Lemonade Stand

When I was little, my friend and I wanted to make some money, so we decided to go into business together as partners. We opened a lemonade stand in front of my house. My friend supplied a little table and chairs, my mother helped us make the lemonade and we did pretty well on a hot August day. Then we had a great idea: Sell our lemonade at the local baseball field! We sold out and made a fortune - well, a fortune for two 8 year olds. It was a great learning experience and a lot of fun seeing those hot, sweaty Little Leaguers wait in line for our lemonade and then drink it down in two or three big gulps.

So recently I read about three young girls in the US, in Georgia, who set up a lemonade stand of their own, to make money for a trip to a water park - only to be shut down by police for not having a business license, a peddlers' permit, and a food permit. Apparently, Midway, Georgia, expects 14-year-old girls to pay fifty dollars a day to sell lemonade from their driveway. The Chief of Police defended the action by saying they "didn't know how it was made, or what was in it", either. Okay, I do understand the need to protect the public from dangerous foodstuffs. And I also understand the need to prevent towns from becoming giant flea markets. But children selling lemonade in front of their house is a time-honored tradition, and part of the fabric of what makes our society. Heck, I'd make it a Constitutional right if it was up to me.

These kids weren't selling lemonade in Times Square in the center of New York City and they weren't selling shrimp or fish from the back of a truck. They were being kids. Does the school bake sale need city approval? Do the Girl Guides get shut down for selling Mint Thins without a license? Oh, wait, that one DID happen earlier this year, interestingly ALSO in Georgia. Looks like Peach State law enforcement have forgotten that they have the right to exercise discretion. Discretion as to whether it's appropriate to lay a charge, or give a warning, or ignore the violation entirely, depending on the circumstances.

How do we foster an entrepreneurial spirit in our youth if uniformed officers tell children trying to earn money a quarter at a time, that they need a two hundred dollar license to do it? I'm certain that this silliness isn't restricted to Georgia. I'm also certain that in order to be a free and progressive society we have to act maturely. That means allowing our children to be children..