Rogue Lemonade Seller - fined and thankfully shut down!
Discussion
ciege said:
TEKNOPUG said:
hornetrider said:
TEKNOPUG said:
It's the parents that have been fined for their f
king stupidity. Unless you believe that a 5year old actually organised the entire operation on their own?
Stupidity? I suggest you take a deep breath far away from they keyboard and think about what's actually happened here.king stupidity. Unless you believe that a 5year old actually organised the entire operation on their own? 5 year old Girl said:
Daddy, can you help me set up a stall on the pavement in Mile End, to sell Lemonade to a load of pissed/whacked festival goers?
Responsible Parent said:
No dear, but why don't we have a Teddy Bear's tea party in the back garden instead?
Not, "yes of course Poppet, we'll do whatever you want".Whilst issuing a fine is jobsworth idiocy, so is organising street vending for a 5 year old....
Every other thread on this website is moaning about situations created in which personal responsibility is lacking...
Clearly this was an over reaction, however in reality are the heads massive really suggesting that arranging a lemonade stand on the street for a five year old to sell to passers by is a sensible thing to do?
We also, back then, had things like Bob a Job week for Cubs and Scouts which saw us going and knocking on complete strangers' doors (OK, not so much in a village of 200 people in rural Cheshire, but it happened elsewhere too!) and asking to wash cars, mow lawns or whatever to raise money. That got cancelled in the early 90s after over 4 decades of running perfectly happily over concerns about child safety and the rise of compensation culture!
The only slight possible concern I could see anyone having is that she was selling something for human consumption so yes, I suppose in theory at the age of five she wouldn't have known to wash the jug out if she accidentally dropped some Polonium in it whilst doing a dry run with her dollies the day before, but come on! There has to be a line somewhere between encouraging young people to develop an independent mindset and the ability to stand on their own two feet and regulations, of course, but this was clearly way to the wrong side of the line!
Now if it transpires that her parents had left her home alone whilst they swanned off to the festival and she was having to sell the lemonade to raise money for food, then I'll be happy to accept that yes, they were being irresponsible. If, however, they were, like 99.99% of parents to a 5yr old would've been, hovering a few feet behind her and watching everyone approaching like hawks, then good on them, and there should be more of this sort of thing.
A little late to the thread, but this news piece really angered me.
We are supposedly a nation of small businesses. I own one. I strongly believe that entrepreneurial individuals need to be encouraged. This girl is five, and she showed a desire to get out and earn a little money. Making a little money - and not a great deal, say £50 would seem a fortune to a five year old - could really set her up with a taste for success, set the seeds for life.
Instead she has now probably had her enthusiasm kerbed, and that desire to be entrepreneurial may be gone for good, this may become a bad memory which becomes ingrained.
When I was 13, me and a friend being prats ended up breaking a coach window. We were st scared I tell you. Even more so when the next day I was dragged in to the heads office to be told the window replacement bill was £800 (back in 1990)
Of course, the head, colluding with my parents, were trying to teach me a lesson, the bus company's insurance were always going to pick up the tab. My parents from the off said 'you best find a way of paying it then'. It felt like proper scary stuff to me, it was a HUGE amount of money to a 13 year old me. So, to cut to the chase, I door knocked every house in my home town (circa 10k residents) offering to wash and valet cars. I got may be 30-40 people bite, which earned me a few hundred £. Most of them became repeat customers, and I then had me own littlle business, earning me at least the same every month, long after the bus window incident became a distant memory. It gave me the buzz for earning money, which I still have to this day.
We are supposedly a nation of small businesses. I own one. I strongly believe that entrepreneurial individuals need to be encouraged. This girl is five, and she showed a desire to get out and earn a little money. Making a little money - and not a great deal, say £50 would seem a fortune to a five year old - could really set her up with a taste for success, set the seeds for life.
Instead she has now probably had her enthusiasm kerbed, and that desire to be entrepreneurial may be gone for good, this may become a bad memory which becomes ingrained.
When I was 13, me and a friend being prats ended up breaking a coach window. We were s
t scared I tell you. Even more so when the next day I was dragged in to the heads office to be told the window replacement bill was £800 (back in 1990)Of course, the head, colluding with my parents, were trying to teach me a lesson, the bus company's insurance were always going to pick up the tab. My parents from the off said 'you best find a way of paying it then'. It felt like proper scary stuff to me, it was a HUGE amount of money to a 13 year old me. So, to cut to the chase, I door knocked every house in my home town (circa 10k residents) offering to wash and valet cars. I got may be 30-40 people bite, which earned me a few hundred £. Most of them became repeat customers, and I then had me own littlle business, earning me at least the same every month, long after the bus window incident became a distant memory. It gave me the buzz for earning money, which I still have to this day.
Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
A little late to the thread, but this news piece really angered me.
We are supposedly a nation of small businesses. I own one. I strongly believe that entrepreneurial individuals need to be encouraged. This girl is five, and she showed a desire to get out and earn a little money. Making a little money - and not a great deal, say £50 would seem a fortune to a five year old - could really set her up with a taste for success, set the seeds for life.
Instead she has now probably had her enthusiasm kerbed, and that desire to be entrepreneurial may be gone for good, this may become a bad memory which becomes ingrained.
