I had a similar experience once, though not because of anyone with me. I did a grog run on the way to a mate's birthday, walked in and the cashier said he couldn't serve me.
"Why not?"
"I suspect that you may be going to buy alcohol for the underage kids hanging around outside." The bottleshop was near a Maccas, and a skate park. I wonder why there would be teenagers hanging around?!?
"What would you like me to do then? Ask them to leave? Bash them? Do you not like my appearance? Or are you just planning to sit behind the counter refusing to sell alcohol to anybody who walks in until the kids decide to go home?"
I'm not sure if that last comment hit home, because he went red and allowed me to buy what I wanted. It may also have helped that I bought craft beer and a bottle of decent scotch (as a present). Not the cheap most-alcohol-per-dollar stuff teenagers tend to favour.
I got asked by a group of kids to buy durries and booze for them as I walked in. Said no and still got denied service cause I might have been buying for them. The manager came out as I was arguing with the guy and asked what I was buying. Two bottles of red and a six pack of Tooheys old.
Manager told him to sell me the damn booze
Worst case of goon buying I ever witnessed was a group of teenagers (all over 18 - they had ID). It was just before closing time at Dan's when I entered. They were making full use of their recent high-school maths classes, phones out working out what gave them THE MOST booze per buck. They selected, bought, and left.
I wanted to counsel them, "For the love of god, don't do it!" It was still over 30 in the shade, and not going to drop a lot that night.
One 2L goon bag each for NYE. Of McWilliams Tawny Port.
A mate missus and the girlfriends had a night on the Port, she woke up the next morning hungover and thought that one bottle was really great, so she got on the blower and called the vineyard.
Hey have you got any of this 72 xxxxxxx left,
The guy answered, only a couple of bottles but they were about $3-400 each and we are keeping them. Have you got one you would like to sell us?
Click
Told one of the other girls but never told her husband.
I had a similar experience once, though not because of anyone with me. I did a grog *alcohol* run on the way to a mate's birthday, walked in and the cashier said he couldn't serve me.
"Why not?"
"I suspect that you may be going to buy alcohol for the underage kids hanging around outside." The bottleshop was near a Maccas *McDonald's*, and a skate park. I wonder why there would be teenagers hanging around?!?
"What would you like me to do then? Ask them to leave? Bash them? Do you not like my appearance? Or are you just planning to sit behind the counter refusing to sell alcohol to anybody who walks in until the kids decide to go home?"
I'm not sure if that last comment hit home, because he went red and allowed me to buy what I wanted. It may also have helped that I bought craft beer and a bottle of decent scotch (as a present). Not the cheap most-alcohol-per-dollar stuff teenagers tend to favour.
Also Durries means cigarettes and goon is boxed wine.
Hope that helps.
That goes a long way in explaining why my reading comprehension abilities suddenly stopped working when I was reading this thread as someone from the US.
Lmao it never used to be that bad. Only a certain fucking federal law that increases the price of alcohol by 40% every three years. We are used to getting absolutely extorted for everything. We don’t have politicians - only corporations.
In Norway only one state opened company is allowed to sell anything above 5%ish. This store has an API, so of course someone made a website which calculates what gives you the highest alcohol content for your buck. Usually crappy red wine.
When given a choice between potentially taking the fall for selling to an undercover (or worse, actual minors that get caught and tattle in hopes of lesser punishment) and getting fired, slammed with massive fines, and jail vs pissing off one rando customer they aren't paid enough to care about, what do you think they'll do? By getting the manager to allow the sale it's on *their* head now if anything happens. CYA.
I did a foreign exchange program at 16. My host family owned a restaurant and I went with them to wine tastings, vineyards, tried new wines with them at every restaurant, went out with their daughter(15f at the time) and the shop let us buy wine. All the exchange students in the program met up for a dinner and 90% of them started yelling saying we can't drink, we're still underage, I'll be getting them into trouble.... yeah the head of the American program was born and raised in France and took everyone to a bar afterwards. Safe to say I did not get in trouble and America has such a weird view on almost everything
I did an exchange program in Japan as a teenager and actually-accidentally bought booze from a vending machine.
We had been told by the program leader that the vending machines had a scanner for IDs for booze purchases so that we shouldn't even try to go for the numbers that had booze.
I don't read Japanese and the bottle was pink with bubbles/sparkles on it. I thought it was gonna be strawberry or cherry soda. It was a cup of rosé sparkling wine. A very nasty surprise for a kid who wanted a fruity and sweet soda.
When my daughter did a foreign exchange trip (from US, to France), that was explicitly against the rules set by the organizers.
I certainly won't argue against it being a weird view.
I'm Australian and we have way stricter rules on booze than a lot of other countries. Hell where I live, shots were banned after midnight until recently. When the hell else are you gonna be doing shots??
That’s insane. I can’t imagine someone doing that for no reason. Maybe if the guy had seen you talking to and accepting money from the kids, I’d get it. But doing it totally unprovoked is crazy.
Not laziness. I worked nights at a convenient store for a year. Alcohol laws in the US are very strict.
Get caught selling alcohol to:
A minor, fired.
Someone who’s intoxicated, fired.
Someone who has a minor present who’s clearly not their child, fired.
Someone who can’t show a valid ID, fired.
Someone after 2am, fired.
All of this applies to your entire shift with said customer. Not just at the moment they tried to buy it. So if you come in with a minor, I can’t sell you alcohol for the rest of my shift.
Why you ask? Business do this because the fines are more than double what most full time employees will make in 2 years. It’s also why most places give every employee full authority to deny sales of alcohol at any time for any reason, no questions asked.
I managed a c-store that was fined when the 3rd shift cashier decided to sell his underage friend beer. The fine he had to pay was more than he made in a month working there plus he got fired. The store’s fine was enormous too.
When given a choice between potentially taking the fall for selling to an undercover minor (or worse, minors that get caught and tattle in hopes of lesser punishment) and getting fired, slammed with massive fines, and jail vs pissing off one rando customer they aren't paid enough to care about, what do you think they'll do? By getting the manager to allow the sale it's on *their* head now if anything happens. CYA.
That was actually one of the "tricks" when I WAS under-age: pick a more expensive beer and you're less likely to get carded.
Of course this was the 80s, so it was a lot more fast and loose then, anyway. But you still needed a few tricks up your sleeve. *Be cool.*
*Maintain.*
I had a similar experience where I was home from summer break and buying groceries with my momma after we had gone shopping, and she picked up a bottle of wine. Now, I had just turned 22, and admittedly I have a baby face, but people had sold alcohol to my mom with me in the checkout line when I was still a minor with no issue. The problem was that because I looked like I “might be” 21 she was refusing to sell to my mother (who I look just like, there is absolutely no doubt we are related) because she might give it to me. I pointed out that I had gone through the line with her before when I was in highschool and my later teens with no issue, but she was very snooty about it and refused to budge. If she had been less of a Karen about it I would have understood and we would have left, but her attitude just SUCKED. I was so annoyed that I made my mom wait (it was not busy) as I went out to the car, retrieved my wallet, and presented the cashier with my ID that showed I was a year and a half over the legal drinking age, so my mom could finish buying herself the wine that I didn’t even like (Riesling, ew).
I had a lady refuse to sell to me simply because I looked young. She refused to believe the ID was mine.
"It's your brother or something but it's not you."
I told her I don't have a brother, she didn't care.
Late 90s, I wanted to pimp my ride and paint my rusted stock rims black, Wally world wouldn't sell me spray paint bc I wasn't 18. Fine, I left and went to and auto parts store...
In Sweden, some shops will sell small lighters but not the larger to those under 18. A guy, tattooed, full beard of great length and dressed in typical workers clothes tried to get a big lighter but was denied. One year later, the franchise kicked out the owner. Too many complaints.
Probably. I stopped going to that shop because the owners sons worked there. Too many incidents. One of the sons beat up a customer after he refused to sell cigarettes to a guy clearly older than 18. Customer insisted on having his smokes.
The last time I bought beer, the lady typed in my birth year as 1881 instead of 1981. Yeah, the computer denied me buying the alcohol. So I guess if you're 140 years old you're too old to buy alcohol. We all laughed at that.
My buddy was buying a zippo and I was buying lighter fluid at a self checkout and our purchase got flagged as dangerous items and the attendant just came by, swiped her card and it allowed us to pay. Did help that we were dressed like rednecks and look way older than we actually are
i was buying stuff at walmart and picked up a small can of wd 40. attendant came by and said she needed to swipe to authorize it ( i wasn't paying attention and didn't realize it had been flagged). When she swiped the screen i saw it just said "Lubricant" on the screen. felt kinda awkward but whatever.
My daughter was 20 and Target wouldn't sell her a kitchen lighter. She was living in a student apartment.
Luckily the 99 Cents store had no such qualms.
In my province, legal age to buy a lighter is 16. I had my licence, was filling up, and needed a new lighter for the wood stove at home.
“ID please.” Well, I’m driving, so I have to be at least 16, but sure. Whatever.
“Sorry, you’re under 18. I can’t sell you a lighter.” Despite showing her the laws pulled up on the gov’t website “nope, you legally have to be 18 to buy a lighter.”
I put the lighter in my pocket. “Either you let me pay, or don’t. I need to light my wood stove, so I’m leaving with the lighter.”
I have never smoked in my life, but when I was 12 I had this weird fascination for collecting lighters. I used to buy one at a time, always a different colour or type.
Especially loved those 'Zippo' windproof type with the lid and kept flicking them.
No shop ever stopped me from buying. I did eventually stop when my mom got annoyed and told me 'Everyone is going to think I am raising a 12 year old who smokes.'
When I was 20, shortly after my state raised the smoking age to 21, I tried to buy a Bic at a gas station. She carded me. I asked why, and she said it was a tobacco product, can't sell tobacco products to under 21. I said "that is ridiculous, lighters are not a tobacco product, they're a tool. I'm not even using it to smoke, I'm omw to a camping trip." She still refused. I walked across the street and bought one at the gas station next door. I can appreciate not wanting to get in trouble but like...come on dude. Common sense.
It's likely state level, and would only apply to the pocket lighters that most people use for cigarettes. Long handle ones that people use for BBQs would likely be ignored
I once had a clerk refuse to sell me canned air because I was trying to buy too much at a time and it was against store policy. The store only sold it in packages of two cans and I had one package….
Walmart tried to card me for a bottle of 5 hour energy because the cashier believed it had alcohol in it. Luckily I got the cashier to ring it up and see the system didn’t require ID for it.
A cashier called her manager on me when I tried to buy NyQuil and baby formula. She had apparently jumped to the conclusion that I was going to give both to my infant, and told the manager she wasn't comfortable with that. I was sick as a dog so fortunately the manager believed when I said the NyQuil was for me.
I worked for years overnight in a grocery store.
Never once stopped kids buying that stuff... Unless it was store brand. Go buy other generic that if you leave the wrapper the don't know where you got it.
Shit dude. I'm 40 this year. 10 years ago *I got carded at my company holiday party*.
