*Think 25* ? how annoying

Youdontseeme

I popped into a Sainsburys Express/Metro (or what ever they call them) for a bottle of brandy and a pack of fags yesterday, got served no problem then decided I wanted a lottery ticket, where the lady who had just served me booze and ciggys asked me if I was over 16, my reply was to hold up the bag of my other goods and say "for your sake I bl**dy hope so"

I do understand the not wanting to be seen to serve underage but I have always found a little bit of common sense goes a long way, rather than this 'well it's the rules and I'm a total jobsworth' stuff.

YDSM

rachbc

I've been id-ed more in the last 5 years than I ever dd when I was trawling pubs at 15 - I'm now 37! Not yet been refused whilst having ds 13 with me but I look forward to standing in the friday night queue at asda and getting them to unscan all my shopping when I do

Loz01

The stupid think 25 thing IS so annoying, because the dont ask everyone! Ive gone thru Tesco checkout behind someone who was about 16/17 and they didnt get their ID checked.. I go through, she asks me in a scathing voice so I produce it (Im 24 btw) and she frowns at it for a moment before chucking it back at me without another word! :eek:

skintchick

I don;t carry any ID. I don;t really have any, except my passport and I'm not carrying that around. How would I prove my age? I'm 36, shop with my toddler, and if I was told I couldn;t buy a bottle of wine with my weekly shop I'd leave the whole lot on the caashier's desk and walk out. Luckily the shops here seem to have sense. (well, I do shop at Waitrose lol. Oh and I have tattoos too! What a dichotomy! )

joeblack066

polejunkie wrote: »

the 13 year old is my daughter.

I was actually replying to gingin "I had my 10 year old son with me".

Tropez

Gigervamp wrote: »

And that's part of the problem.

How likely is it that a small child is going to be found in an alleyway, tanked up? Yet people with small children are being denied alcohol.

It's got stupid.

Teens will find booze if they want it. Parents may stock up when there are offers on (see the Tesco beer and cider glitch) and the teens will nick some of it. Or (cos they're not stupid) get a mate who has ID and is over 18 to buy it, without the teens being present.

It is part of the problem because when it does happen the media (local or national) latches on to it, the public eats it up because Britons seem to enjoy being outraged over something, the business gets targeted by campaigns from outraged children's groups, outraged parent's groups and just the generally outraged, consequently losing lots of money due to the PR disaster which is then passed on to the employees who get sacked and know that they may struggle to find another job in the current climate.

It doesn't matter how likely or unlikely the event is to happen. We have one of the worst records of underage drinking in the EU, and we have a sensationalist media that prides itself on overkilling the rare examples of drunk kids and businesses across the country are well aware of the fecal-storm that could hit them if they can even be remotely linked by the media to the "decay" of our society, so rather than take the risk that they find themselves caught up in the next OTT media reaction whether it be a week or a year down the line, they play it safe.

Of course kids will get hold of alcohol but the stores are just doing their best to make sure that they cannot be directly linked. As I say, the kid waiting outside for his legal-aged friend to procure him a bottle of White Lightening and ten Richmond Superkings isn't going to be a problem because the store has plausible deniability that they had no idea that the items purchased were being passed to an underage kid but when the items are being bought with the kid present to them in front of their eyes then they no longer have that plausible deniability - at best, they become the centre of the moral brigades "won't somebody please think of the children?" campaign, at worst they get their name dragged through the mud, their store the subject of a criminal investigation and people lose their jobs, which will include the checkout assistant who made the sale, and the Store manager for not preventing this PR disaster from occurring.

Yes, it is barmy that stores feel that they have to behave in the manner that they do, but unfortunately that is part of the society in which we live and isn't the only example of what has gone completely cuckoo in this society.

ellay864

Skintchick...there was a thread on here some time ago from a lady who was with her friend, they were both in their 30s, and were in a supermarket, each with their toddler children. That evening the hubbies were going to be minding both kids while the 2 mums had a girly night in - they went to buy some wine but were refused because they had the children with them. They did just as you said and abandoned their trollies.
It's illegal to sell alcohol to an adult if it's intended to be consumed by a minor, but not if that minor consumes it in their own home. The shops don't know which situation it could be so play cautious, but surely some common sense should prevail somewhere

relic

I tend to buy the usual things from the same local shops, so never have a problem, and many people think i look 10 years older than I am (I think the beard does it).

However, near halloween last year I did get id'd for eggs at my local tesco, since apparently kids from school were throwing them at cars.

I had bread, milk, heat magazine, a mars bar, and some ham in my basket as well. Hardly a kids shop who wanted to terrorize the community!

DCFC79

It wont be the death of family shopping, could either of you not buy any alcohol on the way home from work say

DCFC79

Loz01 wrote: »

The stupid think 25 thing IS so annoying, because the dont ask everyone! Ive gone thru Tesco checkout behind someone who was about 16/17 and they didnt get their ID checked.. I go through, she asks me in a scathing voice so I produce it (Im 24 btw) and she frowns at it for a moment before chucking it back at me without another word! :eek:

its all down to how people look, if everyone looked under 25 then they would get ID'd but since thats impossible they ask people who they think is under 25 but its hard to judge as im sure not everyone who is under 25 gets ID'd