Kids Lemonade Stand At U.S. Open Fined $500 And Shut Down By Montgomery County

[AntZ]

Kids Lemonade Stand At U.S. Open Fined $500 And Shut Down By Montgomery County


Written by Bruce Leshan
9News Now & wusa9.com

Jun 16, 2011

http://i.imgur.com/FJfSe.jpg


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."


http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/155167/158/County-Shuts-Down-Kids-Lemonade-Stand-500-Fine

[FBD]

government regulation, killing entrepreneurs like they're whack-a-moles

[Jezter]

There was actually a similar kind of case here in Finland last summer. A couple of kids had a lemonade stand and it was forced to shut down. No fines or anything tho. Once it hit the newspapers...didn't take long before the stand was back up and this time it was left alone and the kids could sell their lemonade again. No-one in Finland could understand the idiotic inspector forcing it to be closed and the public opinion and common sense won.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

this sounds like it was more then your small lemon-aid stand. They should have got a permit.

[Jezter]

this sounds like it was more then your small lemon-aid stand. They should have got a permit.

Or give them a warning and force them to scale it down a little? That way encourage and teach kids the importance of work, earning your dollar and working together.

[FBD]

this sounds like it was more then your small lemon-aid stand. They should have got a permit.

http://bcove.me/b88m9nla

Permit my ass. Its fucking kids with a lemonade stand! The regulator had no good excuse. "well, if it was just a couple cups of lemonade, that would be one thing, but you guys have coolers and coolers full." So in other words this was a completely arbitrary application of the...."law"? GTFO with that bullshit. Mr Big Boy had to come exercise his authoritay and little more.

But its ok for people to charge others 50, 60 bucks to park on their front lawn and rake in tens of thousands of dollars for themselves - yet its not ok for some kids to have a lemonade stand for charity ffs!?

Fkn kiss the ring every step of the way? Fuuuuuuck that.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

http://bcove.me/b88m9nla

Permit my ass. Its fucking kids with a lemonade stand! The regulator had no good excuse. "well, if it was just a couple cups of lemonade, that would be one thing, but you guys have coolers and coolers full." So in other words this was a completely arbitrary application of the...."law"? GTFO with that bullshit. Mr Big Boy had to come exercise his authoritay and little more.

But its ok for people to charge others 50, 60 bucks to park on their front lawn and rake in tens of thousands of dollars for themselves - yet its not ok for some kids to have a lemonade stand for charity ffs!?

Fkn kiss the ring every step of the way? Fuuuuuuck that.

They say it's for charity after they get busted...oh wait, I'm sure it was all going to charity in the first place, right? ;)

I agree with Porky...get a permit

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Or give them a warning and force them to scale it down a little? That way encourage and teach kids the importance of work, earning your dollar and working together.

This is teaching them about work. ;)

If I wanna sell something like that, I need to get a permit. Just because they are kids doesn't make them exempt from the law.

EDIT: Just noticed the story also said they ignored previous warnings, so they had their chance.

[Hal-9000]

they shoulda waterboarded all of those kids

[Dragoness_Cutie]

This is only about fifteen minutes or so from where I live. Montgomery County can be a real bitch about stupid little shit like this. It's one of the richest counties in the nation, and they do whatever they can to pinch pennies from folks. They're following the District's lead with charging for bags come January, except that it'll be all bags from all stores, instead of just the plastic bags from grocery stores that the District does.

At any rate, the kids were giving half of the earnings from the lemonade stand to charity the whole time. They were warned a couple times before the fine was levied, but I have to say I still think it's b.s. to give a $500 fine to a kids' lemonade stand.

[Hal-9000]

or create a special business permit for kids 14 and under...charge less for it and make some stipulations what can and can not be done under the permit.
and don't make the kids go thru the usual bureaucracy to get it...have them available at local post offices or the like...

[Dragoness_Cutie]

or create a special business permit for kids 14 and under...charge less for it and make some stipulations what can and can not be done under the permit.
and don't make the kids go thru the usual bureaucracy to get it...have them available at local post offices or the like...
I can agree with this. Teach kids that they need a permit, but don't charge them crazy amounts for it, and also make it accessible for them.

