He was so proud of himself. It was the biggest achievement of his life. All his peers were jealous of his earnings and wanted to be business partners with him.
But when three cruisers suddenly pulled up at his lemonade stand, he was forced to give away all his hard-earned cash.
Ambitious Son
One hot summer morning, Gina Martin woke up to see that her air conditioner had broken down. Her eight-year-old son, Jacob, suggested setting up a lemonade stand to raise some money for it.
But Gina had her doubts about it. What if the local kids would bully her son?
Setting Up A Lemonade Stand
Eventually, she decided to take Jacob up on his offer and helped him set up the lemonade stand. Jacob's older brother bought him his very own stand as an early birthday present, and the boy couldn't have been happier about it.
Soon enough, Jacob was ready to open his shop and welcome his first customers. But, would his business be successful?
Best Lemonade Ever
“That’s one of the best glasses of lemonade I’ve ever had in my life!” said one customer. “You should be very proud of this young man.”
"The secret is the lemons," Jacob explained. "I squeeze them, myself." Soon, all of Jacob's neighbors were lining up to try a glass of his lemonade. Everything was going well for the young entrepreneur until Mrs. Granger approached his stand.
Permits
"Do you have a permit? Do you have a health permit, a food handler's permit?" the woman demanded as she waved some legal documents in Jacob's face.
The eight-year-old had no idea what she was talking out. "As a customer, I want to know if I get sick off of this who I should go to," Mrs. Granger continued. After this incident, Jacob's mother decided it was best to close the stand. But then, she came up with a better idea.
Getting In Touch With The Government
Gina messaged the local government's Facebook page asking if her eight-year-old son really needed a permit to run a lemonade stand.
In the meantime, Jacob made his own "permit" and stuck it on his lemonade stall. He wasn't going to let some mean lady ruin his business. Little did he know what awaited him...
Angry Mother
"I was flabbergasted, dumbfounded," Jacob's mother told KSHB-TV. She never expected that a grown adult would pick on her eight-year-old son.
She still hadn't received a response from the government, so she decided to let her son reopen his lemonade stand. Unfortunately, she had no idea what her son would soon be facing.
Worried Boy
When Gina and her son first reopened the stall, they received a lot of positive feedback from the customers in the area, and it made Jacob very happy.
But he was still worried about his interaction with Mrs. Granger. What if she comes back again? What if she calls the police on him for not having a permit? Then, suddenly he saw police officers approach his stand.
The Police
Three police cars pulled up outside the boy's house. "I thought it was an emergency somewhere!" he recalls.
He felt Mrs. Granger's eyes on him as she watched the scene unfold through the curtains. Was it her who called the police on him?
The Explanation
One of the officers approached Jacob and grabbed his "permit." He explained that they had read his mother's Facebook post and came right away.
Were they here to shut down his business?
Trying Some Lemonade
It turns out that the officers were all there to try Jacob's lemonade. After reading all the positive reviews online, they just had to try it!
But how did Mrs. Granger react when she learned that the officers weren't going to shut down Jacob's stand?
Having A Good Time
Mrs. Granger was furious when she saw the officers chatting with the boy and his mother. They were all sipping on his lemonade and having a good time.
But when the officers saw Jacob's "permit," they realized there would be a problem if he continued selling his lemonade.
Grateful Family
Luckily, the officers had some stickers with them to give Jacob's permit an official feel. Gina couldn't believe how kind the officers had been to her boy.
They even gave her son more money than the asking price to help him raise cash for the AC!
Angry
Mrs. Granger became seriously angry about how the situation unfolded. She wanted the officers to close Jacob's stand.
But would her plan work?
Success
“We heard a local friend of ours, Jacob, had a less than ideal interaction yesterday at his lemonade stand,” the sheriff wrote on Facebook. “So we wanted to let him know we have his back.”
Jacob was allowed to continue selling his lemonade in the neighborhood, and he soon made enough money to buy a new air conditioner and even donate some money to the church.