Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
One of my pet peeves is the trend in TV sitcoms to portray adults as bumbling cretins while the adolescents are worldly, wise and witty. Invariably, after the kids resolve some inane, manufactured conflict, an adult character utters some insipid phrase like, "Wow. You're really growing up! I should have listened to you from the beginning."
Makes me want to reach for the barf bag. But not as much as this story, in which a real adult proved why sitcoms aren't too far fetched.
Short version: Four 13-year-old boys in New Castle, NY, launch a business selling baked goods and cold drinks on weekends in their local park. Along comes a town councilman, who, noticing something amiss (or perhaps unable to recognize actual initiative and industriousness formerly known as "entrepreneurship"), calls THE POLICE. The boys' crime? No permit to set up shop in the PUBLIC park.
The councilman, Michael Wolfensohn, reportedly says he called police instead of contacting the boys' parents because "I wasn't sure if I was allowed to do that...the police are trained to deal with these sorts of things."
Good to know the police are briefed on confronting such deviant children! Apparently, criminal justice education now includes the study of "Overzealous capitalist minors engaging in free market commerce without government authorization."
Of course, we need only follow the money to get at the crux of the thing. The news story says, "While a New Castle parks use permit requires a $1 million certificate of insurance and a fee ranging from $150 to $350 per two hours, New Castle Recreation and Parks Superintendent Robert Snyder said permits are given on a 'case-by-case basis.'" He goes on to say that they waive the requirements for charity fundraisers, but people just trying to earn a buck are out of luck.
A mom of one of the boys remarked that it's near impossible for young teens to find a way to earn money. Babysitting jobs are few and far between, and snow shoveling is handled by landscape services. They boys were simply looking for a way to launch a weekend business and make some pocket change. (Shame on them!)
Reminds me of last spring's ridiculous fuss over the little girl and the lemonade stand in Oregon. Only the harsh light of bad media saved her fledgling enterprise.
I suppose the boys could find a private property owner to let them set up shop, but you just know some dopey bureaucracy-loving grown-up would call the health department to shut them down for baking without a license.
The blessings of liberty for our posterity? Not so much...
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Comments :
May '10
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
With the Better Business Bureau, Consumer Reports, and hundreds of other consumer protection groups, now facilitated and empowered by the internet, do we really need licensing? At most, people should just have to register their businesses for free so that their names are on record if they're ever reported for doing anything illegal.
Jul '10
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
Marybeth Hicks:
A mom of one of the boys remarked that it's near impossible for young teens to find a way to earn money. Babysitting jobs are few and far between, and snow shoveling is handled by landscape services. They boys were simply looking for a way to launch a weekend business and make some pocket change. (Shame on them!)
I thought these were jobs Americans won't do.
May '10
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
These young fellows learned an important lesson, and if they chose to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions into adulthood they'll have many similar contacts with their government, both local and federal.
May '10
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
It's not the world I should like to live in, but they were serving foodstuffs and God forbid anyone were to have gotten sick. I think a school or church bake sale where the community is more or less known to one another makes it a different animal.
I don't agree about fewer opportunities to make money though. Carwashes, yard work and child care are all just as available as they ever were and I think with Craig's List and eBay there is an even greater opportunity for kids/teens to start businesses than ever.
I don't think they can blame their lack of spending money on excessive government intervention.
Jun '10
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
This is a great example of the bureaucratic mind at work.
It reminds me of Theodore Dalrymple's suggestion that bureaucrats are fair, but in an inverted, perverse manner: “To treat all people with equal contempt and indifference is the bureaucrat’s idea of equity.”
Or, as an old boss of mine would say, "the rules are for when the brains run out."
Edited on Nov 15, 2010 at 12:31pmRe: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
tabula rasa: This is a great example of the bureaucratic mind at work.
It reminds me of Theodore Dalrymple's suggestion that bureaucrats are fair, but in an inverted, perverse manner: “To treat all people with equal contempt and indifference is the bureaucrat’s idea of equity.”
Or, as an old boss of mine would say, "the rules are for when the brains run out." · Nov 15 at 12:29pm
Edited on Nov 15 at 12:31 pm
Exactly, tabula rasa. I also like to think of this as "walkie talkie authority" -- the sort of knee-jerk, mindless, bureaucratic, rule-obsessed response you get from anyone whose job-related equipment includes a two-way radio.
May '10
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
OK but what if they were laced with something as a joke? There's no way I would let my children buy homemade food from a couple of teenage boys in a city park. It would be a nice world in which this was not a legitimate concern. But the licensing of food sellers is not the worst example of the bureaucratic state I can imagine.
Jul '10
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
Trace Urdan
OK but what if they were laced with something as a joke? There's no way I would let my children buy homemade food from a couple of teenage boys in a city park. It would be a nice world in which this was not a legitimate concern. But the licensing of food sellers is not the worst example of the bureaucratic state I can imagine. · Nov 15 at 1:45pm
Caveat Emptor. You don't have to buy the lemonade. It's called the "free" market for a reason. How long would their enterprise last if they were poisoning folks?
