# Police Shut Down Six-Year-Old's Lemonade Stand - No City Permit **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 19, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852 "2003-06-19T03:37:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/21 "2003-06-19T14:20:18Z")
Just playing Devil’s Advocate here… What were to happen if someone did get sick off of the lemonaide? Would the parents’ insurance cover it? Could the city be sued (because they didn’t issue a permit)? ---
**Author:** ![Hobie\_the\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e99b99/32.png) [@Hobie\_the\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hobie_the_One)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/22 "2003-06-19T14:35:44Z")
What could potentially make you sick from lemonade? Sugar, water, mix, right? And the city did issue a permit eventually, or are you talking about before the permit was issued? I’m thinking that the neighbor complained because the kid wouldn’t give out a free glass! What a schmuck. ---
**Author:** ![Profane\_Creation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@Profane\_Creation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane_Creation)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/23 "2003-06-19T14:52:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lieu \* > \*\*When life gives you assholes, make lemonade. \*\* No, no, no. When you make lemonade, life gives you assholes (at least this time). ---
**Author:** ![Toaster52](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/50afbb/32.png) [@Toaster52](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toaster52)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/24 "2003-06-19T15:05:54Z")
I would have filed a complaint against the neighbor for being a public nuisance. What a fuckwad. I bet he/she complains about all the little terrors runnign around loose at Halloween. And don’t even get me started about Christmas… ---
**Author:** ![desdinova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@desdinova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/desdinova)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/25 "2003-06-19T15:09:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Profane Creation \* > \*\*No, no, no. > > When you make lemonade, life gives you assholes (at least this time). \*\* Uh uh. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade and throw it in the face of the guy who gave you the lemons until he gives you the oranges you asked for in the first place. God I miss Phil Hartman. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/26 "2003-06-19T16:01:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Green Bean \* > \*\*Don’t forget the myriad health code violations–was the lemonade pitcher properly sanitized in a commercial dishwasher or at least a 3-sink system? I doubt it. \*\* And was it kosher? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/27 "2003-06-19T16:03:04Z")
What is really going to be bad is that the neighbor to the left of the lemonade kid is going to be tp-ed and egged while it was the one across the street that called in the complaint. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/28 "2003-06-19T16:03:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lieu \* > \*\*When life gives you assholes, make lemonade. \*\* Shouldn’t that be assholeade? ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/29 "2003-06-19T16:14:47Z")
What an asshole of a neighbor. Someone–in the media, perhaps–should track the neighbor down and get him/her to make a public apology to the little girl. ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/30 "2003-06-19T16:38:49Z")
> [@](#): > > What could potentially make you sick from lemonade? > Sugar, water, mix, right? > And the city did issue a permit eventually, or are you talking about before the permit was issued? > > I’m thinking that the neighbor complained because the kid wouldn’t give out a free glass! What a schmuck. Well the utensils used in making the lemonade could have been dirty. Maybe the neighbor knew that the kid’s house was extremely unsanitary. Maybe the neighbor saw the kid sneeze in the lemonade. Or maybe he/she was a heartless old crank. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/31 "2003-06-19T16:41:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rudy \* > \*\*…the girl is only making cents of profit from lemonade. \*\* Not anymore. Now that this story is all over the news, the lemonade stand will be quite the attraction. I’m sure everyone will now be stopping by to buy a glass of lemonade from the little girl. I know I would. Ironically, I’m guessing that the neighbor complained because he or she didn’t like the disturbance that the lemonade stand caused. Karma is a cruel bitch, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/32 "2003-06-19T16:46:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hobie the One \* > \*\*What could potentially make you sick from lemonade? > Sugar, water, mix, right? \*\* I don’t know. I am playing devil’s advocate. I _really_ don’t have anything against kids and lemonaide stands. I think its just an interesting point is all. Suppose the cups were dirty or something. And lemonaide can go bad after a while. I once had a pitcher of fresh squeezed that I had forgotten about… let me tell you about the nastiness I found in that pitcher! > [@](#): > > \*\* > And the city did issue a permit eventually, or are you talking about before the permit was issued? > \*\* I meant before. ---