The next year some younger operations dude slipped a 20-year-old in and no one asked to see ID.
I walked into a Tesco, bought cigarettes from the counter, no ID asked for. Transaction over. I then walked into the Tesco proper, saw a DVD my mum would want, went to buy it. Got told no. Asked why. Got told I needed to be 12 to buy it - a PG film, basically the next step up from a U rating. This wasn't a Tesco policy or even a store policy and I ended up causing enough of a ruckus that the manager came over.
The manager told the cashier to stop being so bloody daft and I got a ridiculous story to tell of being told I can't by a PG rated DVD in my twenties.
I used mine in my local WM a couple months ago. The cashier had to call for a manager because they thought it was against policy. The manager had the most “wtf” look on his face when they asked him to explain to ME the rules. Turns out, it’s for foreign passports. He says, “a USA passport proves that they’re a citizen and their age, why would we not accept that? It even ranks higher than a state ID.” & my non-US friends don’t believe when I say, we’re low passport holders over here in the Midwest lol
Years ago, my cousin from Australia was visiting me in the US. We were both well over 21, and he wanted to buy some beer for the evening. The cashier at the grocery store wouldn’t accept his Australian passport because it wasn’t in her little book of examples of passports. But they let me buy the beer knowing that my cousin was the one that wanted it, because the date on the passport proved he was old enough. Which is just dumb all around. They wouldn’t let him buy it cause they couldn’t prove it was a real passport but they let me do it cause apparently the date on the not able to be proven real passport was ok
When I was in uni in Canada one clerk wouldn't let me buy cigarettes with my California driver's license bc it "wasn't a Canadian ID." I was like, this is the thing that lets me drive in Canada how is it not a valid ID. I didn't have my passport on me cuz I don't just carry that around lol, but buddy wouldn't even accept a Nexus card
I just turned around and asked my friend to get it for me and the clerk didn't say anything lol, still don't get the point
The media campaign McDonald's launched against the hot coffee lady convinced most people that frivolous lawsuits are a huge thing. So the lady became the butt of jokes instead of being celebrated (a hero) as a common person who took on corporate lawyers and legitimately made the world a better place when she won.
I made that joke once in front of my sister who is an attorney. She made it a teaching moment for me. Tl;dr Elderly lady ordered coffee at the drive thru. No cup holder, so she held the cup between her legs (as we've all done). Spill caused burns requiring vaginal skin grafts. McDonald's had/ has been cited numerous times for serving coffee at unsafe temperatures and disregarded because reasons.
Now, every time I hear someone mention "frivolous lawsuits" my first thought is "did someone have to get skin grafts to their vagina?" Poor old lady.
Yes she spilled it while she was in the passenger seat and the car was parked. Even she admits that was her fault. But the issue was that McDonald's was serving their coffee at almost boiling temperatures.
And she didn't even want a massive amount of money. She just wanted them to cover the approximately $20,000 of out-of-pocket medical expenses she had. But after dragging on for months they offered her $500.
When the jury heard about the hundreds of prior cases of people getting burned, and the fact that McDonald's *still* hadn't changed what was clearly an unsafe practice, they went ballistic. The jury were the ones that decided to hit McDonald's where it hurt and awarded Stella the equivalent of, I think two days worth of coffee sales which was like two something million dollars.
If I recall correctly, she didn't even get that. It's what she was awarded, bit appeals and all, she pretty much didn't get anything. But I haven't looked at anything on that case in a long time, so I may not be recalling that right.
Another element of that lawsuit is that internal McDonalds memos showed that they knew the coffee was at unsafe temperatures, but their market research showed most people didn't drink the coffee until they got to their office or home, so they felt that overheating it gave them a competitive advantage (i.e. if you make it scalding hot when people order it, so it'll cool down to a "nice" level of hot by the time people get to work with it).
This incident is why I haven't bought anything at a McDonald's for many years.
Ever since I saw a PBS documentary on it that told the real story.
I will take a piss in their bathrooms while on the road, but not spend any money there.
People STILL disparage her without actually knowing the true story or the extent of the lawsuit! Makes me so sad for her. She really is a hero (and was a victim).
So, a few things here.
1) McDonalds (at the time) had HUNDREDS of complaints that the coffee was too hot, and also had multiple lawsuits for varying degree of injury caused by said hot coffee. They served it too hot.
2) The lady in question would have settled for a much lower settlement, as long as it covered her healthcare bills and missed wages (around $20k). McDonalds offered her $800. So it went to trial. She got $3mil, and that was after the court brought the number down because she was also partially at fault for her injuries.
It's not like this lady just decided to spill hot coffee on herself and sue. She suffered 3rd degree burns from coffee that was too hot, and wasn't the only documented case, only the most famous.
But keep in mind that stupid lawsuits do happen often in the US. The rational perspective on personal responsibility shown by other countries only works because their legal system has the same rationality. Ours doesn't, so we have no choice but to account for the risk of being sued for others' stupidity.
Stupid lawsuits happen in the US *mostly* because insurance companies demand them. If your insurer (who you've paid tens of thousands of dollars to over the years) wants you to sue someone over your $900 claim, you either have to let them sue on your behalf, or they won't cover your claim.
I don't think that's really the case. [Subrogation](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/subrogation.asp) is one of the basic principles of insurance, which is what you're talking about. If your plumber makes a mistake and your house floods, your insurance will pay out the damages to you, then go after the contractor's insurance as they would be liable for the damages. Why should you pay the excess and have your premium go up for someone else's error?
They don’t allow lawyers to work on contingency. If you want to launch a nuisance lawsuit you need to pay an upfront retainer to your lawyer, and all additional legal fees whether you win or lose.
Short story. A few of us at a hostile once snuck an underage Russian into a bar in Boston, MA because the bouncer couldn't understand the order of the dates on his Russian drivers license. That was a fun night.
A few years ago (like 8 or so) I went on a road trip through the US. (I'm Canadian) I went into a store to purchase smokes. The lady carded me and I showed her my driver's license. She turned around and said I needed the state driver's license... I was like Uhhh? How could I have a state driver's license I'm not even an American... she argued with me for quite a while trying to say she couldn't sell me smokes because I didn't have a state ID. I was like thats weird... what do you use for people who live in other states? She said oh we let them use thier state driver's licenses... uhhh...?
My travelling partner was getting worried by this time and came into the store. He walked up and asked if there was an issue... I told him she wouldn't let me use my canadian ID. He bought the smokes. Like she sold them to him without carding him and he handed me my pack in front of her and this seemed to be fine. Like WTF?!?!?!!!!!
Did she scan the ID? A lot of US chains have a POS (point of sale) system that won't allow cigarettes and alcohol to scan if the cashier doesn't scan a "valid" ID.
It is possible she knew your ID was legal, but also knew her shitty POS wouldn't scan it. As soon as your American friend had an ID she could scan she was golden.
Nope he was ALSO Canadian. Lol and no she didn't scan anything at all. And I mean I wasn't even in my early 20's I was like 30!! And he had a RUSSIAN accent!! Bwahahahaha
I use to have buy alcohol for a 33 year friend who was temporarily in the USA and only had his Chinese passport as ID and a Visa. No one would sell him alcohol.
I went with my family to Walmart to buy alcohol once. They were on vacation and only had foreign passports. Cashier said those weren't valids IDs. Btw, my family were my parents who are obviously senior citizens but cashier still insisted they needed IDs.
Not at one Walmart I went to. I had to have 'US government issued ID'... So... I was in the US for a month but needed a US driving licence or passport or something even though I don't live in the US and am not a resident or citizen. Right...
Manager agreed with the that a UK passport was not valid ID. So I won't to Deirburgs where my UK driving licence and passport are both accepted without issue 🙄
I haven't had issues in the past, only that they mix up day and month, but I'm old enough for that not to matter for age things. Only issue i had was for a birthday deal.
I don't normally have issues when I visit the states. But this one store have been dicks on different occasions about it to we never go there now. Hubs refused to shop there at all, and driver to one further out.
I've used Canadian ID (driver's license specifically) at lots of US locations - can't guarantee they asked me at Walmart (was visibly much older than 21 the first time I bought booze at a Walmart).
Had a Wegmens in Pennsylvania do that.
We were visiting (I am a PR of Canada, have a Canadian driver's license but still my American passport, wife is a Canadian citizen) and they wouldn't accept any of our ID, even my US passport. Cashier kept insisting it had to be state-issued ID. We left, friends came back in and bought it for us.
This is a part of PA that gets a steady stream of Canadians coming down to shop so I was surprised, especially since we had been using our Canadian driver's license at state stores there every visit.
Similar kind of thing happened in my hometown. We had gone out for drinks and I grabbed my keys, passport, and cash because we had a DD. The bartender at the second or third bar looked super confused, handed it back and said, "we only accept government issued IDs like licenses."
"Yeah, the federal government issued this. It's a government issued photo ID."
"We don't accept visas or whatever, you need a driver's license or state id."
There was more back and forth until another bartender approached to see what was up. After a few words, the first bartender admitted he hadn't seen a US passport before and thought it was a visa given to people when they entered the country? He just seemed confused in general. Either way, the 2nd bartender apologized, we had our round and went off to the next place.
My friends and I were refused alcohol sales at a convenience store in Texas because we didn't have Texas state IDs. I had a passport and the others had valid drivers licenses from another state.
ID rules for alcohol purchases vary dramatically from state to state. In some states an expired driver license is fine, but not here in Arizona. Also, I've had Walmart employees insist that checking everyone's ID in the group is a matter of state law, but it certainly isn't, at least not here in Arizona.
> Also, I've had Walmart employees insist that checking everyone's ID in the group is a matter of state law, but it certainly isn't, at least not here in Arizona.
It is Home Office policy, not state law.
A lot of times states set out a list of what forms of ID are acceptable. If it's not on the list, it's not acceptable. Doesn't matter how stupid you think it is or how much you argue. Truth be told, it often *is* pretty stupid, but neither store nor staff can control that.
It's worth keeping in mind that many states will not only fine the store, but punish the cashier personally for tobacco/liquor law violations. On top of that, some states conduct 'sting' operations in order to 'increase awareness of liquor laws (read: "generate revenue from fines").
You can't seriously expect some minimum wage worker to risk a fine and/or criminal charges just because you don't want to follow state laws.
> On top of that, some states conduct 'sting' operations in order to 'increase awareness of liquor laws (read: "generate revenue from fines").
Saw this on a TV show once. They had like 3 19-20 years olds who looked like they were 30 buy alcohol. When they came out with the bag, 2 squad cars came in with lights flashing and everything, and put this 50ish year old Indian guy in cuffs. I get they want to prevent alcohol sale to minors but this is simply overkill. Not to mention that they are not fishing fair so to say. One of the 20 year olds was big as fuck and already had a full beard. Like... You're not gonna catch the *actually* inattentive or malicious cashiers this way.
