In Western Australia, an 11-year-old girl's lemonade and homemade cupcakes stand was shut down because some kid-hating, fun-stealing, no doubt life-hating (too much?) bureaucrat named Sara Upton with the title "Environmental Health Manager" deemed the girl’s offerings were "high risk."
You can't make this stuff up!
The Daily Mail quotes Ms. Upton growling that "Unfortunately the stall was selling food without a permit and the young girl in charge was preparing food without approval." Approval? From her? Is she honestly suggesting that to have a simple lemonade stand, a kid has to go and get a license?
The most depressing aspect of the story is that according to the Daily Mail, someone actually reported this little girl's stand to the authorities. We've seen this in America. Earlier this year, a middle schooler was suspended from school for playing with an airsoft gun in his own yard. And just like the lemonade stand, the child was suspended because some nosy neighbor was freaking out about a harmless airsoft gun–something considered normal boyhood activity by legions of parents.
Here's hoping this little girl's stand is reopened after this case gets the attention it deserves. If anything, this little girl just got a good lesson in the dangers of onerous, unnecessary, silly, and nannying government regulations. Certainly a sad lesson to learn at such a young age, but still important.