Lemonade and summertime: the inseparable duo has been quenching our thirst for millennia. Historians tell us that the sweet-and-sour beverage was invented by the Egyptians in 500 AD, though it wasn’t called lemonade at first. Its name was qatarmizat, a simple concoction of lemon juice and sugar.
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As for when tiny tycoons began selling the drinks streetside for some extra dough – that’s debatable. What isn’t? Lemonade stands are a fixture of childhood. And as with most things we hold dear, they aren’t always a cakewalk.
The Case of Unlawful Lemonade
If selling lemonade sounds like the most innocent of entrepreneurial endeavors, think again. In 2017, a five-year-old was found by officers to have committed a heinous crime: selling lemonade. Lacking a permit, the British Biz Kid was presented with a £150 fine before packing up her things and heading home. A similar saga unfolded two years before in Texas, when sisters Andria and Zoey Green set up a stand to raise $100 for a trip to the amusement park. Their endeavor was shuttered within an hour, quickly drawing the ire of reasonable people everywhere.
So common are the citrus curmudgeons that Country Time Lemonade established a legal defense fund to fight for their rights. Country Time Legal-Ade offers Biz Kids up to $300 in reimbursement for permits or legal fines. Their larger goal? Changing the laws altogether.
One state has stepped up already: Texas. Governor Gregg Abbott signed a bill into law last year that would allow Texan Biz Kids to operate lemonade stands in full legal authority.
Lemonade in the Age of Coronavirus
COVID-19 hasn’t stopped the entrepreneurial dreams of young people from putting out their own citrussy shingle, but it has brought some concerns. Adaptable Biz Kids have been seen offering hand sanitizer to customers while donning a mask and serving up sanitary cups of summertime.
Those who prefer not to take a risk have another option: digital ‘ade. Our Dollar-a-Glass game is free, virtual, and requires so mask at all.
As for the real stuff, the moms and dads behind Lemonade Day are rethinking their annual celebration for the age of quarantine, promising to do something they do best: turn lemons into lemonade.