No alcohol before 12:00 on Sundays. Memorize it.

[Zell]

In North Carolina, you cannot buy alcohol before 12:00PM on Sundays.

I dread working before 12:00. Every time I cashier, I always have to tell people "Sorry, you cannot buy this before 12:00." Every response is "OH YEAH I FORGOT!" Then, I have to take their beer/wine and put it in the already full putback cart. Usually later, it is my job to go put all the alcohol back. If you've ever been to a Harris Teeter, you'd know of the VERY extensive wine collection that we have, and how it's impossible to find specific brands because it's so huge. The beer's easy, but there are so many wine bottles to put back that it takes well over an hour and is a pretty frustrating task. Then, as I am restocking, I will get people asking me what type of wine would go well with their dinner or where a specific brand of wine is. Hey lady, I'm 17, not 21; I don't know the first thing about cherry or even what a vermouth is.


The same people forget every time. They can't get it through their thick skulls that you cannot do that before 12 on Sundays. I can fully understand if they had just moved here and stuff, but the fact that I always see the same people forgetting annoys the bejesus out of me.

I had one lady flip a shit on me one time.

Me: Sorry, you cannot buy this before 12:00 on Sunday

Her: BUT I NEED THIS FOR A PARTY!

Me: I can't do anything about it and I am sorry.

Her: GOD. Can't you get your manager to override it???

Me: ....no, we cannot do that, that would be against the law and would be very illegal. You must come back after 12:00 to buy this.

Her: THIS LAW IS SO STUPID!! Why do we have it? (rants about it for a while and then leaves)

When New Years eve approaches it's the worst. I had to work in the morning from 8:00 until 1:00 on New Years Eve. That day happened to be a Sunday last year, and holy crap, the amount of people I had to deny alcohol to was staggaring. We had 2 and a half carts full of wine, one cart full of 24 packs, and one cart full of 6 packs. It was ridiculous.

These guys just don't get it. They're not memorizing the entire constitution; they're memorizing one law that was passed a loooooooong time ago. If I can remember all of the trigonometric properties and identities from Algebra 2 then I think these people can remember one law: Don't buy alcohol before 12:00PM on Sundays.

[zelper]

I think you mean 12PM!

This is the law in the UK too. Most larger stores will either block off the alcohol aisle with chained together trolleys or will have rolldown covers on the shelving units. It's not going to stop somebody determined from walking/climbing in and picking up alcohol but it's a pretty clear message nonetheless.

[Zell]

I think you mean 12PM!

This is the law in the UK too. Most larger stores will either block off the alcohol aisle with chained together trolleys or will have rolldown covers on the shelving units. It's not going to stop somebody determined from walking/climbing in and picking up alcohol but it's a pretty clear message nonetheless.

Woops, I feel dumb

But yeah I wish we would do something like that. I've told my manager "Hey, we get customers all the time trying to buy alcohol before 12 on Sundays. Don't you think we should put up a sign in the lobby area that clearly states it so they do not try to buy it?" He always says "That law's been around forever, they should know it by now." Unfortunately that logic won't work and people need a big fat sign to tell them. I'll ask him again and see if he will do it because I think he's getting tired of telling customers that law, too.

[wagegoth]

Technically, noon is 12:00 am. Just like the year 2000 was in the 20th century, not the 21st. But usage has altered this into something resembling common sense.

I have complete sympathy for you. The blue laws are a complete pain.

[vloglady]

It was 12 noon on Sundays in NY too. They just changed it recently to 8am.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I don't know if there's a time frame where you're not allowed to buy in NJ but usually you have to go to a liquor store; grocery stores don't sell it, though some have attached liquor stores. The store I usually go to has a liquor store attached, but their register system is different even though it's the same store. You can bring groceries into the liquor store even if they're not paid for but you can't pay for them there. If there is a time limit they can just lock the doors.

[auntiem]

We can't buy alcohol between 2am and 6am everyday so the 24hr places have to run to lock stuff up right at 2am and spend the next hour telling already drunk people they can't have it.

[Bliss]

Wagegoth: http://www.douglasadams.com/dna/pedants.html Btw before you hit me, I also was severely pissed that people celebrated 1999 -> 2000 as the new century. So I'm a pedant too.

