An eight-year-old in Alabama’s entrepreneurial spirit was misconstrued this week. The child and his mother were reported to the state labor department for allegedly violating child labor laws via their lemonade stand.
Cam Johnson started a lemonade stand to raise money to take a trip to Disney World. His mother, Cristal, took the business a step further and put out ads for two children in her neighborhood to take on a “one-day apprenticeship” at the stand. The roles advertised were “smiler” and “greeter.”
“I was trying to teach them exactly what I’m trying to teach my son, just how to handle money,” Johnson told Fox & Friends First on Thursday (June 29). “Customer service skills. Teach the little boys how to shake hands correctly. And just little things like that. That’s all I was trying to accomplish.” Unfortunately, the intent was misunderstood by someone in the community; Cristal received a call from the Alabama Labor Department stating that someone submitted a complaint related to child labor.
“Needless to say, I was very shocked and saddened by the fact that anyone found wrong in what I was trying to do,” Cristal Johnson said. “I was trying to do a good thing, give back to my community and to find out that someone insinuated that I was trying to labor minors, that was… it was pretty sad.”
While the phone call was unfortunate, it has had the reverse effect that the caller initially intended as now Cam and Cristal’s story has been broadcasted nationwide. “It propelled us even quicker in our endeavor,” Cristal said. “So I don’t harbor any ill will. I thank them and I hope they have some remorse themselves for doing what they did.”
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