Local police were forced to respond after several concerned adults called the authorities to alert them to a young boy, who was holding a sign that said he had ice-cold beer for sale. As the obviously minor child was getting big sales, officers responded, and that’s when things took a turn.
While we all love a child with an entrepreneur’s spirit, there are just some business endeavors that aren’t meant for children, like selling beer. However, that’s exactly what one unnamed boy appeared to be doing on a hot Tuesday afternoon in July in suburban Utah, according to WINK News. He put a twist on the typical lemonade stand, choosing to sell a different kind of ice-cold beverage instead — and, it wasn’t long before he drew the attention of the Brigham City Police Department.
It comes as no surprise that a minor child with a sign that read, “Ice Cold Beer,” caused concern for some adults who witnessed the boy standing next to his drink stand with the handwritten advertisement and making big sales in front of a church, KUTV reported. But, rather than approaching the child, several of those troubled citizens chose to call the Brigham City Police Department to voice their concerns, and it wasn’t long before officers were sent out to investigate.
All it took was a closer look at the boy’s sign for officers to breathe a sigh of relief. It wasn’t the bootlegged beer stand that it appeared to be. Instead, right there in some small, hard-to-see, green print above the word “beer” was another word, ABC4 pointed out. It was “root,” meaning the child was selling ice-cold root beer, which is, of course, alcohol-free and does not require a liquor license or an adult for the sale and/or purchase.
After getting to the root of the problem — no pun intended — the Brigham City Police Department decided to take to social media to help alleviate any further concerns for local citizens. “This young man, in the area of 600 South 200 East, has a twist on a lemonade stand. Yep, he’s selling beer … ROOT BEER, that is,” the BCPD wrote on their Facebook page alongside a picture of the boy with his sign.
As indicated by the slight smirk on the kid’s face in the photo as well as the smiley emoji on his sign, he knew he was pulling off a masterful trolling, and he was pretty happy about it. Or, maybe that’s the look of a young man whose business is booming. “His marketing strategy has resulted in several calls to the BCPD, but apparently its [sic] paid off as business has been good,” the department said in their post.
Either way, he looks pleased, and he likely has a promising career in advertising ahead of him. However, he’s not the only one who’s had this ingenious idea. In fact, others commented on the BCPD’s post to share that their own children had done something similar, even sharing pictures of their kiddos with their own deceptive signs, in which “root” is written so small that it’s overlooked.
“My daughter did this as well!!! She loved it so much!!!” one proud mother wrote. “She did the entire thing by herself, including going to the store and buying her inventory! People weren’t very nice to her at all but she still made the best of it. Stood in the Vegas heat all day and got a little money for school supplies,” she continued before concluding that she “love[s] hearing about kids doing these kind[s] of things.”
Unfortunately, while it is a pretty sneaky idea that could pay off, we have to warn against it. Although no harm is intended, it does cause alarm, and rightfully so. In this day and age, there are people who will put young children in situations they simply shouldn’t be in just to make a quick buck, and concerned neighbors would be right to call the cops if they suspect something inappropriate is going on. In this case, that turned out to be a waste of police resources, but we still applaud these kiddos, their ingenuity, and their work ethic.
