There is no American dream kids...

[Gob]

BETHESDA, Md (WUSA)

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."

Jennifer Hughes, the director of permitting for the county, says it's technically illegal to run even the smallest lemonade stand in the county, but inspectors usually don't go looking for them. She said this one was unusually large. Hughes also says they've warned all kinds of other vendors they couldn't operate near the US Open because of concerns about traffic and safety.

But that did little to console Carrie Marriott. "Does every kid who sells lemonade now have to register with the county?" she asked the inspector.

"Cute little kids making five or ten dollars is a little bit different than making hundreds. You've got coolers and coolers here," the inspector responded. "To raise money for pediatric cancer," Marriott replied.

What's funny is that the county has given scores of other neighbors permits to let golf fans park on their front lawns. The permits cost almost $300, but prices per car run as much as $60 a day. And some neighbors are reportedly raking in tens of thousands of dollars.

"I'm a little upset with the rip off that's going on," said Ron Simpson, who was getting ready to pay $50. One cop says a neighbor told him he'd made enough charging for parking at big golf events at Congressional that it had paid one of his kid's college tuition.

Carrie Marriott is having a hard time reconciling the two different perspectives on entrepreneurship at the US Open. "The message to kids is, there's no American dream."

Written by Bruce Leshan
9News Now & wusa9.com

[Scooter]

This wasn't a kid selling lemonade to a few people that passed his front lawn. This is a business selling a food product to hundreds and hundreds of people. The comparison to allowing people to park on their lawns is ridiculous. No one is going to get food poisoning from parking on an uninspected lawn, like they very well could from lemonade made in unsanitary conditions.

[Jarlaxle]

Actually, I suspect they have a far higher chance of getting food poisoning from a concession stand...lemonade is very acidic; most bacteria cannot survive. (So is most soda.)

[Scooter]

Actually, I suspect they have a far higher chance of getting food poisoning from a concession stand

Which is why concession stands are subjected to health inspections, whereas this woman's kitchen was not.

lemonade is very acidic; most bacteria cannot survive.

Then I guess all those big commercial manufacturers of lemonade are throwing money away on pasteurization and refrigeration.

[Jarlaxle]

It's been a while (I detest lemonade and almost never buy it), but the last bottle of it I saw did not require refrigeration.

[Scooter]

Well, considering that even bottles of lemon juice, such as Realemon, say "refrigerate after opening", and that commercially prepared lemonade is found in the refrigerated area of the supermarket...

The fact remains, if you're preparing food products for sale for hundreds of people, the way you prepare and store that food needs to be properly inspected.

[rubato]

This story is about "what is the reasonable boundary between a kids lemonade stand and a commercial operation requiring regulation".

Not a trivial question.

yrs,
rubato

[dales]

This has always been one of my favorites...



Licensure problems?

[@meric@nwom@n]

This has always been one of my favorites...



Licensure problems?

Yet likely as helpful as the licensed ones.

[dales]

Perhaps, not in all cases though

[Gob]

This wasn't a kid selling lemonade to a few people that passed his front lawn.

This was...

MIDWAY, Ga. (AP) -- Police in Georgia have shut down a lemonade stand run by three girls trying to save up for a trip to a water park, saying they didn't have a business license or the required permits.

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

The girls had been operating for one day when Morningstar and another officer cruised by.

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.

One girl, 14-year-old Casity Dixon, says the three had to listen to police and shut down.

The girls are now doing chores and yard work to make money

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... TE=DEFAULT

Thank god we have the police to protect us from making the choice to buy lemonade off kiddies!

[Scooter]

If the law is drafted that way it needs to be consistently enforced.

I'm sorry, but having been a victim of foodborne illness too many times to count, I don't have a lot of sympathy where the public health is concerned.

[Gob]

Surely though, someone as intelligent as you would have the sense not to drink this, while those of us with more robust constitutions can choose to take the risk or not?

[Scooter]

So perhaps we should do away with health inspections of food service establishments entirely, if we're going to operate on the principle of buyer beware.

[Gob]

Fair point, but some common sense leeway could be applied in cases such as this perhaps, cops turning a blind eye?

[Sean]

Perhaps a clearly visible sign (issued by the local authority) stating that their stand had not been tested for food standards compliance and that consumers did so at their own risk.

If they don't display the sign, shut the little bitches down!

[The Hen]

Works for me.

[Gob]

If they don't display the sign, shut the little bitches down!

and shoot them.

[Sean]

and shoot them.

Bloody hell! Spot the Daily Mail reader!

Surely a good tasering is sufficient for a first offence...

[Jarlaxle]

So perhaps we should do away with health inspections of food service establishments entirely, if we're going to operate on the principle of buyer beware.

Considering how bad the inspectors in this area often are...fine by me!