No free doughnut? No soul

A new wave of uptightness has cost us another freebie. There will be more disappearing if we don't defend them.

Someone ratted on a home improvement store in Camarillo, Calif., for giving away doughnuts and coffee. It seems the store needed a stainless steel sink with hot and cold water on the premises to make it legal, the local health department said after it got word. So ends a 15-year-tradition for the owners of B&B Do It Center and its customers.

Let us ponder the absurdity. Does this mean that every trade show will need a nod from the authorities to hand out popcorn? Will Realtors have to clear the M&Ms out of the open house candy dish? And what about those pediatrician-issue lollipops that are plaguing our nation?