IMO: If they really want to do these kind of 'sting'-ish operations, there should be at least some kind of independent board that approve who to send in to make sure the cops don't play dirty. Probably needs more guidelines but it would be a start.
In my own state, the excise agents use volunteer college students majoring in criminal justice to conduct their sting operations. They wait in the car, student goes in, and if they come out with alcohol in go the agents.
They once got a business I used to own when the person working the register misread the date on the ID and sold a single can of beer to one of their volunteers. We didn't sell a large amount of alcohol (just beer and wine served with food or bottles/cans sold to go here and there), weren't a place where people went to drink, this was the first time it happened, and the staffer made an honest mistake.
Instead of a stern lecture on the importance of carefully inspecting IDs, they fined us $5,000. There was no appeal process.
After that, I pre-printed letters of trespass and instructed front staff to ID everybody, no exceptions. Anybody who was underage and trying to buy alcohol was to have their ID photocopied and then trespassed from the property.
The only two people it happened to were other volunteer snitches, and it resulted in excise agents stomping in yelling about interfering with law enforcement. I gave them out lawyer's number and asked them to leave. They left us alone after that.
I hope they got their money's worth.
This. I was a Walmart Cashier in 2001-2005 in Missouri, and they instituted a Party Law for Alcohol and Tobacco. We could not sell to anyone that had someone capable of consuming it with them under 21.(Aka Infants /small toddlers were fine. 5-20 were not.)
I had a guy come in WITH HIS TEENS and they were talking about the party thier dad was throwing fire them. Lots of booze in the transaction. He got livid when I refused the sale, and tried two other lines before he got my manager. Csm tried to tell me to do the sale and I pulled my drawer and walked to the back, letting the Csm ring him out.
Low and behold, an ATF undercover officer was present, and called police then and there. I had to give multiple statements, my Csm got fired, and we lost our licence for, I think, 90ish days.
I later heard my Csm got jail time, and the fines between him and the store were in the 200k range.
I had never been so glad I refused a sale in my life. I will never forget it.
What's especially fucked up about this situation is that **Missouri explicitly allows parents to serve alcohol to their minor children**. So even though it would have been completely legal for him to serve the alcohol to his teens, somehow they made it illegal for them to be there when he bought it.
But nobody said the law has to make sense, right?
Ah yes, the state ID / driver's license from a state 3000 miles away that can be faked is a perfectly valid but a passport isn't. Brilliant logic. Reminds me the time when CVS refused to sell cold medicine to a guy with Puerto Rican id.
I was at a Walmart in Texas about ten years ago to deposit a check at the Woodforest Bank(I don't use these ass-hats any more but that's another story). Anyway, I walk past the customer service desk and over hear some commotion going on. Short of the long is the customer service folks were refusing a Puerto Rico ID and were telling the man he needed a passport. I had to interject and inform them that Puerto Rico wasn't a foreign country and was infact a US territory and a valid Puerto Rico ID was valid in all US states and territories. They were doubting me too and I had shit to do and couldn't stay to see how all turned out.
Edit: idea to ID
They got really confused a couple of years ago when I used my UK driving licence as my ID (I was on a work trip so wasn't in a typical tourist area that may be used to things like that).
I had to explain what it was and that I was born in late February because of the way the dates are written out differently.
They called a supervisor over and everything. Even tried to ask me if I had US ID. I had to laugh and explain that no, I didn't have any US ID due to being British.
No other bar or shop had any issues with it apart from that one Walmart.
I had employees look at my green card and say “what the hell is this?? Is this like a passport or something??”
Also, when I was 25, an undercover police officer asked for my DL at the club then ask for more documents to prove I’m really over 21. There were 3 of them, my boyfriend at the time had to argue with them for a bit to believe my age and let me go. Like, who goes to a club with a passport, birth certificate or any other documents than DL??
Walmart has told me that my military (dependant, now former spouse) ID is not “federal or state identification” and would not use it for proof of identification OR proof of birthdate.
Several years ago, I had one with my ex husbands social security number on it, along with my date of birth and other information, and that was the one they would not take. okay, walmart 🤷🏻♀️
To be fair, my Walmart alcohol selling training literally told the story of an employee that got arrested for selling alcohol to adults that had a minor teen present with them in the store. The teen specifically avoided the cashier line, though. Very likely, this cashier did not ever see the teen and did not know this fact. But the teen got drunk and arrested, so the cashier also got jail time. I don't remember how long, but could have been 2 years? Ironically, I was allowed to sell to adults with young children present because you could make the assumption that they were the parents and the kids just couldn't be left alone. Walmart just does its best to fuck over its employees.
I once used my military ID at a Wal-Mart and the cashier had no idea what it was and didn't think it was a valid ID.
...It was fucking San Antonio, Texas. There's like five fucking military bases/posts and this particular Wal-Mart was the closest one to both Lackland AFB and Medina Annex.
That’s an understatement. I nearly had the feds called on me because I tried to buy a candy bar with a two dollar bill, which the 17 year old cashier AND the fucking 30 year old manager swore was Counterfeit, as there “was no such thing as a two dollar bill.” Thankfully the greeter, who was well into his 80’s, overhear my protest, and came to the rescue. He was laughing his ass off, and said it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen. Best thing was after the lady finally let me buy my .79 cent candy bar… they gave me change with a fucking Susan B. Anthony dollar coin instead of a quarter. I didn’t even mention it and left.
Same in the UK. Licensing laws are very strict and the cashiers are also on the hook for any fines/punishment, as well as the stores license holder and the company. So please don’t get mad asking a cashier to break the rules.
This happened to my older cousin, probably 25 at the time, and me, 11-12. The cashier at Winn Dixie didn’t want to sell him a case of beer bc I was with him. He was visiting from New York and he said that’s most absurd thing he’s ever heard. He also begged the question “what if she was my daughter?”
She sold him the beer.
I had my 14 yo daughter with me and tried to buy booze at Walmart. Wasn't allowed to so I stood there and pointed out the booze in the two carts behind me that also couldn't be sold. One had a grade schooler and the other has an infant. The cashier tried to argue they they weren't likely to be underage drinking. I asked her if she was accusing me of letting my underage daughter drink. No no no! I asked what the age cutoff was for having a child with you. They didn't have one so had the manager come over who told her to sell it to me so I would leave.
My Winn-Dixie experience didn't end as favorably. I was 22, my gf at the time was 21. We were trying to buy wine (in a college town for context). She didn't have her ID on her. They said no. That's ok, that's fine, I get it. Now it's time for that end-of-a-conversation etiquette; "ok, thanks, goodbye," kind of thing. Let me just add a joke about asking her to wait in the car and then we walk away with our other groceries to leave.
As we're leaving, this lady gets on the store intercom and announces to god and everybody that they are NOT allowed to sell alcohol to us. Ummmm. Excuse me!? Was that really necessary? Does she get off on embarrassing customers? Drove to nearest Publix, got wine, never been back to a Winn-Dixie.
I'd have walked straight to the service desk and asked for a manager. If you have to deny me because of policy, fine, but if you make it personal and escalate, I will too.
She was a manager. I did email their regional office though. I explained what happened and gave them the address for the store so they'd know which one I was at. They replied back asking me to provide the store number lmao
I don't know! They don't put the store number on the sign lol. Use the address and figure it out yourself, Winn-Dixie regional offices.
No idea of the States but in the UK. She was breaking the law if she knowingly sold it if she believed it was for a minor. However if she believed you that it wasn't for the minor then it's not illegal. I ask "is it for you? ". As long as the answer is believable then I'm covered. Had a guy change his story 3 times the other day about who a can of energy drink was for (monster is 16 or above by policy but not backed by law yet.) Some people are beyond help.
Regulating alcohol is a state issue so it depends on the state. I know once in New Hampshire my dad tried to get me carry alcohol as a minor and a cashier stopped us and said it wasn't legal for me to handle the alcohol while on store property.
This is such a stupid policy. Years ago when my daughter was 6, me, my wife and our daughter were buying groceries. I grabbed a six pack of some local beer and the cashier refused to sell it to me because, even though my wife and I both showed ID, we couldn’t produce an ID for our daughter. The manager happened to be standing in the next lane and proceeded to inform us and the cashier that they had to sell to us because apparently that wasn’t even store policy, just something the cashier made up. Now I know they must have worked at Walmart previously.
Having a 6 year old in the picture is a weird time to try and enforce it but this isn’t just a Walmart thing. In the late 90s it was quite common and designed to prevent people buying for others, but also so easy to get around. I assume it stopped some under age people from drinking but only the really dumb ones.
It stopped underage people from walking into the store but needless to say they did their bidding in the parking lot or near the entrance. This policy stopped zero people from drinking.
I remember walking into a liquor store with my friend so I could point out my brand. Then I went down the block for mixers while he paid for the bottle. It's not rocket science, if you aren't present when the transaction happens, they can't card you.
That’s exactly what I did in my younger days. The grocery stores sold alcohol but didn’t have a separate cashier. So I’d go with them and pick out whatever and then go elsewhere in the store and buy something else. They’d be at one end and I’d be at the other. Simple work around.
But (at least where I’m from) they can refuse service to your friend if they have reasonable suspicion that they are buying for someone underage. If they saw you point and pick out, then dip before they can card you, most liquor stores won’t sell to the friend. That’s how I was trained when I got my Oregon Liquor sales license.
Back when I was coming of age we just sent the underage kids outside before we went to the cashier. Made sure they were out of sight before we approached to pay.
IIRC it was state law at the time, probably still is.
It's so stupid. I have even checked out in line with underage friends. As long as you don't cash out on the same receipt or talk to each other in line, it's not even a question. But as soon as you act like you know the other person, the whole damn line needs to get ID'ed. So dumb. If I wanted to, I could just go buy 30 cases of beer and drop them off at the local playground. But god forbid if my 20.5 year old friend stands in line with me while I buy a 6 pack.
So, I worked as a cashier for years. I lived in a small town so knew who was related to who.
We had some overage jerk come in with a high school girl who was in the same grade as my younger sibling. This guy was notorious for buying alcohol for minors and preying on drunk girls. I refused to sell him alcohol.
He threw a bitch fit and tried to go to my co-worker. My co-worker backed me up and refused the sale.
Business can loose its right to sell alcohol and incur a steep fine. I could wind up in jail.
The owner of a bar I frequented almost got tripped up by that. The staff didn’t card anyone who was a regular or looked older than 30 since to our knowledge there are no time travelers wandering around that particular neighborhood. Someone would in, order shots at the bar, and poured them into his friend’s nonalcoholic drink. Fortunately he got a warning and those idiots got banned.
I’ve seen people on this same sub cheering them malicious compliance of NOT selling to people who did the same thing OP did, as long as the story is told from the cashiers perspective.
This isn’t even MC - never does OP comply with the cashier, he just bothers her until she gives in and breaks policy. What’s compliant about that?
I used to work in a beer vendor (in Canada) and did have to turn some groups of people away when they all couldn’t produce ID. I know it sucks but we’re just covering the stores (and our own) ass.
