Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Saturday, June 18, 2011

No licence, no lemonade: Officials shut down kids’ charity stand

Lemonade stands run by children are a quintessential part of summer. More and more, so are stories of them getting shut down for not having their paperwork in order.

The latest example comes from Maryland, where county inspectors shut down a children’s lemonade stand operating outside the U.S. Open and fined the parents $500.

The problem, according to the WUSA-TV, is the children didn’t obtain a vendor’s licence and aren’t allowed to operate.

It might sound strange that kids need to contend with bureaucrats and red tape to do something as simple as sell lemonade for a few cents a cup. County officials say it’s illegal to operate even a small lemonade stand without a licence and argued the children’s operation was rather large. They said other vendors have been warned not to set up near the site of the U.S. Open because of safety and traffic concerns.

Yet, the county has given countless of permits to area residents so they can make extra cash – some say tens of thousands – by turning their yards into parking spots.

The real kicker? The children were hoping to raise money for pediatric cancer.

But this is hardly the first time lemonade-selling children have been on the wrong side of city hall.

Last summer, officials in Oregon shut down a seven-year-old’s lemonade stand at an art fair because she didn’t get a $120 temporary restaurant licence.

Full Article
Source: Globe & Mail  

No comments:

Post a Comment