Hamas War

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Chelm By The Hudson

This sounds ridiculous, but apparently it's true.  A couple of thirteen year old boys got a surprising lesson in Citizenship and Criminology when they were arrested for selling cakes in a public park.  This happened in Bill and Hillary Clinton's upscale New York town of Chappaqua.

I visited Chappaqua a few years ago, and I can understand why the kids chose to sell in the park, not on some sidewalk near their homes, the way my friends and I did.  My friends and I were able to set up "lemon aid stands," and enough people walked buy and bought some to make us feel "rich."

Chappaqua isn't a sidewalk type of place.  I didn't see any when visiting my relatives.  Actually, nobody just walks by the homes, unless they are adults hiking with dogs.  A short walk generally keeps people on their own property, so for these ambititious young men wanted to sell they had to go to the buying public, which they obviously did.

"However, the next week, New Castle, NY Councilman Michael Wolfensohn came upon the sale and called the cops on the kids for operating without a license."
I guess New Castle, NY Councilman Michael Wolfensohn doesn't plan on being re-elected.

3 comments:

Hadassa said...

Shalom!
The pragmatic, not to mention the smart and educational, thing to do would have been to inform the industrious boys that they required a license, and then to help them to obtain it.
Michael Wolfensohn sounds like a Jewish name. If it is, he sure isn't using his Yiddishe kopf (sp.?)

There was a similar case to this with a lemonade stand; I can't remember where in America. Only one neighbor objected to the girl's sidewalk stand, but it was enough to legally close it. Fortunately in her case the authorities were sympathetic and found a solution. It was possible to issue a three-day license without a long procedure and the license could be renewed for long enough to make it worthwhile.

Anonymous said...

A license for children to sell lemonade???

Get off the kids' backs!

Batya said...

Yes, that's quite a civics lesson in this wealthy community.