Lemonade stands, paper routes, and bake sales seem yet destined for the dustbin of history, thanks to an imperious State, which — to its sanctimonious detriment — manages to pull off seemingly impossible PR predicaments of its own making, like the handcuffing of teenagers for selling bottled water on the National Mall without a permit Thursday evening.

Yes. Seriously.

Perched atop chains interlinking fence posts lining the walk near Smithsonian Castle, three justifiably perplexed Black youth, wrists in handcuffs behind their backs can be seen speaking with U.S. Park Police — bottles of water resting in an evidence bin, nearby.

Tweeted by tour guide, Tim Krepp, as he passed the scene, photos of the three, aged 16 and 17, would appear to any casual observer without context to be a possible apprehension of at least petty criminals — not the three kids hawking bottled water for a few extra dollars to willing Washington, D.C., tourists on a hot day, that the incident actually was.