Pass the baby; I need to buy cigarettes!

[Kogarashi]

Being grey is not proof of age.
Being bald or balding is not proof of age.
Having children is not proof of age. Even if I accept that they are your kids. Which I have no way of knowing, thank you very much.
Being pregnant is not proof of age. Ask my 18 year old pregnant niece. Or her mother, who had my niece when her mother was 19.
Having a full beard is not proof of age. We had a dude in high school who could have made Grizzly Adams jealous...and he was only a frehsman.

One of my uncles was completely grey by age 19. Not proof.
I had a classmate in high school who was balding early, as well as two who had mild forms of cancer that still necessitated treatments that resulted in complete hair-loss. Either one of those could've claimed it as baldness if they felt like it (though both were of the personality type that totally wouldn't). Not proof.
My grandmother had my mother at age 19. My mother had me before she was 21. Not proof.
I had at least two classmates who were pregnant by junior year. Not proof.
And among the very few non-white families in the area (upstate NY farming country) was one that was Sikh, I believe. Because their religion/way of life involves not cutting their hair or shaving their faces, one of the teenage sons had a full beard fit to rival many an adult's. Totally not proof.

[Lots42]

Having kids...as proof you should buy cigs. Dear lord. People have no shame.

[blas]

Ah, memories. Yes, the contenders for "16 and Pregnant" (although years before that show premiered) tried that with me too for ciggs or beer.

Maybe in their diluted minds, they should be able to partake in adult activities because they've reproduced?

[Little Retail Rabbit]

Oh my XD


My friend is 21, and she recently was with her partner and 3-year-old son at the supermarket, and the cashier refused to allow them to buy a case of beer (for the partner) on the grounds that my friend didn't look of age (this is the UK so, the age is 18). I have to admit, it was a bit ridiculous- as she pointed out to the cashier "Look at my belly, I'm pregnant, I am not going to be drinking that!"

And being as it was a whole food shop, I'm surprised the cashier was so weird about it. Having said that, once, my brother and I were doing a food shop and the cashier refused to let me buy some alcohol simply because my brother had forgotten his ID. I said to her "I bet you wouldn't mind serving my mother if I accompanied her". I wasn't rude about it, but the truth is, at that same Asda branch, since I was about, I dunno, 11, I have been there once a week with my mother, and they never stopped her buying alcohol with her food shop just because I was present.

Slight tangent. Yes having a baby is not proof of age ^^;; Especially as I read something a while back about a 5-year-old who once had a baby...O.O

[slavetotheman]

I've also had people show me their pregnant tummy or balding head. Sorry, the law requires I still ask for ID.

Seriously... if anything, a pregnant tummy would be proof they shouldn't be sold alcohol or tobacco

(Well, yes, obviously she could be buying for something else, but that doesn't work in the context of the joke. Work with me, people.)

[Jester]

My friend is 21, and she recently was with her partner and 3-year-old son at the supermarket, and the cashier refused to allow them to buy a case of beer (for the partner) on the grounds that my friend didn't look of age (this is the UK so, the age is 18). I have to admit, it was a bit ridiculous- as she pointed out to the cashier "Look at my belly, I'm pregnant, I am not going to be drinking that!"

I cannot comment on British law.

However, I do know that in America, wherever I've worked, where the age for booze is 21 and for cigarettes 18, generally speaking if someone looks 30 or younger, we are supposed to ask for ID. If they don't have ID, we are not supposed to sell the product to them. Period, end of story, thank you, good night.

If UK laws are similar, the cashier, and not your friend, was in the right.

And being as it was a whole food shop, I'm surprised the cashier was so weird about it.

Why? Because it's a grocery store? Again, I cannot comment on British law, but in this country, selling alcohol is selling alcohol. Doesn't matter where it is: liquor store, bar, restaurant, convenience store, gas station, grocery store, pool hall, bowling alley, taco stand, etc. The same rules apply in any place for selling alcohol, even if it is not a typically alcohol sales kind of place.

The above applies as well to tobacco sales.

[MoonCat]

Also, I've seen pregnant women smoking and/or drinking alcohol. A pregnant woman buying alcohol or tobacco is not necessarily buying it for someone else. She has to show ID too.

[Mytical]

Also, I've seen pregnant women smoking and/or drinking alcohol. A pregnant woman buying alcohol or tobacco is not necessarily buying it for someone else. She has to show ID too.

QFT, QFE. There are too many who are addicted to cigs and alcohol who won't quit just because something like a pregnancy happens. Won't even get into the harder substances.

[Jester]

There's a reason we refer to people who can't seem to think clearly as being "crack babies." It's because there are women out there addicted to or using hard drugs who continue to use them through a pregnancy, and their babies turn out with some issues.

Hence someone who's being an idiot is a "crack baby." Perhaps not the most sensitive way to put it, but it is what it is.

Idiots do idiotic things, and beget more idiots.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Also, I've seen pregnant women smoking and/or drinking alcohol. A pregnant woman buying alcohol or tobacco is not necessarily buying it for someone else. She has to show ID too.

