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Killing a Kid’s Dream

Talk about sour grapes… make that sour lemons.

Did you hear the one about police shutting down a kids’ lemonade stand because they didn’t have the proper permits?

Sadly, it’s not the opening line to a seasonal joke; rather, it’s the real deal in Midway, Georgia.

According to reports, cops in the southern city forced three little girls to close their tiny lemonade stand because the youngsters didn’t have a business license or work permits.

The enterprising girls say they were simply trying to raise money to fund a trip to a local water park, and decided selling lemonade on a hot summer day would be a wise move. Unfortunately, the kids’ set-up shop on a street corner that is frequented by patrolling police officers. A day after the girls opened their stand a cop car came cruising by. The fuzz, who clearly didn’t have much else going on at the time, asked how the lemonade was made, who made it and what was in it. When the kids’ couldn’t provide the answers, cops forced the girls to shut down their stand.

For the record, Midway police say in order for the girls to legally sell a Dixie cup of lemonade to parched passersby they would need to a business license, peddler’s permit and food permit.

By the way, the permits reportedly cost $50 a day or $180 per year.

As of yesterday, the girls told local news reporters that they have given up on their lemonade stand and are now doing chores and yard work to raise money for their dream trip.

What would you do if cops forced your kids to shut down their innocent lemonade stand?

My guess is that this type of action would never take place in an area of the country where murders, rapists and thieves were running rampant, and all available units were trying to put real bad guys behind bars instead of squashing the dreams of a bunch of young entrepreneurs.

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About Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. She spent the next ten years as a television anchor and reporter at various stations throughout the country (from the CBS affiliate in Honolulu to the NBC affiliate in Green Bay). She has won numerous honors including an Emmy Award and multiple Edward R. Murrow awards honoring outstanding achievements in broadcast journalism. In addition, she has received awards from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for her reports on air travel and the Wisconsin Education Association Council for her stories on education. Michele has since left television to concentrate on being a mom and freelance writer.