It’s the middle of summer, and we all know what that means: adorable kids learning the basics of capitalism by running lemonade stands. Among those basics: you need to lay down a few hundred bucks at City Hall before you even think about buying lemons and paper cups. Three Georgia girls thought they would earn money for a trip to the water park by selling lemonade in their neighborhood. They were successful…until the police chief happened to drive by, and shut them down for selling lemonade without business and food vendors’ licenses totaling $180.

This should sound familiar: last summer, an Oregon girl had her lemonade stand taken away for lack of a health permit, then was granted a reprieve. Officials in Georgia are apparently not so lenient.

“We were not aware of how the lemonade was made, who made the lemonade, of what the lemonade was made with, so we acted accordingly by city ordinance,” the police chief told a reporter.

The girls are now doing household chores and yardwork to earn money for their water park trip. Maybe they can now play the Lemonade Stand Game online from the air-conditioned comfort of their homes to see what they’re missing out on.

Midway Police Shut Down Girls’ Lemonade Stand for not having a Business License [Georgia Daily News] (Thanks, Tasha!)

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Teens Busted For Selling Cupcakes Without A License
UPDATE: Officials Say Little Kids Don’t Need Health Dept. License To Run Lemonade Stand
Government Cracks Down On Little Girl’s Lemonade Stand

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