A neighborhood lemonade stand run by 6-year-old Avigayil Wardein was recently shut down by Naples, Florida police officers, according to a UPI report by Peter Roff. Apparently this entrepreneurially minded girl and her friends lacked the necessary $35 permit to operate a temporary commercial business.
The issue was resolved when Avigayil decided to offer the previously 50-cent lemonade for free in exchange for a permit from the city. Instead of charging, the girls will put out a tip jar.
Lemonade stands, the essence of American summers, are often children’s first taste of capitalism, the foundation on which our country operates. Unfortunately for Avigayil, she got a sour first taste of big government. As Roff states, “any government with the time to pursue a six-year-old for running an illegal lemonade stand is a government that is too big for its britches and is just begging for the voters to take it down a peg.”