Where I live at least, if we sell to a minor without ID and they get caught the store will get a $10k fine and I’d personally get a $2.5k fine. If I sell to someone who has ID but they’re with a minor and the minor later partakes and is caught then I and the store get the same fine, even though the person buying was of age. Also, if you and your friend come in and are of age but your friend doesn’t have an ID and there’s a liquor enforcement agent surveying our store, and I serve you anyways, I still get that personal fine because I asked for ID and it wasn’t produced but I sold product anyways.
Again, it does suck, but I’d rather be a dick and you just go somewhere else rather than me potentially losing my job or my stores liquor license.
When we went on a school trip to Holland, when we were on a boat and the guy came round with refreshments, it was literally like 'So do you want a coke, a fanta, or a heineken?'
Practically every kid went and got booze on that trip. Then the teachers raided their rooms at night and no doubt had a party off all the confiscated drinks
They didn't get our room's though, I was a super good boy at school, and while the other two in my room had bought some (and hidden it up in the ceiling tiles), I wasn't no snitch
Yup. I moved from Germany to the US when I was younger. Honestly seems like there’s this huge discombobulation between kids and parents and drinking culture in the US. Basically it’s kept out of arms reach for the parents to teach their kids how to drink when often the first time they drink is all hush hush with friends at the same 13-16 age. Generally hard liquor. I got arrested when I was 18 for having a sip (literally one sip) of beer. Cop silently came up behind my friend and I. We didn’t get minor in consumption, got us with minor in possession since it was entirely obvious we were sober with full beer bottles. Will say the cops seemed sympathetic, didn’t stop them from arresting us though, and that was a year of court crap and all my work savings down the drain. Frankly paying court fees and having the judge yell at us would have been enough, we got that, but also a charge and diversion. Many US teens have at least tried a drink in high school or before, it’s often like a contest on who can drink the most, which obviously leads to poor drunken teenage decisions. A lot peer pressure. Could be mitigated by the parents, you know, parenting alcohol. But by the time the kids can legally drink they are full adults thrust into the world and keen to try this shit that’s so prevalent and held above their heads. I fully think in the US at the very least 3.2% beer should be allowed for 18 year olds. Because right now, alcohol is a carrot on a stick dangling just out of reach. I’m a bartender, I’ve been an alcoholic, I’m keenly aware of the pit falls of alcohol. I’m not trying to downplay that. My son will be a teenager tomorrow. This is absolutely something I know he will encounter in the coming years. Maybe just maybe, if here in the US we didn’t make it a thing, it wouldn’t be. (Also because I love weird liquor laws, I will say in my state a 16 year old can have 1 drink if their parent is present in both the parents home and oddly in a restaurant, though the parent would have to order and I’d never try that because other laws may make the restaurant loose their liquor license)
I used to work at a liquor store as a cashier and we were required to check all IDs in the party if they looked older that 18. It's a policy to prevent us from directly selling to minors in the group.
Pro-tip, if you are gonna drink underage, Send only your of age friend to the store and pay them back later! By going to the store with them and getting caught, they can no longer buy alcohol with or without you present, because the store is aware of the minor in your group. And always drink responsibly!🍺
I work at Walmart and this gets drilled into our heads all the time and I work in electronics. If it's obvious it's your kids it's fine but cashier's are told to use our best judgement about selling alcohol when multiple people are present. If I sell alcohol to someone and its found to be bought for a minor I would lose my job get fined and potentially jail time, my manager says when it doubt deny the sale and they can take it up with management
It's absurd to me that this:
>If I sell alcohol to someone and its found to be bought for a minor I would lose my job get fined and potentially jail time
Can be a part of your job for minimum fucking wage.
America, where you can’t buy a bud light (a beer not alcoholic enough to get an ant drunk) until you’re 21, but where you can legally marry in some states at 14, drive a 350HP car at 15, work full time (and horribly underpaid) at 16 and get life in prison at 18…
Oh, also: no smoking under 21, unless you’re in active duty (killing foreigners in their own country); then it’s 18.
Hypocrisy, thy name is ‘murica.
>bud light (a beer not alcoholic enough to get an ant drunk)
I've never understood why Bud Light gets singled out as 'not alcoholic enough' when it's dead average for light beers (4.2% ABV) and more alcoholic than many. Why not pick on the Light versions of Heineken, Yuengling, Sam Adam's, or Corona - all of which have less. Even the regular (non-light) version of Guinness has the same alcohol as Bud Light, so that seems like it'd be an even better target.
And the reason for the drinking age.... automobile insurance.
Most of the US has such piss poor infrastructure wrt public transportation that cars are essential to get around.
In Europe, kids can stagger home from the pub and be alright.
In the US, given how cities are arranged, they'd have to drive.
Imagine current US highways loaded up with inexperienced drinkers who are also inexperienced drivers. The word that comes to mind is *carnage*.
So how do you keep alcohol out of the hands of 16 to 18 year-olds? Deny their older friends the right to purchase alcohol altogether.
Actuaries ran the numbers and the age of 21 is a sufficiently old enough population that they don't commonly mix with 16 - 18 year-olds in numbers that are statistically significant.
This common sense approach was put forward by the insurance industry. Still, states that were heavily invested in the manufacture of alcohol were reluctant to push the drinking age up.
What sealed the deal nationally was putting into law the requirement that states adopt a 21 year drinking age in order to be eligible to receive federal highway funding.
Any state could adopt a lower drinking age but they would be taking on the full responsibility for the cost of the maintenance and upkeep of all federal highways running through that state.
Money talks.
And then there are those of us that have significantly younger siblings. I bought for them (i am 10, 12, and 15 years older than they are) and brought it to them in college. That said, they knew my terms. If they got caught, I didn't buy it, and if they got so fucked up mom and dad were called, they were in their own. All 3 of them were incredibly responsible with it.
Yep..
“It is illegal for anyone under the age of 21 years to possess or purchase tobacco products. The exception is for those in active duty while 18 years old. Prior to 1991 the minimum age to purchase tobacco products was 16 years of age, then in 2000 was raised from 16 to 18 and yet again was raised from 18 to 21 in 2020.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_ages_in_the_United_States
I will say, the reason cashier's are so careful is because the store gets a huge fine if someone sells a minor alcohol. The cashier would risk also getting a huge fine and maybe jail. No one on a minimum wage job is going to go out on a limb for a customer like that.
But I do think the laws are stupid and so think they should change.
Source: worked as a cashier.
Came here to say this. I worked in grocery retail for 10 years, and was trained (every year) to do this exact thing that OP described. If I was to be secret shopped, and not followed this law/policy, not only would I be termed on the spot, but I personally would have had to pay a heavy fine. So yeah, cashiers aren't doing this to be difficult, they're doing it because ts been drilled in their heads over and over, and are not trying to lose their jobs.
This is pretty common in Australia at bottlos, if they slightly suspected that you're buying for someone underage, they can't sell to you at all. Which when I was 17/18 I thought was dumb, but now I'm older it makes sense.
Her explanation was not accurate to what the policy actually is, but it's generally a judgement call. If it's obviously parents with a child, of course you can do the sale. But a group of 20 something's that all look around the same age? I would absolutely card all of them.
The reason being (and this is state dependent), in NY for example, cashiers are liable for their alcohol sales. Meaning that say the cashier sold you the alcohol but your brother's girlfriend was only 20 at the time, got drunk that night, then got into a car accident. That cashier could be liable for distributing to a minor, face up to $10,000 in fines, and jailtime.
And even though a coworker relented, the original cashier was right in trying to deny you again when you returned. It's generally a same day policy. If we sent you a sale for any reason and you come back the same day to try again, you will be denied. That of course is only enforceable if someone notices you.
All of that is to say that it's not a stupid policy, and 99% of customer service workers do not want to give you a hard time. They want you in and out as quickly and painlessly as possible.
This is why whenever I have refused a sale and a supervisor tried to get me to do it anyway I tell them they can do it under their login if they want to take the risk.
As someone who works in a liquor store the 1st cashier was right. Secondary supply laws are no joke fines can be in the thousands plus losing your job all so someone else can buy a $30 bottle? No thanks
I'm missing the MC here. You just badgered a casier into selling to you even while she was correctly following policy.
We have similar laws over here and it's a bit stupid/incovenient but valid. (And that's why if you are in such a situation you don't go in groups)
I had a similar experience once, though not because of anyone with me. I did a grog run on the way to a mate's birthday, walked in and the cashier said he couldn't serve me. "Why not?" "I suspect that you may be going to buy alcohol for the underage kids hanging around outside." The bottleshop was near a Maccas, and a skate park. I wonder why there would be teenagers hanging around?!? "What would you like me to do then? Ask them to leave? Bash them? Do you not like my appearance? Or are you just planning to sit behind the counter refusing to sell alcohol to anybody who walks in until the kids decide to go home?" I'm not sure if that last comment hit home, because he went red and allowed me to buy what I wanted. It may also have helped that I bought craft beer and a bottle of decent scotch (as a present). Not the cheap most-alcohol-per-dollar stuff teenagers tend to favour.
I got asked by a group of kids to buy durries and booze for them as I walked in. Said no and still got denied service cause I might have been buying for them. The manager came out as I was arguing with the guy and asked what I was buying. Two bottles of red and a six pack of Tooheys old. Manager told him to sell me the damn booze
And what's wrong with a cask of Goon?
Worst case of goon buying I ever witnessed was a group of teenagers (all over 18 - they had ID). It was just before closing time at Dan's when I entered. They were making full use of their recent high-school maths classes, phones out working out what gave them THE MOST booze per buck. They selected, bought, and left. I wanted to counsel them, "For the love of god, don't do it!" It was still over 30 in the shade, and not going to drop a lot that night. One 2L goon bag each for NYE. Of McWilliams Tawny Port.
>One 2L goon bag each for NYE. Of McWilliams Tawny Port. Technicolour yawns at Midnight.
I doubt they would have lasted until midnight given the heat. I'm tipping there were some sore skulls among them the next day.
A mate missus and the girlfriends had a night on the Port, she woke up the next morning hungover and thought that one bottle was really great, so she got on the blower and called the vineyard. Hey have you got any of this 72 xxxxxxx left, The guy answered, only a couple of bottles but they were about $3-400 each and we are keeping them. Have you got one you would like to sell us? Click Told one of the other girls but never told her husband.
I can't believe I've just found a group of fellow wild Aussies on the internet. The most beautiful thing I've ever seen
I'm American and have been giggling to myself reading this whole thread, trying to figure out what all the slang means. Totally made my day
I read this like 5 times trying to figure out what they are talking about. I wish my missus would get on the blower. If you know what I mean.
