They were selling fresh lemonade and coffee, and wanted to raise funds to buy an old scooter, a "Ciao." And they were reported .

A custom that still persists in some small towns: an easier way for kids to save up for a few purchases. Outside the houses, on the streets, until a few decades ago, all sorts of things were sold at makeshift stalls or in empty, overturned fruit and vegetable crates. Vintage magazines, old clothes, used toys, orange juice, lemonade, or a cake that grandma had baked for the family.

A custom that has now become subject to police action. Three teenagers from Pradamano, a town on the outskirts of Udine, all aged 13 and 14, were cautioned by the local police for setting up a stand selling fresh lemonade and coffee without the necessary permits . The youths' goal was to raise funds to purchase an old "Ciao" scooter.

The intervention was triggered following a formal complaint filed by a citizen , as reported by the Messaggero Veneto. The stall, set up in the courtyard of one of their homes, near the town square, also offered pastries and water in exchange for a freewill offering . The initiative was initially praised on social media, including by some former local administrators, who urged support for the young people's enterprising spirit.

Then came the bitter epilogue, against which Confcommercio Udine also took a stand: "What these teenagers did is exactly the spirit we should try to instill in our young people: have an idea, talk about it with their parents, roll up their sleeves and try to make it happen with their own strength ," said the association's president Giovanni Da Pozzo.

The president expressed his hope that the young people might one day become entrepreneurs, perhaps in the retail and hospitality sectors. Da Pozzo also criticized the authorities' intervention: "History shows that bureaucracy can appear very early in a person's life." He also raised the question of the severity applied in this case compared to other forms of commercial abuse that often go unchecked .