When I was 13, me and a friend being prats ended up breaking a coach window. We were st scared I tell you. Even more so when the next day I was dragged in to the heads office to be told the window replacement bill was £800 (back in 1990)
Of course, the head, colluding with my parents, were trying to teach me a lesson, the bus company's insurance were always going to pick up the tab. My parents from the off said 'you best find a way of paying it then'. It felt like proper scary stuff to me, it was a HUGE amount of money to a 13 year old me. So, to cut to the chase, I door knocked every house in my home town (circa 10k residents) offering to wash and valet cars. I got may be 30-40 people bite, which earned me a few hundred £. Most of them became repeat customers, and I then had me own littlle business, earning me at least the same every month, long after the bus window incident became a distant memory. It gave me the buzz for earning money, which I still have to this day.
On the flip side how would you feel if your business was selling drinks outside a festival, you'd paid thousands for the pitch and someone set up an unlicenced stall further up from you and as a result you got no business?We are supposedly a nation of small businesses. I own one. I strongly believe that entrepreneurial individuals need to be encouraged. This girl is five, and she showed a desire to get out and earn a little money. Making a little money - and not a great deal, say £50 would seem a fortune to a five year old - could really set her up with a taste for success, set the seeds for life.
Instead she has now probably had her enthusiasm kerbed, and that desire to be entrepreneurial may be gone for good, this may become a bad memory which becomes ingrained.
When I was 13, me and a friend being prats ended up breaking a coach window. We were s
t scared I tell you. Even more so when the next day I was dragged in to the heads office to be told the window replacement bill was £800 (back in 1990)Of course, the head, colluding with my parents, were trying to teach me a lesson, the bus company's insurance were always going to pick up the tab. My parents from the off said 'you best find a way of paying it then'. It felt like proper scary stuff to me, it was a HUGE amount of money to a 13 year old me. So, to cut to the chase, I door knocked every house in my home town (circa 10k residents) offering to wash and valet cars. I got may be 30-40 people bite, which earned me a few hundred £. Most of them became repeat customers, and I then had me own littlle business, earning me at least the same every month, long after the bus window incident became a distant memory. It gave me the buzz for earning money, which I still have to this day.
R8Steve said:
Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
A little late to the thread, but this news piece really angered me.
We are supposedly a nation of small businesses. I own one. I strongly believe that entrepreneurial individuals need to be encouraged. This girl is five, and she showed a desire to get out and earn a little money. Making a little money - and not a great deal, say £50 would seem a fortune to a five year old - could really set her up with a taste for success, set the seeds for life.
Instead she has now probably had her enthusiasm kerbed, and that desire to be entrepreneurial may be gone for good, this may become a bad memory which becomes ingrained.
When I was 13, me and a friend being prats ended up breaking a coach window. We were st scared I tell you. Even more so when the next day I was dragged in to the heads office to be told the window replacement bill was £800 (back in 1990)
Of course, the head, colluding with my parents, were trying to teach me a lesson, the bus company's insurance were always going to pick up the tab. My parents from the off said 'you best find a way of paying it then'. It felt like proper scary stuff to me, it was a HUGE amount of money to a 13 year old me. So, to cut to the chase, I door knocked every house in my home town (circa 10k residents) offering to wash and valet cars. I got may be 30-40 people bite, which earned me a few hundred £. Most of them became repeat customers, and I then had me own littlle business, earning me at least the same every month, long after the bus window incident became a distant memory. It gave me the buzz for earning money, which I still have to this day.
On the flip side how would you feel if your business was selling drinks outside a festival, you'd paid thousands for the pitch and someone set up an unlicenced stall further up from you and as a result you got no business?We are supposedly a nation of small businesses. I own one. I strongly believe that entrepreneurial individuals need to be encouraged. This girl is five, and she showed a desire to get out and earn a little money. Making a little money - and not a great deal, say £50 would seem a fortune to a five year old - could really set her up with a taste for success, set the seeds for life.
Instead she has now probably had her enthusiasm kerbed, and that desire to be entrepreneurial may be gone for good, this may become a bad memory which becomes ingrained.
When I was 13, me and a friend being prats ended up breaking a coach window. We were s
t scared I tell you. Even more so when the next day I was dragged in to the heads office to be told the window replacement bill was £800 (back in 1990)Of course, the head, colluding with my parents, were trying to teach me a lesson, the bus company's insurance were always going to pick up the tab. My parents from the off said 'you best find a way of paying it then'. It felt like proper scary stuff to me, it was a HUGE amount of money to a 13 year old me. So, to cut to the chase, I door knocked every house in my home town (circa 10k residents) offering to wash and valet cars. I got may be 30-40 people bite, which earned me a few hundred £. Most of them became repeat customers, and I then had me own littlle business, earning me at least the same every month, long after the bus window incident became a distant memory. It gave me the buzz for earning money, which I still have to this day.
I'm amazed that this bastion of big government is bad and the free market is good and running your own business is the best way forward is so anti this.
It just seems really bizarre.
Kids running lemonade stands or selling biscuits near markets or festivals is hardly anything outrageous, yet there seems to be some perverse pleasure in seeing a 5 year old taken down a notch or two.
All that said, well done for the more senior council officials on actually seeing sense on this one and deleting the fine.
It just seems really bizarre.
Kids running lemonade stands or selling biscuits near markets or festivals is hardly anything outrageous, yet there seems to be some perverse pleasure in seeing a 5 year old taken down a notch or two.
All that said, well done for the more senior council officials on actually seeing sense on this one and deleting the fine.
When I joined a uniformed organisation, part of who's remit involved giving out tickets, we were taught to use the mnemonic PLAN. Proportionate, Legal, Accountable, Necessary. It was a good model too, and in this case whilst it was legal to issue a ticket, it certainly wasn't proportionate or necessary. Utter jobsworths.
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