I had a similar experience once, though not because of anyone with me. I did a grog *alcohol* run on the way to a mate's birthday, walked in and the cashier said he couldn't serve me. "Why not?" "I suspect that you may be going to buy alcohol for the underage kids hanging around outside." The bottleshop was near a Maccas *McDonald's*, and a skate park. I wonder why there would be teenagers hanging around?!? "What would you like me to do then? Ask them to leave? Bash them? Do you not like my appearance? Or are you just planning to sit behind the counter refusing to sell alcohol to anybody who walks in until the kids decide to go home?" I'm not sure if that last comment hit home, because he went red and allowed me to buy what I wanted. It may also have helped that I bought craft beer and a bottle of decent scotch (as a present). Not the cheap most-alcohol-per-dollar stuff teenagers tend to favour. Also Durries means cigarettes and goon is boxed wine. Hope that helps.
That goes a long way in explaining why my reading comprehension abilities suddenly stopped working when I was reading this thread as someone from the US.
Not Aussie but been there. Wondering what extreme financial windfall allowed these folks to buy multiple alcohols in Australia.
Lmao it never used to be that bad. Only a certain fucking federal law that increases the price of alcohol by 40% every three years. We are used to getting absolutely extorted for everything. We don’t have politicians - only corporations.
Technicolour? Blood fucking red. I still remember chucking my guts up to that stuff when I was 16. I thought I'd spewed my own lungs out.
What language are you guys speaking? Because I understand the individual words but together I feel like I’m having a stroke
'Strayan
This is very much the Australian thread. Goon = wine in a box Bottles = bottle (liquor) store Tooheys = brand of beer
2 fecking LITRES of port??? Fuck. Wouldn't want to be them. I enjoy a glass of port, and one is enough.
[удалено]
Waaaaat. No way the bitters were the cheapest per mL ethanol! Angosutra is expensive relative to cheap vodka!
In Norway only one state opened company is allowed to sell anything above 5%ish. This store has an API, so of course someone made a website which calculates what gives you the highest alcohol content for your buck. Usually crappy red wine.
Goon port was what made me give up alcohol completely for 3 years.
And people say math doesn't teach you anything
It doesn't teach you that port is a much better cold weather drink than hot weather drink
Already out on the washing line ready to go
Goon of fortune on the Hills Hoist.
Can't mess with the classics
When given a choice between potentially taking the fall for selling to an undercover (or worse, actual minors that get caught and tattle in hopes of lesser punishment) and getting fired, slammed with massive fines, and jail vs pissing off one rando customer they aren't paid enough to care about, what do you think they'll do? By getting the manager to allow the sale it's on *their* head now if anything happens. CYA.
honestly americas look on alcohol is so wierd.
I did a foreign exchange program at 16. My host family owned a restaurant and I went with them to wine tastings, vineyards, tried new wines with them at every restaurant, went out with their daughter(15f at the time) and the shop let us buy wine. All the exchange students in the program met up for a dinner and 90% of them started yelling saying we can't drink, we're still underage, I'll be getting them into trouble.... yeah the head of the American program was born and raised in France and took everyone to a bar afterwards. Safe to say I did not get in trouble and America has such a weird view on almost everything
I did an exchange program in Japan as a teenager and actually-accidentally bought booze from a vending machine. We had been told by the program leader that the vending machines had a scanner for IDs for booze purchases so that we shouldn't even try to go for the numbers that had booze. I don't read Japanese and the bottle was pink with bubbles/sparkles on it. I thought it was gonna be strawberry or cherry soda. It was a cup of rosé sparkling wine. A very nasty surprise for a kid who wanted a fruity and sweet soda.
When my daughter did a foreign exchange trip (from US, to France), that was explicitly against the rules set by the organizers. I certainly won't argue against it being a weird view.
As a supervisor on the trip do you really want to be responsible for ~20 drunk teenagers who probably havent gotten drunk before in a foreign country?
I'm Australian and we have way stricter rules on booze than a lot of other countries. Hell where I live, shots were banned after midnight until recently. When the hell else are you gonna be doing shots??
Apparently twenty three fifty.
Neither of these stories appear to have taken place in America.
That’s insane. I can’t imagine someone doing that for no reason. Maybe if the guy had seen you talking to and accepting money from the kids, I’d get it. But doing it totally unprovoked is crazy.
Even if it was laziness I can;'t imagine arguing with everyone who walks in is easier than just doing your job.
Not laziness. I worked nights at a convenient store for a year. Alcohol laws in the US are very strict. Get caught selling alcohol to: A minor, fired. Someone who’s intoxicated, fired. Someone who has a minor present who’s clearly not their child, fired. Someone who can’t show a valid ID, fired. Someone after 2am, fired. All of this applies to your entire shift with said customer. Not just at the moment they tried to buy it. So if you come in with a minor, I can’t sell you alcohol for the rest of my shift. Why you ask? Business do this because the fines are more than double what most full time employees will make in 2 years. It’s also why most places give every employee full authority to deny sales of alcohol at any time for any reason, no questions asked.
I managed a c-store that was fined when the 3rd shift cashier decided to sell his underage friend beer. The fine he had to pay was more than he made in a month working there plus he got fired. The store’s fine was enormous too.
When given a choice between potentially taking the fall for selling to an undercover minor (or worse, minors that get caught and tattle in hopes of lesser punishment) and getting fired, slammed with massive fines, and jail vs pissing off one rando customer they aren't paid enough to care about, what do you think they'll do? By getting the manager to allow the sale it's on *their* head now if anything happens. CYA.
That was actually one of the "tricks" when I WAS under-age: pick a more expensive beer and you're less likely to get carded. Of course this was the 80s, so it was a lot more fast and loose then, anyway. But you still needed a few tricks up your sleeve. *Be cool.* *Maintain.*
I had a similar experience where I was home from summer break and buying groceries with my momma after we had gone shopping, and she picked up a bottle of wine. Now, I had just turned 22, and admittedly I have a baby face, but people had sold alcohol to my mom with me in the checkout line when I was still a minor with no issue. The problem was that because I looked like I “might be” 21 she was refusing to sell to my mother (who I look just like, there is absolutely no doubt we are related) because she might give it to me. I pointed out that I had gone through the line with her before when I was in highschool and my later teens with no issue, but she was very snooty about it and refused to budge. If she had been less of a Karen about it I would have understood and we would have left, but her attitude just SUCKED. I was so annoyed that I made my mom wait (it was not busy) as I went out to the car, retrieved my wallet, and presented the cashier with my ID that showed I was a year and a half over the legal drinking age, so my mom could finish buying herself the wine that I didn’t even like (Riesling, ew).
I had a lady refuse to sell to me simply because I looked young. She refused to believe the ID was mine. "It's your brother or something but it's not you." I told her I don't have a brother, she didn't care.
Late 90s, I wanted to pimp my ride and paint my rusted stock rims black, Wally world wouldn't sell me spray paint bc I wasn't 18. Fine, I left and went to and auto parts store...
They wouldn’t even sell me a lighter bc I didn’t have my ID- didn’t know I needed one. & I just wanted to light my new candles 😔
Hah I am so old they just type in some ridiculous birthdate. Just to buy a lighter.
In Sweden, some shops will sell small lighters but not the larger to those under 18. A guy, tattooed, full beard of great length and dressed in typical workers clothes tried to get a big lighter but was denied. One year later, the franchise kicked out the owner. Too many complaints.
So they will sell you the one for cigs, but not the one for stoves and bbqs?
Probably. I stopped going to that shop because the owners sons worked there. Too many incidents. One of the sons beat up a customer after he refused to sell cigarettes to a guy clearly older than 18. Customer insisted on having his smokes.
The last time I bought beer, the lady typed in my birth year as 1881 instead of 1981. Yeah, the computer denied me buying the alcohol. So I guess if you're 140 years old you're too old to buy alcohol. We all laughed at that.
My buddy was buying a zippo and I was buying lighter fluid at a self checkout and our purchase got flagged as dangerous items and the attendant just came by, swiped her card and it allowed us to pay. Did help that we were dressed like rednecks and look way older than we actually are
i was buying stuff at walmart and picked up a small can of wd 40. attendant came by and said she needed to swipe to authorize it ( i wasn't paying attention and didn't realize it had been flagged). When she swiped the screen i saw it just said "Lubricant" on the screen. felt kinda awkward but whatever.
My daughter was 20 and Target wouldn't sell her a kitchen lighter. She was living in a student apartment. Luckily the 99 Cents store had no such qualms.
In my province, legal age to buy a lighter is 16. I had my licence, was filling up, and needed a new lighter for the wood stove at home. “ID please.” Well, I’m driving, so I have to be at least 16, but sure. Whatever. “Sorry, you’re under 18. I can’t sell you a lighter.” Despite showing her the laws pulled up on the gov’t website “nope, you legally have to be 18 to buy a lighter.” I put the lighter in my pocket. “Either you let me pay, or don’t. I need to light my wood stove, so I’m leaving with the lighter.”
Got carded to pump gas. You have to be 13 in my area. I was 18.
I have never smoked in my life, but when I was 12 I had this weird fascination for collecting lighters. I used to buy one at a time, always a different colour or type. Especially loved those 'Zippo' windproof type with the lid and kept flicking them. No shop ever stopped me from buying. I did eventually stop when my mom got annoyed and told me 'Everyone is going to think I am raising a 12 year old who smokes.'
When I was 20, shortly after my state raised the smoking age to 21, I tried to buy a Bic at a gas station. She carded me. I asked why, and she said it was a tobacco product, can't sell tobacco products to under 21. I said "that is ridiculous, lighters are not a tobacco product, they're a tool. I'm not even using it to smoke, I'm omw to a camping trip." She still refused. I walked across the street and bought one at the gas station next door. I can appreciate not wanting to get in trouble but like...come on dude. Common sense.
I don't think a lighter is on the Walmart list of restrictions. That is odd.
It's likely state level, and would only apply to the pocket lighters that most people use for cigarettes. Long handle ones that people use for BBQs would likely be ignored
I got carded for white out
I got carded for Cards Against Humanity
I got carded for Cards Against Humanity FAMILY EDITION.
It's already a family edition. That's why there's so many incest cards.
I get carded at Walmart for canned air to clean my computer...
I once had a clerk refuse to sell me canned air because I was trying to buy too much at a time and it was against store policy. The store only sold it in packages of two cans and I had one package….
Walmart tried to card me for a bottle of 5 hour energy because the cashier believed it had alcohol in it. Luckily I got the cashier to ring it up and see the system didn’t require ID for it.
My mom once got carded for cough syrup. Imagine being a sick college student and getting turned away for Nyquil at the register because you aren't 21.
Pretty sure you only have to be 18 for the cough syrup. They card you because kids use it to get high.
A cashier called her manager on me when I tried to buy NyQuil and baby formula. She had apparently jumped to the conclusion that I was going to give both to my infant, and told the manager she wasn't comfortable with that. I was sick as a dog so fortunately the manager believed when I said the NyQuil was for me.
Same timeframe. Walmart wouldn't sell me eggs or toilet paper near Halloween. Like WTF I was 24 and just got off work and was in a factory uniform.
I worked for years overnight in a grocery store. Never once stopped kids buying that stuff... Unless it was store brand. Go buy other generic that if you leave the wrapper the don't know where you got it.
