In news that’s reminiscent of the Oregon Lemonade Stand Scandal of 2010, two 13-year-olds in New York state had their baked goods business shut down by police for operating without a license.
The two teens had been selling cupcakes, cookies, brownies and other things that are making me really, really hungry right now, for $1 each in a park in Chappaqua, NY, when a local politician ratted them out to authorities for operating sans permit.
Says the mom of one of the teens:
The police officer was extremely pleasant. He said he was sorry to have to do this, but that he was following up on a report filed over the phone by a Town Board member… [My son] was so upset, he was crying all the whole way home. He was worried if he was going to get arrested or have a criminal record.
The Scrooge-like politico who dropped a dime on the teens says rules are rules: “All vendors selling on town property have to have a license, whether it’s boys selling baked goods or a hot dog vendor.”
When asked why he didn’t just approach the boys and tell them they needed the license, Mr. Wet Blanket said, “In hindsight, maybe I should have done that, but I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to do that… The police are trained to deal with these sorts of issues.”
New Castle councilman calls cops on boys’ cupcake sale [LoHud.com]
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While I don’t know what the license that they would have needed is, if it was some kind of health department license I totally agree with the decision to shut them down. Over 70% of home kitchens are not up to code and would fail miserably at a health inspection. I know my mom’s kitchen is one of them.
LEARN FROM THIS KIDS, this is a life lesson. Next time you see a town official, you HAVE to give him a cupcake for free. Its the way things work. After that you wont have a problem.
If this happened to my kids I would find out who was on the board and whatever relatives of them I could find. Then see who has kids, and check for the next garage sale listings and bust as many as I could. Get the dangerous criminals and there lemonade stands too.