Damien Katz

If 2 boys selling lemonade 'hurt' their sales, than those 2 boys are one hell of a brilliant bunch of sales guys and that poor sausage 'vendor' should take a page out of their book. GULP.

Not quite sure how a lemonade stand cuts into the sausage guy's business. It's not like they had competing products, and at 50 cents a pop, they're not exactly sucking all the money out of potential customers.

Now the guy is backpedaling as it blows up in his face. What did he think was going to happen if he called the friggin' police about a couple elementary school kids having a lemonade stand? Idiot. Hell, the kids were bigger about it than he was - they said they had no hard feelings against the guy.

Makes me wish I could set those kids up with a license and sell lemonade *and* sausages. See how his business does then.

As if this story of lemonade stand e-myth dreams is going to turn the world into bleeding heart libertarians all of a sudden. A job as a real outdoor food vendor can't be all that easy or financially rewarding. Something tells me the sausage vendor doesn't exactly have the same easy credit/nothing down financial backing from his mother that the boys likely got. To say nothing of the value chain's legalities-- it says the kids mixed water and powder. The EULA on the materials used likely restricted resale priviledges or dividing units for individual sale. Who's going to pay premium prices for the true cost of the convenience of prepared food outdoors when they can pay supermarket chain prices, subsidized by mom and dad? So let's not kid ourselves here about who's "keeping out the little guy" of the marketplace. Sausages are salty- you pay for the sausages but then you're outside, you're thirsty, and get the mark-up from the drinks. You think McDonald's is makin money off it's 59cent burgers?

In any case, the kids learned the desired lesson- that money doesn't grow on trees. But real lemons do. Migrant workers understand what I'm talkin about, and might not be so sympathetic to you senors and senoritas, either.

Also, I used to play chess in Harvard Square outside the Au Bon Pain. There is a guy (his name is Murray if I recall) who is a rated master rank, who sets up his set on the table nearest the sidewalk, with the sign "play the master for 2 bucks" or something, I'm sure you've seen this guy.

One day he had some dispute with a guy who showed up before he did, was using his table and wanted to stay there, and Murray got all upset- but Murray was the one with the permit and by the time it escalated to the point of any police intervention, Murray got his table.