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

[scary cary]

I think it's a stupid rule. I live in Las Vegas and we don't have weird laws like that. Why not before noon? I don't understand that at all.

All the same though, they shouldnt complain to you about it

[Rubystars]

Back when I worked at Kroger I had some woman whine to me about how she needed a bottle of wine for a party. I told her it was still illegal and she wasn't getting it and she was still angry with me for not breaking the law for her.

One reason I wish I could leave retail for something better is that I'm really tired of seeing people act in such a self-degrading manner. I'm tired of seeing adults act like they're two or three years old, and make total fools of themselves.

[Bella_Vixen]

At the 'Lounge, we can't sell beer after 9 PM. State law*.

This woman comes in at 9:20 with a friend, and they both grab a case of Bud. They bring it up to the counter. I tell them that I can't sell it after 9. (I would have stopped them from grabbing them from the cooler in the first place, but I had a line of customers.)

SC: "Why not?!?!"

me: "State law."

SC: "When did that happen?!?! I was here in (...wait for it...) 1992, and I was able to buy beer!"



Um, yeah. O...K...

That particular law has been in effect since BEFORE 1992, maybe even around 1989 (when I was 10...don't ask me why I would connect the two).

I just told her that unfortunately there was nothing I could do...but before I could tell her that the bar up the street sells carryouts, she temper-tantrumed her way out the door.

*State law in WI says (most) stores cannot sell beer between 9 PM and 9 AM. Some localities have different rules so they can sell til 10, midnight, or even 2 AM. Don't ask me how that works. My sister used to own a liquor store. They had to close at 10. Less the 5 miles down the road, the stores could sell til midnight, since they were in another town. ::

[Ackee]

nice one

It's not going to stop somebody determined from walking/climbing in and picking up alcohol but it's a pretty clear message nonetheless.

I love the way you put this. Maybe there is someway I can rephrase it to the idots that walk in at my job?

[lordlundar]

Ask your manager if you can put a toy rifle on the wall and a sign that says "We shoot anyone trying to buy alcohol before 12 noon on Sunday."

Yeah, I know, probably not, but it will be fun to try!

[mariamousie1]

I always saw 12 am being midnight, because that's when morning starts. Just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.
I never heard of that law up here. I don't think it exists in Canada. I don't buy liquor though so I really don't know.

[Auto]

My local Walgreens has a huge liquor department. But it also has metal gates that close off that department during hours when booze can't be sold. It solves a lot of problems.

The first time I ran the register at a store that sold alcohol, the manager taught me to treat any customer who wanted me to violate the law (usually not haivng ID) as someone who was part of an undercover sting operation by the cops and state liquor authorities.

When they started whining that I should make an exception for them, I was supposed to tell them that only undercover cops talk like that.

Manager told me to act like I was on to their sting operation. "You're a cop, right? I sell you that six-pack and 10 seconds later I got the cops swarming in here and I lose my liquor license. Sorry, sweetie, I'm not that stupid."

It's surprisingly effective. you just keep repeating, "You're a cop running a sting. Sorry, but I'm not falling for that."

There's not a lot they can say to prove they're not cops.

[aurelemsrealm]

Back when I worked at Kroger I had some woman whine to me about how she needed a bottle of wine for a party. I told her it was still illegal and she wasn't getting it and she was still angry with me for not breaking the law for her.

One reason I wish I could leave retail for something better is that I'm really tired of seeing people act in such a self-degrading manner. I'm tired of seeing adults act like they're two or three years old, and make total fools of themselves.

I had this one girl cuss me out because I carded her. "I'm 21 g*******!!! This is f****** bull****!"

"Well, then you should have a driver's license since 21 is not stamped on your forehead."

She kept cussing like a sailor.

"You're acting worse than a two-year-old. Leave now!"

"What are you going to do if I don't leave?"

I pick up the phone, "I'll call the police, and you can explain why you're driving without a license."