[Hal-9000]

I can agree with this. Teach kids that they need a permit, but don't charge them crazy amounts for it, and also make it accessible for them.

you can? :lol:

well of course you can it's an excellent idea....teaches them about small business and gets them prepared for the real world.They can see the fruits of their labors,
rather than relying on mommy to give them their allowance :thumbsup:

may even inspire some of them to think seriously about going into business for themselves later in life

[Jezter]

or create a special business permit for kids 14 and under...charge less for it and make some stipulations what can and can not be done under the permit.
and don't make the kids go thru the usual bureaucracy to get it...have them available at local post offices or the like...

Ooo that is a good idea, Hal! I'd support this fully. :tup:

[Hal-9000]

lemonade stands, snow shoveling, grass cutting, general yard cleanup....


kids are like cheap, slave labor without the guilt :thumbsup:

[Hal-9000]

Ooo that is a good idea, Hal! I'd support this fully. :tup:


is it worth a hug? :)

[MrsM]

or create a special business permit for kids 14 and under...charge less for it and make some stipulations what can and can not be done under the permit.
and don't make the kids go thru the usual bureaucracy to get it...have them available at local post offices or the like...

Not the post office - they are on strike :hand: (at least in Canada)

There are 2 things that bug me about this stand...

1) they said that it was a big stand - which depending on the kids, it probably means it was setup by the parents, and the kids were probably the "front" to help sales. Someone would be more likely to buy from a kid - then an adult.

2) they had warnings - I know it's a crappy thing to do, to fine them for a stand - but you also don't want to teach your kids to thumb your nose at authority. The parents may have also been complete asses to the officer and then IMO deserved the fine. Only after playing the "my kids lemonade stand" to the media.

Just saying - that to me there seems to be more to this than a simple fine for selling lemonade

[Muddy]

they shoulda waterboarded all of those kids

Hahahahaha.. :lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Not the post office - they are on strike :hand: (at least in Canada)

There are 2 things that bug me about this stand...

1) they said that it was a big stand - which depending on the kids, it probably means it was setup by the parents, and the kids were probably the "front" to help sales. Someone would be more likely to buy from a kid - then an adult.

2) they had warnings - I know it's a crappy thing to do, to fine them for a stand - but you also don't want to teach your kids to thumb your nose at authority. The parents may have also been complete asses to the officer and then IMO deserved the fine. Only after playing the "my kids lemonade stand" to the media.

Just saying - that to me there seems to be more to this than a simple fine for selling lemonade

:agreed:

[FBD]

Sometimes you guys are just downright disgusting. Yes, let's teach the kids its a great idea to have to kiss the ring and fork over money to the government for every little activity you do that might generate a few pennies :roll:

Like DC said, its these greedy ass penny grabbing asswipes that feel entitled to take a piece of anything that might go on in their county - even if it is a bit of sugar from babes.

[Hal-9000]

for suggesting a small business license for kids to keep them out of this sort of trouble....and you think that's disgusting FBD? It's a suggested compromise for an already stupid action by said 'government'...who knows, it could teach young entrepreneurs something in the process.


downright disgusting.....:lol: ok, don't hold back with your opinion dude

[MrsM]

Sometimes you guys are just downright disgusting. Yes, let's teach the kids its a great idea to have to kiss the ring and fork over money to the government for every little activity you do that might generate a few pennies :roll:

Like DC said, its these greedy ass penny grabbing asswipes that feel entitled to take a piece of anything that might go on in their county - even if it is a bit of sugar from babes.

All I'm saying is that there has to be more to this story.

It said that it was a pretty big stand. So... if the actual truth is that the parents were doing this and when the officer shows up the father pushes his kids out there so he can say that it's their stand and since they are kids you can't do shit. The officer politely says that due to the size of the stand and the fact that he knows that it's not a kids stand - can you please wrap it up. There is a bylaw that prevents this kind of stuff. The parents turn around and say fuck you - stick the bylaw up your ass you stupid pig, my taxes pay your wage so you are my bitch.

So he writes a ticket because they were asses.

Some reported walks by and after the officer leaves and they tell the whole sob story about how this cop took away their kids stand and boo hoo his kids are crying. The real reason is that the father could have gone to jail for being drunk in public. The story gets printed like that and everyone thinks that the cop/city are money grabbing pigs trying to beat the kids down for serving 5 glasses of lemonade to make 50 cents so they can buy some bubble gum so they can ride bikes in the meadow and catch butterflies.

So - the fact that I'm questioning the story makes me "downright disgusting"... Really?

