It’s a practice as common as having yard sale, yet it is one that few enjoy doing – shoveling snow. While more of a chore than anything else, some entrepreneurial teens?went door to door, canvassing for potential customers?before another drastic snow storm this winter. As many of us can imagine this is a common practice?and who would hesitate to hire young, energetic teens to help out?
Two Somerset county teens were a bit startled when they learned the cost of doing business and that their “snow removal” services violated governmental regulations.
The?two teens,?Matt Molinari and Eric Schnepf, both 18 and high school seniors, were told to go home after?local law enforcement stopped them. They had been out distributing fliers when one of the 40 fliers ended up in police hands.
Apparently, the police were responding to?a call that stated
“some suspicious characters were traipsing through yards, going door to door.”
The boys matched the description given by the caller of the two?’trespassers.’ The police told the boys that they were soliciting without a permit and were also?in violation of the no travel ban within the city that had been?put into effect at 5:00 p.m. that evening due to the emergency conditions. There was no citation or fine issued, and it was explained to the young men that the law was in place to protect residents from transient scam artists.
Matt Molinari, one of the teens said?
?We weren’t trying to break the law, and we only knew about the state travel ban at 11 p.m.,?
The two didn’t know about the local no travel ban or the permit?required for soliciting, which can run up to $200. So the moral of the story indicated by police is to be aware of information and always have a permit. Mike Bal, a resident whose house the boys showed up at, had a very different take on the incident that occurred.
Bal took to social media to express his?outrage about the police’s involvement. Bal had this to say:
?Are you kidding me? Our generation does nothing but complain about his generation being lazy and not working for their money,? Mr. Bal wrote on the Bound Brook Facebook group. ?Here’s a couple kids who take the time to print up flyers, walk door to door in the snow and then shovel snow for some spending money. And someone calls the cops and they’re told to stop??
Bal’s posts and comments went viral along with the story. But he wasn’t the only?one to spark outrage about the story. Political Commentator Glenn Beck expressed his distaste for the situation.
While Bal and Beck may have a somewhat valid point,?the police were really just?doing their job. Whether you believe that it was morally or ethically right to stop the boys, or if it was too much bureaucratic?government involvement?is up for you to decide. However, in the end your belief doesn’t matter, the only thing that matters is whether you are breaking the law.