She stormed out real quick. From then on, she walked right back out the door as soon as she saw me at the counter unless she actually remembered her ID. Suits me just fine either way. I still get paid the same rate per hour regardless.

[Antisocial_Worker]

I think it's a stupid rule. I live in Las Vegas and we don't have weird laws like that. Why not before noon? I don't understand that at all.

All the same though, they shouldnt complain to you about it

Blue laws. They were passed ages ago, and were actually enforced for so long that it became tradition, and are observed today even though nobody can give you a good reason why. We've got scads of dumb laws nationwide.

It's a state law in NC that you may not use an elephant to plow a cotton field, for example. In my city of Asheville, it is illegal to sneeze in public, nor may you be buried inside a public building, for another couple of examples.

[AFpheonix]

I think it's a stupid rule. I live in Las Vegas and we don't have weird laws like that. Why not before noon? I don't understand that at all.

I'm guessing that before noon on a Sunday, you're supposed to be in church, not drunk in a gutter, according to the original law drafters.

(Or worse yet drunk AT church, although that might make the sermon a little more interesting....)

[Dips]

I'm guessing that before noon on a Sunday, you're supposed to be in church,

When my dad was on vacation in another state, he tried to buy wine before noon on a Sunday.

When he was told he couldn't, he joked about it. "Oh. Gee whiz. I can't buy wine. I know! I'll go to church instead!"

Nobody thought it was funny but me. Either they've heard that joke a million times, putting it in the "It doesn't scan? It must be free!" category or nobody else got it.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Speaking of dumb laws, at one time margarone was illegal in the state of Wisconsin.

Fortunately, we have joined modern times and *knock knock* Hmmm, I wonder who it could be (gets up, goes to the door)

OH NOES, IT'S THE MARGARINE POLICE!

/jumps out window

[Sparky]

Stupid blue laws? Try Indiana.

No alcohol sales on Sundays. (Except in restaurants. And at the winery which is owned by a law professor who managed to get a loophole passed into state law.)

No alcohol on Christmas. Okay. I understand. I disagree, but I understand.
No alcohol on Easter. Sure. It's a religious holiday, and it's on Sunday anyway, so of course not.
No alcohol on election day until after the polls close at a ridiculously early 6:00 p.m. Again, I think it's overkill, but it makes sense.

No alcohol on Labor Day. What? Excuse me? Because I'm going to get rowdy buying booze on a holiday? This one really ticks me off. Of course you can't buy alcohol on other state holidays either, like New Year's Day.

Stores may not get a license to sell alcohol if they're within a certain distance (I think 500 feet) of a church. What? The fumes will float over and affect the congregation? The good churchgoer's innocent tots will be corrupted by looking at a grocery store that has beer in the shelves inside?

[Broomjockey]

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'?

Shockingly, Wagegoth's right. http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/ampm.html
This is why it is suggested to use midnight and noon rather than AM and PM.

[Jester]

In Key West, where drinking is considered a sport, you cannot sell alcohol before noon on Sunday.

This shocks many vacationers, and many of them do not take it well.

Even when we tell them that it is a CITY LAW, and there is NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT, these entitlement whores still insist on us "making an exception." Sorry, I don't like you that much to begin with, and I definitely don't like you enough to violate city law, endanger my place of employment's liquor license, and thus endanger my employment status at said establishment. Thank you, don't come again.

On the flip side, there is a very amusing loophole to this law that I found out about many years ago. While my bar's team was getting breakfast before the Battle of the Bars (bartender olympics that raise money for charity and are an excuse to get trashed), we tried to order a round of beer with our breakfast, forgetting it was Sunday and 1030 am. The manager, who knew us all, told us she could not sell us alcohol before noon. We realized she was right, and apologized to her for forgetting.

A few moments later, she came out with the round of beer in question and with a big smile said, "I can't SELL them to you, but it is not at all illegal for me to GIVE them to you for free!" And thus we were happy, she was amused, and the rest of the breakfast patrons in that otherwise normally quiet diner were quite confused.

Gotta love loopholes like that!