If the story is exactly as it's written - then shame on the city/ whomever decided to fine some kids... but for the most part people are reasonable and I would hope that this would not happen. This is why I'm questioning that what is written is the whole story.

[/rant]

[deebakes]

lock em up and throw away the key :nono:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Sometimes you guys are just downright disgusting. Yes, let's teach the kids its a great idea to have to kiss the ring and fork over money to the government for every little activity you do that might generate a few pennies :roll:

Like DC said, its these greedy ass penny grabbing asswipes that feel entitled to take a piece of anything that might go on in their county - even if it is a bit of sugar from babes.

What color is the sky in your world dude? :-s

[FBD]

well, like any other bit of sky, it depends on the level of ionization :razz:





mrsm, I wasnt calling you disgusting, just the level of accepted as fact that one must kiss the ring in order to do anything or get anything done in a township that looks to help itself to a portion of every pie.

you shouldnt take offense at the ramblins of some strange dude on the internet anyway :mrgreen:

[AntZ]

All I'm saying is that there has to be more to this story.

It said that it was a pretty big stand. So... if the actual truth is that the parents were doing this and when the officer shows up the father pushes his kids out there so he can say that it's their stand and since they are kids you can't do shit. The officer politely says that due to the size of the stand and the fact that he knows that it's not a kids stand - can you please wrap it up. There is a bylaw that prevents this kind of stuff. The parents turn around and say fuck you - stick the bylaw up your ass you stupid pig, my taxes pay your wage so you are my bitch.

So he writes a ticket because they were asses.

Some reported walks by and after the officer leaves and they tell the whole sob story about how this cop took away their kids stand and boo hoo his kids are crying. The real reason is that the father could have gone to jail for being drunk in public. The story gets printed like that and everyone thinks that the cop/city are money grabbing pigs trying to beat the kids down for serving 5 glasses of lemonade to make 50 cents so they can buy some bubble gum so they can ride bikes in the meadow and catch butterflies.

So - the fact that I'm questioning the story makes me "downright disgusting"... Really?

If the story is exactly as it's written - then shame on the city/ whomever decided to fine some kids... but for the most part people are reasonable and I would hope that this would not happen. This is why I'm questioning that what is written is the whole story.

[/rant]


As you wrote, both cases are absolutely possible here. You could have people that have total disregard for laws and regulations with the "where's my cut" attitude. And/or you have these cities/counties that over regulate everything and send out their enforcement people with a huge chip on their shoulder just anxious to fine someone. In this bad economy, cities and states are doubling and tripling their fines and sending out police and code enforcement officers to bring in the life saving funds. I posted an article about the outrageous hikes in fines. I guess we'll never know for sure who are the bigger jerks in this situation, either way, the family should have closed up shop after the first encounter!

All this reminded me of a time when my brother, mom, and I took my elderly disabled uncle back to his house. His driveway was blocked, so my brother parked the car the opposite way on the street so he can step out for a moment on the street while we bring up his wheelchair. The other way would mean he would have to step into the gutter then on the curb. After we got him in the house, my brother got in the car and pulled away. At that exact moment a young kid driving a L.A.County Sheriffs code enforcement car pulled up, the kid jumped out and called in his radio saying that the person fled his enforcement, and asked for a Deputy to respond. Just then, my brother made a u-turn at a side street and came back and parked. He got off and asked what was going on? The kid was all wound up and said he was parked illegally, we both said no, that we had just helped our uncle inside and we showed him the Disability Placard. He said that he never saw any disabled person and wrote a ticket for an illegally parked car and that we're just trying to lie our way out of a ticket! This is why people lose respect for authority, when young high strung men or women completely lack common sense and refuse to use any judgement.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

...either way, the family should have closed up shop after the first encounter!

:tup:

[PorkChopSandwiches]

But its ok for people to charge others 50, 60 bucks to park on their front lawn and rake in tens of thousands of dollars for themselves - yet its not ok for some kids to have a lemonade stand for charity ffs!?



They got permits

[Teh One Who Knocks]

They got permits

Don't go clouding the issue with facts :nono:

[FBD]

They got permits

and why exactly should one need a permit from the government saying its ok to let people park a car on your lawn?

that's absolutely preposterous.

do kids need permits too if they want a frickin paper route???

like Antz said, this is merely spendthrift governments trying to cover their loose hands on the checkbook.