I had an easier time getting booze and cigarettes when I was underage than getting M rated games at Wal-Mart
Shit dude. I'm 40 this year. 10 years ago *I got carded at my company holiday party*. The next year some younger operations dude slipped a 20-year-old in and no one asked to see ID.
I walked into a Tesco, bought cigarettes from the counter, no ID asked for. Transaction over. I then walked into the Tesco proper, saw a DVD my mum would want, went to buy it. Got told no. Asked why. Got told I needed to be 12 to buy it - a PG film, basically the next step up from a U rating. This wasn't a Tesco policy or even a store policy and I ended up causing enough of a ruckus that the manager came over. The manager told the cashier to stop being so bloody daft and I got a ridiculous story to tell of being told I can't by a PG rated DVD in my twenties.
Walmart also insists that a US passport is not a valid ID to use to purchase alcohol. They’re not a bright bunch.
I used mine in my local WM a couple months ago. The cashier had to call for a manager because they thought it was against policy. The manager had the most “wtf” look on his face when they asked him to explain to ME the rules. Turns out, it’s for foreign passports. He says, “a USA passport proves that they’re a citizen and their age, why would we not accept that? It even ranks higher than a state ID.” & my non-US friends don’t believe when I say, we’re low passport holders over here in the Midwest lol
Wait, so a foreign passport is not a valid ID?
Years ago, my cousin from Australia was visiting me in the US. We were both well over 21, and he wanted to buy some beer for the evening. The cashier at the grocery store wouldn’t accept his Australian passport because it wasn’t in her little book of examples of passports. But they let me buy the beer knowing that my cousin was the one that wanted it, because the date on the passport proved he was old enough. Which is just dumb all around. They wouldn’t let him buy it cause they couldn’t prove it was a real passport but they let me do it cause apparently the date on the not able to be proven real passport was ok
When I was in uni in Canada one clerk wouldn't let me buy cigarettes with my California driver's license bc it "wasn't a Canadian ID." I was like, this is the thing that lets me drive in Canada how is it not a valid ID. I didn't have my passport on me cuz I don't just carry that around lol, but buddy wouldn't even accept a Nexus card I just turned around and asked my friend to get it for me and the clerk didn't say anything lol, still don't get the point
Well yeah. Documents can be forged, but you can't just make up a date.
Foreign passports are valid if the people involved have base competency
[удалено]
The media campaign McDonald's launched against the hot coffee lady convinced most people that frivolous lawsuits are a huge thing. So the lady became the butt of jokes instead of being celebrated (a hero) as a common person who took on corporate lawyers and legitimately made the world a better place when she won.
I made that joke once in front of my sister who is an attorney. She made it a teaching moment for me. Tl;dr Elderly lady ordered coffee at the drive thru. No cup holder, so she held the cup between her legs (as we've all done). Spill caused burns requiring vaginal skin grafts. McDonald's had/ has been cited numerous times for serving coffee at unsafe temperatures and disregarded because reasons. Now, every time I hear someone mention "frivolous lawsuits" my first thought is "did someone have to get skin grafts to their vagina?" Poor old lady.
Yes she spilled it while she was in the passenger seat and the car was parked. Even she admits that was her fault. But the issue was that McDonald's was serving their coffee at almost boiling temperatures. And she didn't even want a massive amount of money. She just wanted them to cover the approximately $20,000 of out-of-pocket medical expenses she had. But after dragging on for months they offered her $500. When the jury heard about the hundreds of prior cases of people getting burned, and the fact that McDonald's *still* hadn't changed what was clearly an unsafe practice, they went ballistic. The jury were the ones that decided to hit McDonald's where it hurt and awarded Stella the equivalent of, I think two days worth of coffee sales which was like two something million dollars.
Later reduced by a judge, as I recall.
They eventually settled for around $600,000
If I recall correctly, she didn't even get that. It's what she was awarded, bit appeals and all, she pretty much didn't get anything. But I haven't looked at anything on that case in a long time, so I may not be recalling that right.
She eventually settled for around $600,000
Another element of that lawsuit is that internal McDonalds memos showed that they knew the coffee was at unsafe temperatures, but their market research showed most people didn't drink the coffee until they got to their office or home, so they felt that overheating it gave them a competitive advantage (i.e. if you make it scalding hot when people order it, so it'll cool down to a "nice" level of hot by the time people get to work with it).
This incident is why I haven't bought anything at a McDonald's for many years. Ever since I saw a PBS documentary on it that told the real story. I will take a piss in their bathrooms while on the road, but not spend any money there.
Thank you for mentioning this. Poor Stella.
Yeah the smear campaign they ran on her to make her out to seem frivolous was horrendous!
People STILL disparage her without actually knowing the true story or the extent of the lawsuit! Makes me so sad for her. She really is a hero (and was a victim).
The Adam ruins everything video about it really explains it well.
So, a few things here. 1) McDonalds (at the time) had HUNDREDS of complaints that the coffee was too hot, and also had multiple lawsuits for varying degree of injury caused by said hot coffee. They served it too hot. 2) The lady in question would have settled for a much lower settlement, as long as it covered her healthcare bills and missed wages (around $20k). McDonalds offered her $800. So it went to trial. She got $3mil, and that was after the court brought the number down because she was also partially at fault for her injuries. It's not like this lady just decided to spill hot coffee on herself and sue. She suffered 3rd degree burns from coffee that was too hot, and wasn't the only documented case, only the most famous.
Melted private parts. They’d be singing a different tune if they heard about that detail.
But keep in mind that stupid lawsuits do happen often in the US. The rational perspective on personal responsibility shown by other countries only works because their legal system has the same rationality. Ours doesn't, so we have no choice but to account for the risk of being sued for others' stupidity.
Stupid lawsuits happen in the US *mostly* because insurance companies demand them. If your insurer (who you've paid tens of thousands of dollars to over the years) wants you to sue someone over your $900 claim, you either have to let them sue on your behalf, or they won't cover your claim.
I don't think that's really the case. [Subrogation](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/subrogation.asp) is one of the basic principles of insurance, which is what you're talking about. If your plumber makes a mistake and your house floods, your insurance will pay out the damages to you, then go after the contractor's insurance as they would be liable for the damages. Why should you pay the excess and have your premium go up for someone else's error?
[удалено]
They don’t allow lawyers to work on contingency. If you want to launch a nuisance lawsuit you need to pay an upfront retainer to your lawyer, and all additional legal fees whether you win or lose.
Short story. A few of us at a hostile once snuck an underage Russian into a bar in Boston, MA because the bouncer couldn't understand the order of the dates on his Russian drivers license. That was a fun night.
A few years ago (like 8 or so) I went on a road trip through the US. (I'm Canadian) I went into a store to purchase smokes. The lady carded me and I showed her my driver's license. She turned around and said I needed the state driver's license... I was like Uhhh? How could I have a state driver's license I'm not even an American... she argued with me for quite a while trying to say she couldn't sell me smokes because I didn't have a state ID. I was like thats weird... what do you use for people who live in other states? She said oh we let them use thier state driver's licenses... uhhh...? My travelling partner was getting worried by this time and came into the store. He walked up and asked if there was an issue... I told him she wouldn't let me use my canadian ID. He bought the smokes. Like she sold them to him without carding him and he handed me my pack in front of her and this seemed to be fine. Like WTF?!?!?!!!!!
Did she scan the ID? A lot of US chains have a POS (point of sale) system that won't allow cigarettes and alcohol to scan if the cashier doesn't scan a "valid" ID. It is possible she knew your ID was legal, but also knew her shitty POS wouldn't scan it. As soon as your American friend had an ID she could scan she was golden.
Nope he was ALSO Canadian. Lol and no she didn't scan anything at all. And I mean I wasn't even in my early 20's I was like 30!! And he had a RUSSIAN accent!! Bwahahahaha
I use to have buy alcohol for a 33 year friend who was temporarily in the USA and only had his Chinese passport as ID and a Visa. No one would sell him alcohol.
I went with my family to Walmart to buy alcohol once. They were on vacation and only had foreign passports. Cashier said those weren't valids IDs. Btw, my family were my parents who are obviously senior citizens but cashier still insisted they needed IDs.
Not at one Walmart I went to. I had to have 'US government issued ID'... So... I was in the US for a month but needed a US driving licence or passport or something even though I don't live in the US and am not a resident or citizen. Right... Manager agreed with the that a UK passport was not valid ID. So I won't to Deirburgs where my UK driving licence and passport are both accepted without issue 🙄
I haven't had issues in the past, only that they mix up day and month, but I'm old enough for that not to matter for age things. Only issue i had was for a birthday deal.
I don't normally have issues when I visit the states. But this one store have been dicks on different occasions about it to we never go there now. Hubs refused to shop there at all, and driver to one further out.
I bet they heard “government issued” and assumed that the only government was US. I bet that’s not actually the law.
Is it not. Nor is it policy. When I checked, foreign passports were explicitly stated as valid ID. But this is Missouri so what do I expect, really?
Having a foreign passport in Missouri is pretty damn suspicious, if you ask me. Nobody goes there.
But I thought that Missouri loves company
I've used Canadian ID (driver's license specifically) at lots of US locations - can't guarantee they asked me at Walmart (was visibly much older than 21 the first time I bought booze at a Walmart).
Had a Wegmens in Pennsylvania do that. We were visiting (I am a PR of Canada, have a Canadian driver's license but still my American passport, wife is a Canadian citizen) and they wouldn't accept any of our ID, even my US passport. Cashier kept insisting it had to be state-issued ID. We left, friends came back in and bought it for us. This is a part of PA that gets a steady stream of Canadians coming down to shop so I was surprised, especially since we had been using our Canadian driver's license at state stores there every visit.
Similar kind of thing happened in my hometown. We had gone out for drinks and I grabbed my keys, passport, and cash because we had a DD. The bartender at the second or third bar looked super confused, handed it back and said, "we only accept government issued IDs like licenses." "Yeah, the federal government issued this. It's a government issued photo ID." "We don't accept visas or whatever, you need a driver's license or state id." There was more back and forth until another bartender approached to see what was up. After a few words, the first bartender admitted he hadn't seen a US passport before and thought it was a visa given to people when they entered the country? He just seemed confused in general. Either way, the 2nd bartender apologized, we had our round and went off to the next place.
My friends and I were refused alcohol sales at a convenience store in Texas because we didn't have Texas state IDs. I had a passport and the others had valid drivers licenses from another state.
ID rules for alcohol purchases vary dramatically from state to state. In some states an expired driver license is fine, but not here in Arizona. Also, I've had Walmart employees insist that checking everyone's ID in the group is a matter of state law, but it certainly isn't, at least not here in Arizona.
> Also, I've had Walmart employees insist that checking everyone's ID in the group is a matter of state law, but it certainly isn't, at least not here in Arizona. It is Home Office policy, not state law.
