We are the SC's.

[CanadaGirl]

I used to frequent a small liquor store just down the street from my apartment when I was in college. The guys that worked there knew me so well I was usually able to buy stuff without being asked for ID.

Well one time I had my wallet stolen, and couldn't get a new ID right away as I didn't have enough money, I had to wait until I got paid. So I went down that weekend and tried to buy a six pack for an underage friend, and the owner was behind the counter, which he usually wasn't. He wanted my ID. I'd had a really bad day, I had several friends waiting for me to come back with the beer, and he gave me attitude about not having ID, so I gave it back to him. I was pissed, and said the dreaded SC words...'But I come in here all the time and I never get asked for ID!!!'

He was like 'so what'.

The guys that worked there were all scared of him so no one told him that they knew me really well and had checked my ID multiple times before. I argued and finally stormed out telling him I was never coming back. He said 'fine with me'.

I'm sorry that the manager of that liquor store gave you a hard time over you not having your id, but since the guy didn't know you're a regular, I'd have to side with him(but not his attitude). At the liquor store I work at, if a cashier sells alcohol to a minor and is found out by LP or whomever, the cashier and store could receive a $10,000 fine and the cashier would be fired. I doubt anyone would want that on their shoulders and pocketbook if they sold liquor to a minor. I'm sure if he knew you were also buying it FOR a minor, he would have refused the sale.

The manager here is pretty 'scary' at times, since I've heard she has a fireball anger. She's rude to customers and steals from the donation boxes on the tills, and there is/was a rumor she stole or sold off an entire pallate of alcohol out the delivery door. We all think she's quitting during her 1 month(yet 2 months pay, wtf) holiday. Damn hope so.

Sorry if I got a little off topic there.

[Jester]

[

ANYWAY. despite having been served before, and having THREE separate state issued documents proving that I was 21 (actually 24), he wouldn't serve me. I can go to a liquor store and use my non photo license, I can drive with it, I can get on a plane with it... but I can't buy a damn drink. I don't get that... and I think in my case, I should have been given the benefit of the doubt.

(emphasis added)

I know, I know, I have harped on this very issue before, but I feel as one of the resident Food Service Drones, I need to jump in here. While the server may well have been a bit anal, to say the least, they were in all likelihood doing the job as they had been told to do it, and following the law as they had been told to do it. While you may think that you deserved the benefit of the doubt, the law does not allow the server to offer the benefit of the doubt, nor does the law extend to the server the benefit of the doubt…period.

I have been in the food service industry for 20 years, most of them in alcohol-serving establishments. I have been through countless alcohol awareness seminars both in Arizona and Florida, and have worked at various times as a server in (deep breath) Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington state and Washington, D.C. (Have I mentioned I did some traveling with one of my jobs?) At pretty much every place I worked, I found the laws to be, if not the exact same, extremely similar.

Now, I must say, I do NOT know the particular laws in New Jersey. I DO know that in Florida or Arizona, I would NOT be legally allowed to serve you based upon the documents you described if you presented them to me. While you may only be able to get the one document you mentioned if you are 21 or older, (a) the server may not know that, (b) the law regarding alcohol serving does not, in my experience, take such things into account. (You have to be 25 to be a cab driver in most places I have ever been, but a cabbie/hack license is still not valid for the purchase of alcohol.) If the other servers in the establishment recognized you, they should have stepped up and told your server that you were, in fact, of age. (The law DOES allow for such things, if the other servers are aware of your age or have in the past carded you.)

Yes, this is all very inconvenient. Yes, this is all somewhat ridiculous. Personally, I am opposed to most of these laws. However, as I have to work under these ridiculous laws, I will not violate them, and actually am one of the harder carders I know or have ever seen. Why? Because, frankly, I have a very strong aversion to jail time, large fines, court dates, and the inability to land a job in my profession. And while being carded or even refused drinks is inconvenient to you, jail time, large fines, court dates, and the inability to land a job in my profession would be far more inconvenient (read: disastrous) to me.

I personally believe that the laws are Puritanical and utterly idiotic. But until such time as these laws change, there are going to be people like the server in your story who may well refuse you drinks. Please understand that these people are not trying to fuck with you in some way. Just as we often say in here there is no conspiracy against SC’s, this is not a conspiracy against you. We HATE the system, but as we have to labor under the system, and have the penalties for violating the system beaten into our heads, such things will occur. Please understand that this is in no way personal, and chances are, we hate these situations even more than you do.

[Jester]

Please ignore the "(emphasis added)" line in the above post. I tried to fix it and add the emphasis where I wanted it, but I am having trouble with my computer, and find I can't edit squat on this site at the moment.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I agree with Jester. I card people all the time in my job, and as a result have been sworn at, threatened and sometimes have had the customers demand to see supervisors. Fact is, that I don't want to have to pay a £5000 fine or make a court appearence; if you look younger than 21, you will be carded. I have a mate who's 25, but she doesn't look a day over 15. That's due to having an innocent face and being only lickle (she's around 5ft 5in). She however carts her driving licience around whereever she might go cuz she expects to be asked for ID and she harbours no resentment. Whereas some people I've carded have reacted as if I was asking for the sacrifice of their first born child, rather than for a form of ID.