Plus, as I said before, if you're serving a customer who turns out to be underage alcohol/cigarattes and you get caught, you get hit with a fine. Most people, myself included, prefer to err on the side of caution rather than risk having to go thru that.

[Gizmo]

Oh my XD


My friend is 21, and she recently was with her partner and 3-year-old son at the supermarket, and the cashier refused to allow them to buy a case of beer (for the partner) on the grounds that my friend didn't look of age (this is the UK so, the age is 18). I have to admit, it was a bit ridiculous- as she pointed out to the cashier "Look at my belly, I'm pregnant, I am not going to be drinking that!"

And being as it was a whole food shop, I'm surprised the cashier was so weird about it. Having said that, once, my brother and I were doing a food shop and the cashier refused to let me buy some alcohol simply because my brother had forgotten his ID. I said to her "I bet you wouldn't mind serving my mother if I accompanied her". I wasn't rude about it, but the truth is, at that same Asda branch, since I was about, I dunno, 11, I have been there once a week with my mother, and they never stopped her buying alcohol with her food shop just because I was present.

Slight tangent. Yes having a baby is not proof of age ^^;; Especially as I read something a while back about a 5-year-old who once had a baby...O.O

Having worked for one of the big supermarkets I can tell you they don't have a specific policy on when you should ID. My orders were "We don't expect you to ID parents and kids, use your judgement".

As a rule because of the way that the sting operations work we generally wouldn't ID pre-teens and parents but would at least check with parents if they had an older teen with them. For example once with a 16-19ish teenager doing shopping with a 30-40 bloke I did ask who was paying for the shopping and confirm the alcohol wouldn't be for the teenager before letting it pass (and only then because I genuinely believed it was a family shopping. I still could have refused if I wanted to).

If two 19-22ish independent teenager's came in I would ID all of the party to ensure we weren't caught out in a sting. I even IDed two teens buying separately when only one was buying alcohol since it was obvious they were together or knew each other.

However when I was 23 or so hubby was paying for our joint shopping and because I didn't have ID on me couldn't purchase the alcohol he'd tried to. That was with another major retailer who is known for staff rejecting shoppers who have any kid with them (or is seen with a kid around the shop even if they are gone/sent away by the time they get to the till) for alcohol purchases.

[Little Retail Rabbit]

I cannot comment on British law.

However, I do know that in America, wherever I've worked, where the age for booze is 21 and for cigarettes 18, generally speaking if someone looks 30 or younger, we are supposed to ask for ID. If they don't have ID, we are not supposed to sell the product to them. Period, end of story, thank you, good night.

If UK laws are similar, the cashier, and not your friend, was in the right.



Why? Because it's a grocery store? Again, I cannot comment on British law, but in this country, selling alcohol is selling alcohol. Doesn't matter where it is: liquor store, bar, restaurant, convenience store, gas station, grocery store, pool hall, bowling alley, taco stand, etc. The same rules apply in any place for selling alcohol, even if it is not a typically alcohol sales kind of place.

The above applies as well to tobacco sales.

Oh don't get me wrong, I am not arguing with the law. What gets me is that it is VERY common for a parent to be doing their weekly shop with their kids in tow, and to buy alcohol and not get ANY hassle. At least in the UK it is. I can definately say without a doubt, that all through my childhood, teen-hood and now my adulthood (I am at the age where I am legally allowed to buy alcohol but I do require ID as proof of age), if I am accompanying my mother on a weekly shopping trip and she buys wine or beer cases, they never bother to ask if I have ID also. They never have done. They have only done it if I am buying my own booze seperately (and that is rarely). So my point is, I'm not saying the law is wrong, but where is the difference between me and my mum and my friend and her partner? I just think there is a major lack of consistency at our local Asda and I'm not surprised people get frustrated (having said that though, my friend is not a SC who throws a cop about it ).

[Lace Neil Singer]

Maybe the cashier had already been caught out in a sting and was anxious not to make the same mistake twice? Where I work, the minimum fine is about £80 and I certainly couldn't afford to pay that. So I'll ID anyone who looks to be under twenty five, as per our Think 25 policy.

[Jester]

What gets me is that it is VERY common for a parent to be doing their weekly shop with their kids in tow, and to buy alcohol and not get ANY hassle. At least in the UK it is.

I cannot comment on the whole British thing, as I have only ever lived and worked in America.

I also cannot comment on grocery store policies, as I have never worked at a grocery store. Every ounce of alcohol I have ever sold has been from a bar or restaurant, period.

Where I work, the minimum fine is about £80 and I certainly couldn't afford to pay that.

Consider yourself lucky. That fine is nothing. In American dollars, according to current exchange rates, that would be about $132. Back home in Arizona, when I was working there (a dozen years ago), the fine was about $1,500 or so. Here in Florida, the fines start at $1,000.

I've had bar tabs that were $132.

[Lace Neil Singer]

That's why I said minimum fine. It might be more in a bar or liquor store, but since I don't work in those places, I really couldn't say. And it might not seem much to you, but since I currently live from hand to mouth, it's far too much for me to be able to afford right now.