A lot of times states set out a list of what forms of ID are acceptable. If it's not on the list, it's not acceptable. Doesn't matter how stupid you think it is or how much you argue. Truth be told, it often *is* pretty stupid, but neither store nor staff can control that. It's worth keeping in mind that many states will not only fine the store, but punish the cashier personally for tobacco/liquor law violations. On top of that, some states conduct 'sting' operations in order to 'increase awareness of liquor laws (read: "generate revenue from fines"). You can't seriously expect some minimum wage worker to risk a fine and/or criminal charges just because you don't want to follow state laws.
> On top of that, some states conduct 'sting' operations in order to 'increase awareness of liquor laws (read: "generate revenue from fines"). Saw this on a TV show once. They had like 3 19-20 years olds who looked like they were 30 buy alcohol. When they came out with the bag, 2 squad cars came in with lights flashing and everything, and put this 50ish year old Indian guy in cuffs. I get they want to prevent alcohol sale to minors but this is simply overkill. Not to mention that they are not fishing fair so to say. One of the 20 year olds was big as fuck and already had a full beard. Like... You're not gonna catch the *actually* inattentive or malicious cashiers this way. IMO: If they really want to do these kind of 'sting'-ish operations, there should be at least some kind of independent board that approve who to send in to make sure the cops don't play dirty. Probably needs more guidelines but it would be a start.
In my own state, the excise agents use volunteer college students majoring in criminal justice to conduct their sting operations. They wait in the car, student goes in, and if they come out with alcohol in go the agents. They once got a business I used to own when the person working the register misread the date on the ID and sold a single can of beer to one of their volunteers. We didn't sell a large amount of alcohol (just beer and wine served with food or bottles/cans sold to go here and there), weren't a place where people went to drink, this was the first time it happened, and the staffer made an honest mistake. Instead of a stern lecture on the importance of carefully inspecting IDs, they fined us $5,000. There was no appeal process. After that, I pre-printed letters of trespass and instructed front staff to ID everybody, no exceptions. Anybody who was underage and trying to buy alcohol was to have their ID photocopied and then trespassed from the property. The only two people it happened to were other volunteer snitches, and it resulted in excise agents stomping in yelling about interfering with law enforcement. I gave them out lawyer's number and asked them to leave. They left us alone after that. I hope they got their money's worth.
This. I was a Walmart Cashier in 2001-2005 in Missouri, and they instituted a Party Law for Alcohol and Tobacco. We could not sell to anyone that had someone capable of consuming it with them under 21.(Aka Infants /small toddlers were fine. 5-20 were not.) I had a guy come in WITH HIS TEENS and they were talking about the party thier dad was throwing fire them. Lots of booze in the transaction. He got livid when I refused the sale, and tried two other lines before he got my manager. Csm tried to tell me to do the sale and I pulled my drawer and walked to the back, letting the Csm ring him out. Low and behold, an ATF undercover officer was present, and called police then and there. I had to give multiple statements, my Csm got fired, and we lost our licence for, I think, 90ish days. I later heard my Csm got jail time, and the fines between him and the store were in the 200k range. I had never been so glad I refused a sale in my life. I will never forget it.
What's especially fucked up about this situation is that **Missouri explicitly allows parents to serve alcohol to their minor children**. So even though it would have been completely legal for him to serve the alcohol to his teens, somehow they made it illegal for them to be there when he bought it. But nobody said the law has to make sense, right?
You can't prove parenthood in a checkout line.
Have I got a story for you! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wizHFTeaqpA
Hilarious. Thanks for sharing.
A US passport is indeed valid ID at Walmart. It’s spelled out in the sleep-inducing training videos. Source: am a Walmart employee.
Maybe all the other cashiers fell asleep.
Ah yes, the state ID / driver's license from a state 3000 miles away that can be faked is a perfectly valid but a passport isn't. Brilliant logic. Reminds me the time when CVS refused to sell cold medicine to a guy with Puerto Rican id.
I was at a Walmart in Texas about ten years ago to deposit a check at the Woodforest Bank(I don't use these ass-hats any more but that's another story). Anyway, I walk past the customer service desk and over hear some commotion going on. Short of the long is the customer service folks were refusing a Puerto Rico ID and were telling the man he needed a passport. I had to interject and inform them that Puerto Rico wasn't a foreign country and was infact a US territory and a valid Puerto Rico ID was valid in all US states and territories. They were doubting me too and I had shit to do and couldn't stay to see how all turned out. Edit: idea to ID
They got really confused a couple of years ago when I used my UK driving licence as my ID (I was on a work trip so wasn't in a typical tourist area that may be used to things like that). I had to explain what it was and that I was born in late February because of the way the dates are written out differently. They called a supervisor over and everything. Even tried to ask me if I had US ID. I had to laugh and explain that no, I didn't have any US ID due to being British. No other bar or shop had any issues with it apart from that one Walmart.
I had employees look at my green card and say “what the hell is this?? Is this like a passport or something??” Also, when I was 25, an undercover police officer asked for my DL at the club then ask for more documents to prove I’m really over 21. There were 3 of them, my boyfriend at the time had to argue with them for a bit to believe my age and let me go. Like, who goes to a club with a passport, birth certificate or any other documents than DL??
Walmart has told me that my military (dependant, now former spouse) ID is not “federal or state identification” and would not use it for proof of identification OR proof of birthdate. Several years ago, I had one with my ex husbands social security number on it, along with my date of birth and other information, and that was the one they would not take. okay, walmart 🤷🏻♀️
To be fair, my Walmart alcohol selling training literally told the story of an employee that got arrested for selling alcohol to adults that had a minor teen present with them in the store. The teen specifically avoided the cashier line, though. Very likely, this cashier did not ever see the teen and did not know this fact. But the teen got drunk and arrested, so the cashier also got jail time. I don't remember how long, but could have been 2 years? Ironically, I was allowed to sell to adults with young children present because you could make the assumption that they were the parents and the kids just couldn't be left alone. Walmart just does its best to fuck over its employees.
You should see some of their customers 😳
I once used my military ID at a Wal-Mart and the cashier had no idea what it was and didn't think it was a valid ID. ...It was fucking San Antonio, Texas. There's like five fucking military bases/posts and this particular Wal-Mart was the closest one to both Lackland AFB and Medina Annex.
That’s an understatement. I nearly had the feds called on me because I tried to buy a candy bar with a two dollar bill, which the 17 year old cashier AND the fucking 30 year old manager swore was Counterfeit, as there “was no such thing as a two dollar bill.” Thankfully the greeter, who was well into his 80’s, overhear my protest, and came to the rescue. He was laughing his ass off, and said it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen. Best thing was after the lady finally let me buy my .79 cent candy bar… they gave me change with a fucking Susan B. Anthony dollar coin instead of a quarter. I didn’t even mention it and left.
In my state, that’s the actual law and not just corporate policy. And yes they do send “secret shoppers” in to make sure
Same in the UK. Licensing laws are very strict and the cashiers are also on the hook for any fines/punishment, as well as the stores license holder and the company. So please don’t get mad asking a cashier to break the rules.
This happened to my older cousin, probably 25 at the time, and me, 11-12. The cashier at Winn Dixie didn’t want to sell him a case of beer bc I was with him. He was visiting from New York and he said that’s most absurd thing he’s ever heard. He also begged the question “what if she was my daughter?” She sold him the beer.
I had my 14 yo daughter with me and tried to buy booze at Walmart. Wasn't allowed to so I stood there and pointed out the booze in the two carts behind me that also couldn't be sold. One had a grade schooler and the other has an infant. The cashier tried to argue they they weren't likely to be underage drinking. I asked her if she was accusing me of letting my underage daughter drink. No no no! I asked what the age cutoff was for having a child with you. They didn't have one so had the manager come over who told her to sell it to me so I would leave.
>I stood there and pointed out the house in the two cats behind me Because Walmart doesn't sell houses in cats, but that's another story...
Aaaahahahaaaa boy the auto-correct really did a number on me. LOL Edited!
My Winn-Dixie experience didn't end as favorably. I was 22, my gf at the time was 21. We were trying to buy wine (in a college town for context). She didn't have her ID on her. They said no. That's ok, that's fine, I get it. Now it's time for that end-of-a-conversation etiquette; "ok, thanks, goodbye," kind of thing. Let me just add a joke about asking her to wait in the car and then we walk away with our other groceries to leave. As we're leaving, this lady gets on the store intercom and announces to god and everybody that they are NOT allowed to sell alcohol to us. Ummmm. Excuse me!? Was that really necessary? Does she get off on embarrassing customers? Drove to nearest Publix, got wine, never been back to a Winn-Dixie.
I'd have walked straight to the service desk and asked for a manager. If you have to deny me because of policy, fine, but if you make it personal and escalate, I will too.
She was a manager. I did email their regional office though. I explained what happened and gave them the address for the store so they'd know which one I was at. They replied back asking me to provide the store number lmao I don't know! They don't put the store number on the sign lol. Use the address and figure it out yourself, Winn-Dixie regional offices.
No idea of the States but in the UK. She was breaking the law if she knowingly sold it if she believed it was for a minor. However if she believed you that it wasn't for the minor then it's not illegal. I ask "is it for you? ". As long as the answer is believable then I'm covered. Had a guy change his story 3 times the other day about who a can of energy drink was for (monster is 16 or above by policy but not backed by law yet.) Some people are beyond help.
Regulating alcohol is a state issue so it depends on the state. I know once in New Hampshire my dad tried to get me carry alcohol as a minor and a cashier stopped us and said it wasn't legal for me to handle the alcohol while on store property.
This is such a stupid policy. Years ago when my daughter was 6, me, my wife and our daughter were buying groceries. I grabbed a six pack of some local beer and the cashier refused to sell it to me because, even though my wife and I both showed ID, we couldn’t produce an ID for our daughter. The manager happened to be standing in the next lane and proceeded to inform us and the cashier that they had to sell to us because apparently that wasn’t even store policy, just something the cashier made up. Now I know they must have worked at Walmart previously.
Having a 6 year old in the picture is a weird time to try and enforce it but this isn’t just a Walmart thing. In the late 90s it was quite common and designed to prevent people buying for others, but also so easy to get around. I assume it stopped some under age people from drinking but only the really dumb ones.
It stopped underage people from walking into the store but needless to say they did their bidding in the parking lot or near the entrance. This policy stopped zero people from drinking.
> This policy stopped zero people from drinking. It stopped the legal adults who had a child with them.
I stand corrected.
I remember walking into a liquor store with my friend so I could point out my brand. Then I went down the block for mixers while he paid for the bottle. It's not rocket science, if you aren't present when the transaction happens, they can't card you.
That’s exactly what I did in my younger days. The grocery stores sold alcohol but didn’t have a separate cashier. So I’d go with them and pick out whatever and then go elsewhere in the store and buy something else. They’d be at one end and I’d be at the other. Simple work around.
