Oregon girl not bitter after lemonade stir

[The Northerner]

PORTLAND, Ore. — After a county inspector squeezed out a kid's lemonade business, so many Oregonians puckered up in disgust that the county chairman had to pour on a little sugar.

The apology sweetened up some sour feelings and made 7-year-old Julie Murphy eligible to resume selling her Kool-Aid and water concoction for 50 cents a cup.

Last week at a local arts fair, Julie and her mother were surprised when a county inspector asked to see their restaurant license.

They didn't have one. The inspector told them they would face a fine of up to $500 if they didn't stop selling lemonade.

Other vendors urged Julie and her mother not to leave. A second inspector arrived and the two inspectors were surrounded by a crowd of vendors supporting Julie and her mother.

Ultimately, Julie and her mother packed up the stand, and as Julie left the fair she was crying.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j568NNlj0jm0eucQ0tswAGXVjiuAD9HE7GA00

[scheming daemons]

1. She may not be bitter... but I bet she's sour

...

[Warpy]

2. Banning all street food is the main objection I have with nanny state

boards of health. While standards are often quite different in the home kitchens used to prep street food, people are going to take great pains not to make their customers sick if they want to stay in business. People who eat street food know there is a minimal risk attached to it, but that food is often some family specialty that you'll never find in any restaurant, so most of us who have seen street food around have eaten it.

I have gotten sick in restaurants with inspector approvals. I have never gotten sick from street food.

This is an example of government gone terribly wrong, this idiot insistence that small scale producers in home kitchens be burdened by the same insane regulations large scale producers in restaurants have to adhere to. Just the plumbing regulations will give anybody a headache.

Given this economy, you'd think they'd relax things so that unemployed people with gumption could get out there and start small. They're putting a burden on all of us that previous generations never had to face.

[Billy Burnett]

3. So restaurants should pay license fees (that underwrites infrastructure) only?

Why should the storefront business owners absorb all the costs of the city/county tax burden needed to maintain the infrastructure, the commons, that street vendors rely on too.

I think this youngster could have been taught that it is this very commons, that we all share alike and rely on for all of our "lemonade stands", costs money to maintain - and that she should pay her fair share.

To do otherwise would be tantamount to training her (and the public consumers of this "news" story) to behave like the very corporations that are destroying America - use the public commons for profit, and don't pay to maintain it.

[Speck Tater]

4. I agree. And they should have thrown her in Gitmo to boot! nt

:sarcasm:

[Warpy]

5. I don't object to peddler's licenses

What I object to are the massive overhauls of a home kitchen necessary to meet the requirements set for large producers. There's a difference.

The peddler's license pays for infrastructure and requires the payment of sales taxes according to local laws.

I'm sorry you misread my post so completely.

[Billy Burnett]

8. We agree.

She, like all of us, should pay for the required licensing if she wants to do business. It is the American way. United we stand.

:hi:

[MissB]

6. She supposedly earned $1500 today.

Some radio station set up a table for her.

I actually support the inspectors here, though they certainly could've handled it much better (kid gloves instead of a threatened fine.) This wasn't a front yard lemonade stand- it was a mom who drove her kid 20 miles to another city to a very busy street fair. And given the number of folks there, the potential for an outbreak of a food borne disease increases. (yes, there have been outbreaks of norovirus traced back to lemonade).

But the kid is cute, suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and wants to go to Disneyland. So public health can take a back seat here.

If there had been an outbreak traced back to her koolaid service and the health inspectors had ignored her presence, they would be equally vilified for not doing their job.

[MercutioATC]

7. You are a horrible person.

You actually base your posts on intelligent analysis instead of simply siding with the "cause du jour".

Shame, shame.

;)

[david13]

9. Some very good responses here. dc

[treestar]

10. How much would the license have cost?

Part of learning how to do business would include that anyway.