earlier posts on the Lemonade Stand War.

(Crossposted at Public Secrets)

Comments are closed.