May '10
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
Michael Tee
Caveat Emptor. You don't have to buy the lemonade. It's called the "free" market for a reason. How long would their enterprise last if they were poisoning folks? · Nov 15 at 2:00pm
Yes Michael, fine. And I'm sure that if the local diner were mixing rat turds into its burgers that sooner or later their business would decline also.
But the notion that that state wants to check out the kitchen and sanitation of folks that want to sell foodstuffs, or at least delineate liability, is not all that outrageous a first world role for government. And certainly if we are to pick our battles, your notion of caveat emptor with respect to food safety would be viewed by most as extreme.
If the boys were selling lanyards or homemade tie clips or offering dog baths or face painting, I think the point would be stronger. The fact that they were selling food makes it not the craziest idea that they should have a license.
Jul '10
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
Trace Urdan
Yes Michael, fine. And I'm sure that if the local diner were mixing rat turds into its burgers that sooner or later their business would decline also.
Great line, Trace. That said, it is worthwhile to consider what the actual consequences of food stand licensing are.
How many rat-turds are we avoiding for the sake of getting government approval here? Certainly, one fewer is enough for me but the fact of the matter is these licenses aren't inspection-oriented, they're pay-off oriented. You could reasonably argue that the cost of a license leads to some quality control.
But doesn't local knowledge count for anything? You said that you wouldn't let your kids eat what was offered in the park, fair enough. Neither would I. But what if the food were produced by the good neighbor's kids? Do we really need to license their cupcakes on our sidewalk?
Even if your answer is yes, I submit that the councilman is an obnoxious busybody. How many teen drug buys did he ignore enroute to calling the cops on some kids selling pies?
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
Hey Trace, just out of curiosity, where are you on farmer's markets?
Jul '10
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
Hey Trace, how in the world did America, or the entire planet, survive before "the licensing of food sellers [?]"
"There's no way I would let my children buy homemade food from a couple of teenage boys in a city park."
Yeah, it's called Freedom. And others should be able to.
Should Girl Scouts be allowed to peddle their wares without a license?
Jul '10
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
BTW, since you may be leaving us soon, Marybeth, I must say: Go Green!
(my wife is a Spartan)
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
If some sicko wants to put rat turds into burgers no licensing authority is going to prevent it. But it will supress free enterprise. In fact if some sicko wants to put rat turds in burgers it's more likely he'll do it in a situation where it is less likely to be traced back to him than a direct sale -- such as a renegade restaurant employee, who is not likely to be deterred by a licensing authority.
May '10
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
Listen guys, I don't really disagree. I'm sure if city health inspectors were eliminated tomorrow some private organization would emerge to provide comfort to wary diners.
But I for one think it's important to marshal our outrage for stuff that really matters. I think if we are to engage the Center and win the argument with the left it is important not to alienate folks with what most would find an extreme position. I've been citing this adage too often, but I think health inspectors are like the unexplained fence -- probably put there for a reason, maybe we should pause before we tear it down.
My outrage meter in this case rates very low. Serving food to public = license is not something most reasonable folks would disagree with. And this was not a case of 10 year-olds selling cookies and lemonade to the neighbors on their block, so it's not fair to tag the councilman with that.
In this case, I do not for a second believe that the rights of teenage boys to earn spending money is being trampled by the state. But I do smell a helicopter parent lurking behind this project.
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
No one uses technical terms like "rat turds" with such elegance as David.
Trace, having a houseful of teenagers (no wait! one of them is 21 now...), I disagree that young people's right to earn money is unfettered. The process of getting a work permit -- and the regulations about the number of hours a teen may work -- are oppressive and unfair, in my view. To wit: my 16-year-old son is a bagger at the neighborhood grocery store. In the limited hours the state allows him to work, he makes barely enough to put gas in the car, much less save for college in two years.
P, I'm hanging around for the time being and seeing how Rico fits into my routine. So far, so good!
Sep '10
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
No one uses technical terms like "rat turds" with such elegance as David.
That's because the phrase "rat turd" sounds French.
P, I'm hanging around for the time being and seeing how Rico fits into my routine. So far, so good!
I wasn't sure which P you were referring to, but I do hope you'll have a chance to hang around and vote for your favorite Thomist.
May '10
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
On a completely separate tangent Marybeth, you should check out this book by Zac Bissonnette. The book was widely featured in conservative media so maybe you've heard about it already, but it has a bracing and, in fact, inspiring message:
http://www.amazon.com/Debt-Free-Outstanding-Education-Scholarships-Mooching/dp/1591842980
Re: Adults Aren't Just Stupid on Sitcoms
Thanks, Trace! As long as we're trading titles, here's one I wholeheartedly recommend for parents of young kids. It's by my good pal Lenore Skenazy. She and I aren't politically sympatico, but like so many good-hearted liberals, we share lots of common ground on parenting. There's no better book to dispel some of the fears/myths/assumptions that drive our parenting decisions:
http://www.amazon.com/Free-Range-Kids-Children-Freedom-Without/dp/0470471948