[Andara Bledin]

Just like the year 2000 was in the 20th century, not the 21st. But usage has altered this into something resembling common sense.

Wagegoth: http://www.douglasadams.com/dna/pedants.html Btw before you hit me, I also was severely pissed that people celebrated 1999 -> 2000 as the new century. So I'm a pedant too.

Pointlessly pedantic, since we didn't even start counting the yearst till 500 some odd years in, and we've also skipped years from before we figured out about leap year. Oh, yeah, and scholars think we're about 50 years off, anyway, so, technically, you all missed when the new millenium should have started.

I, figuring that it's all completely and utterly arbitrary to begin with (and don't give me that "no year 0" stuff, since there wasn't a year 100, either, even if we do make reference to it) I celebrated on the 1999-2000 change, since I like pretty 0's.

(those would be numerical zeroes, in case you're wondering)

^-.-^

[justZu]

In my home state, not only are you not able to buy any kind of alcohol in grocery stores, but liquor stores are all closed on Sundays. If you want package goods, I think you have to go to a bar.
Your customers have no idea how lucky they are.

[Banrion]

Yep, same in CT. No alcohol on Sundays, except for restaurants. I don't know if bars (don't serve food) are allowed to be open either. I have never seen one open on Sunday. Throughout the rest of the week alcohol sales cease at 9:00pm for liquor stores, and 8:00pm in grocery stores. They are also not allowed to be open prior to 9:00 am. When you do the math, alcohol is available for purchase approx 43% of the time.

[aurelemsrealm]

Most places I've ever lived, no alcohol sales were allowed before noon on Sundays. The times that alcohol sales were shut off were vastly different from one place to another. I've seen it range from alcohol sales being shut down at midnight to alcohol sales being shut down at 3 a.m.

Someone mentioned putting up signs or blocking the alcohol section off.... most of the idiots trying to buy it at that time of day are totally oblivious to anything beyond their whims. Trust me, I've dealt with it time and again. I worked in a convenience store where we had locks installed on the beer cooler doors. At cut off time, we locked the beer cooler doors and put up large signs stating the hours during which alcohol sales are prohibited. I still got plenty of people who would literally stand there despite all those indicators and try to jerk open the doors. Then, they would comment that the doors are locked and ask why. By that point, I usually did get a little bit rude and sarcastic with them.

"Duh! Read the sign! We've stopped selling beer for the night! Come back later if you still want beer then!"

"Why can't I buy it now?" They'd follow up with whatever stupid protest, or even try to bribe me.

"City ordinance, I can't help you with that."

"That's stupid...... (blah, blah, blah, boo, hoo......)"

"Yes, it is, and so are you. Good bye!"

That's just a typical example of the exchanges I've had with people trying to buy alcohol despite locked cooler doors and the presence of a large-print sign which practically covered those cooler doors.

[ReverendBSB]

I used to work at a Circle K and had to deal with this crap all the time. Our laws were no alcohol from 2 am to 6 am most days, none before 12 pm or after 12 am Sunday. Most employees would tell customers no alcohol when the customers were at the coolers, when we had to many shoplifters because of that we would have to wait until they brought it to the counter then take it. We would have lots of idiots causing trouble trying to buy after the bars let out. I had this one guy I would not sell too who started yelling at me for smoking behind the counter (manager allowed it as we had no other smoking area and were not allowed outside after dark). I told him that it was allowed, he said "I work in a bar, I know you cant smoke back there!" I said "If you work in a bar you know the liquor laws and know I cant sell to you idiot!"

[Jinxy]

I do know that bars in CT are open on Sunday's I used to waitress at one and hated the Sunday shift.
I'm in Ga. now, and it's very odd to go from no sales after 9pm to drive thru shops that sell late at night and on Sunday, glad I didn't live down here in my drinking years.

Jinxy

[FredKlein]

Technically, noon is 12:00 am.

Um, no. If Noon were 12am, then 15 minutes later would be "12:15 am". But how can 15 minutes 'After Noon' be 'am'?

Look at 'military' time (24 hour time). The day starts at midnight ('000 hours'), which would be 12:00am. Noon is 1200 hours, 12:00pm.