Oregon Health Supervisor Shuts Down Lemonade Stand

Sometimes, you just have to wonder what the heck is wrong with the world.

Jon Kawaguchi, an environmental health supervisor for the Multnomah County Health Department in Oregon, shut a seven year old down for a lemonade stand.

You heard that right. Violation of code, he says. Public first, he says–which is amusing as hell to me, since from my perspective, there are usually a number of laws that are not enforced by various local governments at any given time of day until they “feel” like it.

While I do understand where Kawaguchi s coming from, I have to ask, “Seriously?” A seven year old needs to be given a fine? How about just telling them that there are bad things that could happen if you don’t use treated water. What’s even more funny is that the lemonade stand wasn’t busted on a health violation. It was shut down because there was no “temporary restaurant license” which is a business administrative issue.

Get your facts straight. Unless that lemonade stand had rats running around or the seven year old had tuberculosis and was sneezing into the drinks,  then I would probably be tell them to “Shut ‘er down!” The guy just went a bit far (albeit legitimately) with his job without standing back and saying, “Hey, it’s a little kid. I’ll just teach her about the health risks and buy a cup from her.”