Girl Banned From Selling Mistletoe To Pay For Her Braces; Guess What She Was Told To Do Instead?

• Michael Miller
• On December 3, 2013
• http://mikesright.wordpress.com/

11-year-old Madison Root had a plan to help pay for her braces. She would pick mistletoe and sell it in the market. A security guard stopped her because she didn’t have a permit. His suggestion? Beg for money.

Via The Oregonian: Madison spent much of the day last Friday cutting and bagging mistletoe at her uncle’s farm. On Saturday, the 11-year-old went to the Portland Saturday Market with dozens of beribbonned bags inside. In less than a half-hour, she’d sold seven of them at $4 a pop.

“She had an idea to make some money to help pay for her braces,’’ said her father. Actually, the idea came from her dad, who did the same thing when he was a kid to make extra cash for Christmas presents.

But the sixth-grader’s home-grown business was short-lived.

A private security guard for the market told Madison and her dad that they were violating a city code: “Soliciting For or Conducting Business” in a public park. Under the rule, it’s illegal to “sell or offer to sell any

article or service” without a permit.

Madison’s dad said the guard told them that his daughter could beg for money, but she couldn’t sell the mistletoe or even give it away and ask for a donation.

“We totally understand the rule,” Root said. “But here she was selling mistletoe and all around her were people playing music for money, or asking for money for pot, or just spare change. We’re allowing people to beg, but not to sell; it seems like there should be some sort of exception.”

Yes, it’s okay to beg for money for pot in the People’s Republic of Oregon; just don’t try to become an entrepreneur and earn money honestly. Besides, it might embarrass the beggars next to you. On second thought, no, no it wouldn’t.

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