This is how idiotic our country has become

[CivicFan]

Selling lemonade is part of the culture in this country and I do not see why some half-baked inspector should go against it.

I agree with the OP: It is truly idiotic for a health inspector to demand a restaurant license from a kid. I also don't see how charging a $120 fee would have any impact on the health of the public.

 

[daves87rs]

When you really have to worry about a 7 year eating into your profits, that is pretty sad. (like there is going to be a big dent or something like that)


But then again, no one really cares about small town america anymore.....


Sad that we'll have to teach our kids to be "cold hearted" with their money, since they will not be able to sell lemonade or mow lawns anymore....sad.

 

[nazareth]

it is called capitalism. morons wanna charge $2 for a can of coke its there fault for not being able to compete with someone willing to sell it for $1 a can and so on. thats why free market works. it will correct itself.

any way the other venders told her to ignore them and stay they had to come back later with more muscle and intimidate her into leaving..

 

[Tempest]

Sheriff apologizes for shaking down a 7 year old:
http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=89692&provider=top

 

[kb01]

Whenever I get a chain email with a link to these types of stories, which are very light in details and are clearly designed to create shock, I am always dubious.

I would be surprised if it was just a coincidence the city got involved and it wasn't another business who didn't want to deal with competition -- given a choice between a fifty cent glass of lemonade from a cute 7 year old girl and a $2 Coke from a licensed stand, who would go to the legitimate stand?

There is a huge gray area when it comes to child run businesses. At what point does a kid selling beverages go from just a kid earning a few dollars to an actual business? The same thing with lawn mowing -- I think everyone agrees that it's fine for a 9 year old to mow lawns in the summer but what is the cutoff for when it needs to be treated like a business; 5 yards, 10 yards, etc.?

How should these things be determined -- by age or total revenue? Or should it be based on location -- front yards are OK, as well as art festivals, but not downtown?

When I was a kid and teenager, I shoveled snow, mowed yards, and sold drinks to construction workers. I made pretty decent money at it too. Looking back, I was in direct competition with legitimate businesses -- of course I could mow a yard for $5.00 when I didn't pay taxes, have a license, insurance, etc. I could also resell cans of Coke for 40 cents when I had no overhead.

My kids do the exact same thing now. Maybe a landscaper will report them to the permitting office and we'll make national news.

 

[kb01]

Originally Posted By: nazareth
it is called capitalism. morons wanna charge $2 for a can of coke its there fault for not being able to compete with someone willing to sell it for $1 a can and so on. thats why free market works. it will correct itself.


I think the difference is that a legitimate business has actual overhead (permits, taxes, insurance) while an illegitimate business has none. Of course there will be a price difference in these situation.

It's the same reason why a licensed and bonded landscaper charges twice as much to mow a yard vs. a 9 year old kid or guy with a truck load of illegals.

For the story in question, I honestly don't have enough details to be outraged or to declare that the USA is now "idiotic". Every news story I've read has been incredibly light on details. As soon as I got a chain email with one paragraph summary, I knew the city would back down.

 

[Tempest]

Maybe there should just be no business licenses to begin with?

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
There is a huge gray area when it comes to child run businesses. At what point does a kid selling beverages go from just a kid earning a few dollars to an actual business? The same thing with lawn mowing -- I think everyone agrees that it's fine for a 9 year old to mow lawns in the summer but what is the cutoff for when it needs to be treated like a business; 5 yards, 10 yards, etc.?

How should these things be determined -- by age or total revenue? Or should it be based on location -- front yards are OK, as well as art festivals, but not downtown?


I think that the problem is that it even gives you cause to debate it. Stuff like this should never be worth putting on anyone's radar.

We've lost reason and surrender sound reasoning to some court (in one form or another) ..and that court appears to be subject to the mob only after it's done its damage.

Whiners are the problem. Alleged adults doing little more than whining "Look what Johnny is doing!! Why can't I?". There's a whole class of scum who look for such things to whine about just to rain on someone's parade. Sick people get validity in law.

 

[nazareth]

Originally Posted By: kb01
Originally Posted By: nazareth
it is called capitalism. morons wanna charge $2 for a can of coke its there fault for not being able to compete with someone willing to sell it for $1 a can and so on. thats why free market works. it will correct itself.


I think the difference is that a legitimate business has actual overhead (permits, taxes, insurance) while an illegitimate business has none. Of course there will be a price difference in these situation.

It's the same reason why a licensed and bonded landscaper charges twice as much to mow a yard vs. a 9 year old kid or guy with a truck load of illegals.

For the story in question, I honestly don't have enough details to be outraged or to declare that the USA is now "idiotic". Every news story I've read has been incredibly light on details. As soon as I got a chain email with one paragraph summary, I knew the city would back down.


i can't respond to this casue i will probably be suspended from the site, again.