Our own Mike Nelson caught this story the Hartford Courant reported on a thirteen year old Cromwell, CT boy being vexed by these idiots.
Local worm salesmen, beware. As 13-year-old Joe Cadieux learned recently, Cromwell can be a hostile environment for those looking to break into night crawler vending – particularly if they advertise with a yard sign.
Admittedly, teenaged worm salesmen are not as Rockwellesque as younger children helming their lemonade stand, hawking refreshments to passersby (passerbys, for those in the employ of the UAB PD). But the harassment of a young boy engaged in commerce involving a self-sustaining worm farm should be below even the most robotic bureaucrat.
A worm business that Joe has operated since he was 10 was shut down two weeks ago when Cromwell’s planning and zoning commission issued a cease-and-desist order because the teenager’s sign violated local zoning regulations.
Yep, the local power addicts flexed their muscles against the tiny business of a kid selling worms in his own yard with the help of (Gasp!) a sign, apparently in violation of some legalese code doubtless made to appear as vague as possible. In short, by engaging in commerce on his own property, this kid enraged his local government whose pride wouldn’t allow them to overlook the “incident.”
In fairness, at least one selectman, First Selectman Paul Beaulieu, thought the action ridiculous.
“There’s the letter of the law, but there’s also common sense,” he said. “This was over the top. Kids selling night crawlers and lemonade are part and parcel of life in small-town Connecticut.”
To appeal the decision, the child would have to pay the town $130.
“It’s ridiculous,” said the middle school student, who made $5 to $10 a month selling worms collected from his front yard, where they are plentiful after spring rainstorms.
–snip–
“It’s not really like I’m doing anything wrong,” he said.
He certainly is not. But he can learn important lessons from this absurdity:
1. Unfortunately, “wrong” is defined by government thugs whose only real desire is to continually fill the hole in their black hearts with feelings of conquest over their subjects.
2. When life gives you lemons, squirt the acidic juice in the eye of your rulers.
The monetary requirement that one must pay the town money as part of a formal appeal process is a clear violation of the First Amendment’s guarantee of a citizen’s right “to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
I can’t wait for this kid to sue the Planning and Zoning commission, force the removal of that extortion clause that leeches money from those already assaulted by government, and then appeal for free having thoroughly embarrassed them (or rather, pointed out the fact they have embarrassed themselves).
Here’s one you haven’t heard:
What’s the difference between a Cromwell, CT town official, and a night crawler?
One’s a spineless, hermaphroditic, quasi-brainless dirt-dweller.
The other is a worm.
sucker, ʟʟᴄ