**Author:** ![Southerner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Southerner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southerner)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/33 "2003-06-19T16:50:20Z")
Just once ,before I die, I want to read a story like this where the response from the police to the asshole neighbor is “what the f **k is wrong with you ? Get a f** kin life you nimrod.” Or when a ridiculous lawsuit is filed like the fat bastard who tried to sue McDonalds because he was fat. Have the judge say “get the f\*\*k out of my courtroom you gold diggin turd.” I realize that the police and judges may have to respond to these absurdities because they don’t have a choice. But just once I would like to hear or read about them responding to the stupidity of the complaint. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Balle\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Balle\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balle_M)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/34 "2003-06-19T16:55:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duckster \* > \*\*Source: [http://www.nbc-2.com/News/stories/061803-lemonade\_stand.shtml](http://www.nbc-2.com/News/stories/061803-lemonade_stand.shtml) > > I am dumbfounded. Shocked. Angry! > > WTF!!! > [City of Naples, Florida Web Site](http://www.naplesgov.com) > > \*\* The weird thing is that Martha Stewart severed all ties with the stand minutes before it was shut down… ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/35 "2003-06-19T16:56:21Z")
To those excusing the cops by “they did what they had to do”: When my car was broken in to, I called the cops. Two **hours** later they show up to take a report. They could have easily made it an non-priority call and came by around 8 p.m. to close it down (probably after the girl had closed it already) ---
**Author:** ![Macro\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Macro\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macro_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/36 "2003-06-19T17:09:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hobie the One \* > \*\*What could potentially make you sick from lemonade? > Sugar, water, mix, right? \*\* I’m thinking e coli, etc. Girl goes inside to make a number two and doesn’t wash her hands. It’s possible. The scene in the movie Vacation where the Griswald’s cousin mixes the Kool-Aid with her entire hand and arm comes to mind. Not that it’s right to call the cops. If you don’t trust it, don’t just buy it. But 6-year olds are not necessarily the cleanest of people. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/37 "2003-06-19T17:38:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Southerner \* > **Just once ,before I die, I want to read a story like this where the response from the police to the asshole neighbor is "what the f** k is wrong with you ? Get a f **kin life you nimrod."** Happens all the time - it just doesn’t make the news. Despite the stupid “we had to do our jobs” excuse these cops claimed, police officers don’t have to assume every complaint is correct or even relevant, or make it top priority. They have to exercise some professional judgment. I assure you that every police department on the continent gets stupid complaints like this, and 99% of the time a professional police officer will tell them - albeit in more polite language that you would suggest - to stop making trouble. But it doesn’t become a national story when Officer Jones tells Old Lady Dingbat to mind her own business. > [@](#): > > Or when a ridiculous lawsuit is filed like the fat bastard who tried to sue McDonalds because he was fat. Have the judge say “get the f\*\*k out of my courtroom you gold diggin turd.” Actually, in legalistic terms, that’s precisely what he did. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/38 "2003-06-19T17:42:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Weirddave \* > \*\*…The cops did what the law required them to do, and the city responded to what is obviously a monumentally stupid intersection of regulations and laws by giving the girl a free pass to run her stand, she’s back in business. What’s the beef? Everything worked out fine with little muss or fuss. \*\* How about this for a thought: Big men in uniforms carrying guns came up to a little 6 year old girl that was participating in an innocent and generations old tradition of childhood and basically delivered the message that she was doing something bad. I would guess that a lot of the outrage comes from the fact that it in incidents such as this one that point out how colossally stupid out society is becoming. What next; arresting kids for playing hopscotch because they “tagged” the sidewalk? Can’t people get fined for wasting the time and resources of the police? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/39 "2003-06-19T18:35:47Z")
And yet the panhandlers don’t have to get a license of any kind at all to accost anyone and everyone who has the deluded idea tha they’d like to go shopping or walking on the streets without being harassed rudely. Odd view of justice in that town. ---
**Author:** ![macabresoul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e68b1a/32.png) [@macabresoul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/macabresoul)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852/40 "2003-06-19T19:29:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lieu \* > \*\*When life gives you assholes, make lemonade. \*\* 😛 Oh man, you have broken the records for funniest spree of one liners today! Congratulations! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shut-down-six-year-olds-lemonade-stand-no-city-permit/182852.md?page=3)