Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/04/10/7-year-old-starts-a-lemonade-stand-to-bury-her-mother.html
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That’s a headline worthy of my newly patented “Hemingway will ruin your day headline generator: now with 50% more baby shoes!”
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There is a GoFundMe campaign currently active to cover the rest of the funeral costs.
Of course there is. GoFundMe the grownup version of this poor child’s lemonade stand. Only in America.
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There’s the entrepreneurial spirit that will make Emouree CEO of her own hedge fund some day. The system works!
/s/s/s 
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It’s a bit too long for Hemingway, though. How about “Girl sells lemonade for mother’s tombstone”?
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For Tomb the Belle Toils.
On a more serious note: I’m so glad @thomdunn called this out for what it is. It’s so tragic, and seeing local media put this “heartwarming” spin on it without looking any deeper is really frustrating.
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So many heartwarming stories kind of skim over the heartbreaking intro section.
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I’ve long thought it to be pretty cruel that dying has an economic burden to folks. At least a basic cremation, or something similar, should be subsidized to be free for everyone (not that Republicans would ever consider raising taxes to cover something like this). I am aware that there are programs and charities that will help folks cover funeral costs, but I think it sucks that even dying isn’t the end of capitalism leeching off of you.
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The fact that the mother “died unexpectedly” is what really set me off. That euphemism suggests to me that she likely died from an overdose, or a suicide — and either one would have still been the result of our terrible healthcare system. If she had died from cancer, or a car crash, it would have still been a tragedy, but not necessarily an indictment on the entire failing system.
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Seems GofundMe is now America’s answer to anything requiring socialized financial coverage. Got medical bills due to no/low insurance coverage? GoFundMe!
What’s kinda crazy is that the same people who rally against socialism will happily setup and create these funding campaigns - relying on both neighbors and strangers - to get them through hard times. All the while - the solution is right in front of them - if only they can get past all the brainwashing and rhetoric.
But - getting back to this little girl - I agree it’s tragic that she feels this responsibility at such a young age.
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A girl having to pay for her mother’s funeral is tragic and should never happen in a just society.
Reminds me of this take on “heartwarming” local stories
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Man now every time I’ll pass by some kid’s lemonade stand I’ll think of this. Thanks.
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I love qntm’s work. If you enjoy SCP weird SF, and haven’t encountered “there is no antimemetics division” definitely give it a read.
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That said, I’m about to run face first into this same situation. We have a family member who has only SSI income and medicare and just got a cancer diagnosis. Just yesterday we wondering how we were going to pay for it.
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The system is crushing literal orphans in this case.
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