[Anakah]

Okay... Even knowing that giving a store a $100 early in the morning is a big no-no... I did it anyway. But I first asked if he could do it, I offered to get it broken down, I apologized and my change was sixty dollars. Not bad right? It was like 10am. And I figured since I spent fourty dollars on two phone chargers that he could make the change...
100 is like pocket change to me now considering my drawer is 80000. Its hard to remember that in the mall their drawers are 200. Was that really bad of me? I didn't jerk him around, I told him what I wanted, I wasn't picky that the phone chargers that I bought were in different item boxes and he got commission off of me. Was I a SC?

I've been a SC to Dell before. This is gonna sound really bad... The guy I got on the phone didn't speak english very well and I got frustrated because we couldn't understand each other. I am really bad with thick accents and I can't understand them. I hate language barriers and I wish it didn't happen.
I got so mad, I hung up on the poor guy. I know it wasn't his fault but I was just mad at Dell themselves for making crappy computers. Or whomever made mine. But I know I shouldn't have been bitchy with the guy on the phone.

[Becks]

I have a mate who's 25, but she doesn't look a day over 15. That's due to having an innocent face and being only lickle (she's around 5ft 5in).

What does lickle mean?

[DesignFox]

Thanks, Jester. Yea, I realize the guy was just doing his job. That's why I felt a little sucky about it later (although like I said, at the very least I didn't curse and cause a scene, we just left). I'm not sure the extent of the law, or maybe they changed it since I had gone out last, I was just upset that "all of a sudden" my Id was no good anymore. I mean, like I said, the guys at the liquor store never gave me a problem, applebee's themselves never gave me a problem, friday's never gave me a problem...etc. And no place else since has given me a problem...

Anyway, to avoid that issue, I just carry my passport around now! And soon, I will have to update my license anyway, and I know NJ has changed the license system to be mandatory photo, so this won't be a problem in the near future.

[Hicksey]

I too have been an SC.

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. Here are my sins:

When I know I have a questionable refund, I usually take it back right at their busiest time and if they say anything about not taking it I get really noisy and make all kinds of comments they don't want their customers to hear during rush hour. Amazingly, it works 9 times out of 10 and I get what I want.

I have been a party to price-switching in my time too. Me and my boss went in and he bought a cheap carpet from the clearance pile outside. They offered to help us put it in our van but we declined the offer. When we got back out to the car we put the most expensive carpet in there and drove off. My boss saved about $200 on that carpet that day.

I used to play the auto parts stores and their lowest price guarantees against each other until I got at least a 25% discount. I'd go back and forth until I got it at bascially what it cost them. I am sure this annoyed them to no end and they knew what I was doing, but they kept lowering their prices anyway.

[Lace Neil Singer]

What does lickle mean?

Little. I sometimes get cutesy for no reason...

[Becks]

That's what I thought. Thanks, Lace.

And if she's little at 5' 5", what am I at 5' 1 1/2"?

[Jester]

Fact is, that I don't want to have to pay a £5000 fine or make a court appearence; if you look younger than 21, you will be carded.

Ah, but you see, it is not about who looks 21 or younger. I get this a lot from Europeans when I card them. “What is the legal age here?” I tell them 21. “Do I look younger than 21?” No, you don’t. But see, the deal here, and I imagine in most places in the U.S., is now the server is being told that if someone looks thirty or younger, we must ask for their ID. The reasoning being, of course, that many people look a much different age than they are. I am 36, for example, and still get carded, though less so than I did a few years ago. I was very happy, for example, when I got carded on my 30th birthday…that was a hoot. I also got carded multiple times on my recent vacation/road trip. Ironically, I have been out with friends who are under 21 who do not get carded. Go figger.

Thanks, Jester. Yea, I realize the guy was just doing his job. That's why I felt a little sucky about it later (although like I said, at the very least I didn't curse and cause a scene, we just left). I'm not sure the extent of the law, or maybe they changed it since I had gone out last, I was just upset that "all of a sudden" my Id was no good anymore. I mean, like I said, the guys at the liquor store never gave me a problem, applebee's themselves never gave me a problem, friday's never gave me a problem...etc. And no place else since has given me a problem...

I also get that reaction. “But no one else in town has had a problem with my ID!” This when it is something that I cannot accept, like, say, a German driver’s license. As I tell people, I cannot account or answer for what other people do, I can only do my job as I have been trained and as I have been told is the right way under the law. If other people in town are accepting a German driver’s license, they are not doing their job correctly or following the law correctly. Honestly, if the authorities saw them accepting said ID, they could be in for a lot of grief of a legal nature, and I personally am not willing to shoulder that particular burden.

We now end this ID legality sermon and return you to your regularly scheduled happy hour.

[Lace Neil Singer]

That's what I thought. Thanks, Lace.

And if she's little at 5' 5", what am I at 5' 1 1/2"?

Teeny?

[Lace Neil Singer]

But see, the deal here, and I imagine in most places in the U.S., is now the server is being told that if someone looks thirty or younger, we must ask for their ID.

Well, it's just under 21 where I work, so you see my problem isn't anywhere as bad as yours but at least you can tell people to feck off.

[kibbles]

FYI, but all telemarketers are not scam artists and not all telemarketers are rude just because they are doing their job. A great majority are honest and just trying to work like everyone else IMO. It's all in how the telemarketer performs their duties and if they dispo their calls correctly.

Kibbles

[friendofjimmyk]

being only lickle (she's around 5ft 5in)

Wow, how tall are you that you consider 5ft 5in to be little? That's how tall I am.