Editorial: Thumbs

To busting girls for operating a lemonade stand without business and food permits.

The police chief in Midway, Ga., this week actually shut down a lemonade stand run by three girls trying to raise money to purchase tickets to a water park. The kids didn’t have permits, which would have cost them $50 a day. The chief defended her actions by saying she must enforce the law consistently and said there were the health issues of not knowing who made the lemonade or how it was made or what was in it.

First of all, even police officers know that laws are not enforced consistently. They do have the discretion to decide such things as when a warning or ticket is appropriate or even where no enforcement is the common sense thing to do. Secondly, any buyer at a lemonade stand already knows that the product isn’t regulated by health officials.

Apparently, police in that city have nothing better to do than harass children. What the police chief in the 1,500-person town of Midway really communicated to America by her actions and comments is this: “Midway is a really bad place to live. Don’t move your family here.”

The police probably bust bake sales, ice cream socials, church potlucks and other common food fundraisers, too. That is, if they are consistent about enforcing Midway’s laws.

On the upside, the news agency that broke the story bought the three girls tickets to the water park.

To the Albert Lea Police Department.

We know our officers would never bust a lemonade stand.

That said, Albert Lea residents appreciate the little things the Police Department does, such as checking on the well-being of senior citizens or making sure children cross streets safely near schools or tracking down minor items like stolen road construction cones or going to a no-harm-done auto mishap just in case there are insurance reasons. The list goes on. Being a police officer isn’t just about dealing with the big crimes, like the cops do on TV; it is about public service for the minor needs day in and day out.

It’s no secret that taking care of the little things and being seen as the good guys in a community both go a long way toward preventing more major disorder and more major crime. The ALPD officers provide as good of an example as any.

To the Rev. Joshua Enderson.

It’s always pretty cool when a home-grown kids grows up to become a church pastor. Joshua Enderson did just that. He grew up attending Trinity Lutheran Church, and while in college he decided to change his course of study and pursue a new track. Enderson entered Luther Seminary in St. Paul and now is the associate pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Luverne.