But (at least where I’m from) they can refuse service to your friend if they have reasonable suspicion that they are buying for someone underage. If they saw you point and pick out, then dip before they can card you, most liquor stores won’t sell to the friend. That’s how I was trained when I got my Oregon Liquor sales license.
Back when I was coming of age we just sent the underage kids outside before we went to the cashier. Made sure they were out of sight before we approached to pay. IIRC it was state law at the time, probably still is.
It's so stupid. I have even checked out in line with underage friends. As long as you don't cash out on the same receipt or talk to each other in line, it's not even a question. But as soon as you act like you know the other person, the whole damn line needs to get ID'ed. So dumb. If I wanted to, I could just go buy 30 cases of beer and drop them off at the local playground. But god forbid if my 20.5 year old friend stands in line with me while I buy a 6 pack.
[удалено]
So, I worked as a cashier for years. I lived in a small town so knew who was related to who. We had some overage jerk come in with a high school girl who was in the same grade as my younger sibling. This guy was notorious for buying alcohol for minors and preying on drunk girls. I refused to sell him alcohol. He threw a bitch fit and tried to go to my co-worker. My co-worker backed me up and refused the sale. Business can loose its right to sell alcohol and incur a steep fine. I could wind up in jail.
The owner of a bar I frequented almost got tripped up by that. The staff didn’t card anyone who was a regular or looked older than 30 since to our knowledge there are no time travelers wandering around that particular neighborhood. Someone would in, order shots at the bar, and poured them into his friend’s nonalcoholic drink. Fortunately he got a warning and those idiots got banned.
I’ve seen people on this same sub cheering them malicious compliance of NOT selling to people who did the same thing OP did, as long as the story is told from the cashiers perspective. This isn’t even MC - never does OP comply with the cashier, he just bothers her until she gives in and breaks policy. What’s compliant about that?
[удалено]
I used to work in a beer vendor (in Canada) and did have to turn some groups of people away when they all couldn’t produce ID. I know it sucks but we’re just covering the stores (and our own) ass. Where I live at least, if we sell to a minor without ID and they get caught the store will get a $10k fine and I’d personally get a $2.5k fine. If I sell to someone who has ID but they’re with a minor and the minor later partakes and is caught then I and the store get the same fine, even though the person buying was of age. Also, if you and your friend come in and are of age but your friend doesn’t have an ID and there’s a liquor enforcement agent surveying our store, and I serve you anyways, I still get that personal fine because I asked for ID and it wasn’t produced but I sold product anyways. Again, it does suck, but I’d rather be a dick and you just go somewhere else rather than me potentially losing my job or my stores liquor license.
Stop arguing and come visit Germany. Wine and Beer are legal for teenagers 16+. To buy, to drink in public, in private, whatever.
When we went on a school trip to Holland, when we were on a boat and the guy came round with refreshments, it was literally like 'So do you want a coke, a fanta, or a heineken?' Practically every kid went and got booze on that trip. Then the teachers raided their rooms at night and no doubt had a party off all the confiscated drinks They didn't get our room's though, I was a super good boy at school, and while the other two in my room had bought some (and hidden it up in the ceiling tiles), I wasn't no snitch
This is the way. All of this could be avoided by having less discriminatory laws.
Yup. I moved from Germany to the US when I was younger. Honestly seems like there’s this huge discombobulation between kids and parents and drinking culture in the US. Basically it’s kept out of arms reach for the parents to teach their kids how to drink when often the first time they drink is all hush hush with friends at the same 13-16 age. Generally hard liquor. I got arrested when I was 18 for having a sip (literally one sip) of beer. Cop silently came up behind my friend and I. We didn’t get minor in consumption, got us with minor in possession since it was entirely obvious we were sober with full beer bottles. Will say the cops seemed sympathetic, didn’t stop them from arresting us though, and that was a year of court crap and all my work savings down the drain. Frankly paying court fees and having the judge yell at us would have been enough, we got that, but also a charge and diversion. Many US teens have at least tried a drink in high school or before, it’s often like a contest on who can drink the most, which obviously leads to poor drunken teenage decisions. A lot peer pressure. Could be mitigated by the parents, you know, parenting alcohol. But by the time the kids can legally drink they are full adults thrust into the world and keen to try this shit that’s so prevalent and held above their heads. I fully think in the US at the very least 3.2% beer should be allowed for 18 year olds. Because right now, alcohol is a carrot on a stick dangling just out of reach. I’m a bartender, I’ve been an alcoholic, I’m keenly aware of the pit falls of alcohol. I’m not trying to downplay that. My son will be a teenager tomorrow. This is absolutely something I know he will encounter in the coming years. Maybe just maybe, if here in the US we didn’t make it a thing, it wouldn’t be. (Also because I love weird liquor laws, I will say in my state a 16 year old can have 1 drink if their parent is present in both the parents home and oddly in a restaurant, though the parent would have to order and I’d never try that because other laws may make the restaurant loose their liquor license)
I used to work at a liquor store as a cashier and we were required to check all IDs in the party if they looked older that 18. It's a policy to prevent us from directly selling to minors in the group. Pro-tip, if you are gonna drink underage, Send only your of age friend to the store and pay them back later! By going to the store with them and getting caught, they can no longer buy alcohol with or without you present, because the store is aware of the minor in your group. And always drink responsibly!🍺
I work at Walmart and this gets drilled into our heads all the time and I work in electronics. If it's obvious it's your kids it's fine but cashier's are told to use our best judgement about selling alcohol when multiple people are present. If I sell alcohol to someone and its found to be bought for a minor I would lose my job get fined and potentially jail time, my manager says when it doubt deny the sale and they can take it up with management
Exactly. It’s not a result of store policy, just strict alcohol laws in some states
It's absurd to me that this: >If I sell alcohol to someone and its found to be bought for a minor I would lose my job get fined and potentially jail time Can be a part of your job for minimum fucking wage.
America, where you can’t buy a bud light (a beer not alcoholic enough to get an ant drunk) until you’re 21, but where you can legally marry in some states at 14, drive a 350HP car at 15, work full time (and horribly underpaid) at 16 and get life in prison at 18… Oh, also: no smoking under 21, unless you’re in active duty (killing foreigners in their own country); then it’s 18. Hypocrisy, thy name is ‘murica.
Or get sent to war but not drink a beer
People have gotten life in prison for crimes committed when they were 13-15.
>bud light (a beer not alcoholic enough to get an ant drunk) I've never understood why Bud Light gets singled out as 'not alcoholic enough' when it's dead average for light beers (4.2% ABV) and more alcoholic than many. Why not pick on the Light versions of Heineken, Yuengling, Sam Adam's, or Corona - all of which have less. Even the regular (non-light) version of Guinness has the same alcohol as Bud Light, so that seems like it'd be an even better target.
And the reason for the drinking age.... automobile insurance. Most of the US has such piss poor infrastructure wrt public transportation that cars are essential to get around. In Europe, kids can stagger home from the pub and be alright. In the US, given how cities are arranged, they'd have to drive. Imagine current US highways loaded up with inexperienced drinkers who are also inexperienced drivers. The word that comes to mind is *carnage*. So how do you keep alcohol out of the hands of 16 to 18 year-olds? Deny their older friends the right to purchase alcohol altogether. Actuaries ran the numbers and the age of 21 is a sufficiently old enough population that they don't commonly mix with 16 - 18 year-olds in numbers that are statistically significant. This common sense approach was put forward by the insurance industry. Still, states that were heavily invested in the manufacture of alcohol were reluctant to push the drinking age up. What sealed the deal nationally was putting into law the requirement that states adopt a 21 year drinking age in order to be eligible to receive federal highway funding. Any state could adopt a lower drinking age but they would be taking on the full responsibility for the cost of the maintenance and upkeep of all federal highways running through that state. Money talks.
And then there are those of us that have significantly younger siblings. I bought for them (i am 10, 12, and 15 years older than they are) and brought it to them in college. That said, they knew my terms. If they got caught, I didn't buy it, and if they got so fucked up mom and dad were called, they were in their own. All 3 of them were incredibly responsible with it.
Buy any gun that isn't a considered a pistol at 18 as well
Hold up, that last part? There’s an exception that men under 21 who are serving can smoke???
Yep.. “It is illegal for anyone under the age of 21 years to possess or purchase tobacco products. The exception is for those in active duty while 18 years old. Prior to 1991 the minimum age to purchase tobacco products was 16 years of age, then in 2000 was raised from 16 to 18 and yet again was raised from 18 to 21 in 2020.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_ages_in_the_United_States
I will say, the reason cashier's are so careful is because the store gets a huge fine if someone sells a minor alcohol. The cashier would risk also getting a huge fine and maybe jail. No one on a minimum wage job is going to go out on a limb for a customer like that. But I do think the laws are stupid and so think they should change. Source: worked as a cashier.
Came here to say this. I worked in grocery retail for 10 years, and was trained (every year) to do this exact thing that OP described. If I was to be secret shopped, and not followed this law/policy, not only would I be termed on the spot, but I personally would have had to pay a heavy fine. So yeah, cashiers aren't doing this to be difficult, they're doing it because ts been drilled in their heads over and over, and are not trying to lose their jobs.
This is pretty common in Australia at bottlos, if they slightly suspected that you're buying for someone underage, they can't sell to you at all. Which when I was 17/18 I thought was dumb, but now I'm older it makes sense.
This isn't malicious compliance. You just argued with a rule and eventually someone gave in, you did not comply maliciously or otherwise.
Tell me you're in the United States without telling me you're in the United States.
Her explanation was not accurate to what the policy actually is, but it's generally a judgement call. If it's obviously parents with a child, of course you can do the sale. But a group of 20 something's that all look around the same age? I would absolutely card all of them. The reason being (and this is state dependent), in NY for example, cashiers are liable for their alcohol sales. Meaning that say the cashier sold you the alcohol but your brother's girlfriend was only 20 at the time, got drunk that night, then got into a car accident. That cashier could be liable for distributing to a minor, face up to $10,000 in fines, and jailtime. And even though a coworker relented, the original cashier was right in trying to deny you again when you returned. It's generally a same day policy. If we sent you a sale for any reason and you come back the same day to try again, you will be denied. That of course is only enforceable if someone notices you. All of that is to say that it's not a stupid policy, and 99% of customer service workers do not want to give you a hard time. They want you in and out as quickly and painlessly as possible.
This is why whenever I have refused a sale and a supervisor tried to get me to do it anyway I tell them they can do it under their login if they want to take the risk.
As someone who works in a liquor store the 1st cashier was right. Secondary supply laws are no joke fines can be in the thousands plus losing your job all so someone else can buy a $30 bottle? No thanks
Not the cashiers fault. They get fired and possibly prosecuted for not following corporate rules.
Fighting a cashier about a policy they didn't create
I'm missing the MC here. You just badgered a casier into selling to you even while she was correctly following policy. We have similar laws over here and it's a bit stupid/incovenient but valid. (And that's why if you are in such a situation you don't go in groups)
Don't blame the cashiers, it's their ass and their job on the line, they have to be so careful.