Sunday, September 09, 2007

Not quite right

The story is "65-year-old gets carded in a supermarket"

FARMINGTON, Maine - A 65-year-old woman who went into a Farmington supermarket to buy wine was turned away because she didn't have an ID with her. But Barbara Skapa of Mount Vernon says that won't happen again.

Right on, Barb! What a moronic policy. If they can't figure out you're grown up enough to buy wine, they don't deserve your business. Good going, I hope you gave them what-for. Errr -- what's that you just said?

"I'll be bringing my driver's license with me from now on," Skapa said.

No, no, no!

We have a supermarket nearby that switched to this insanity a couple of years ago. When the cashier said she needed to see my license before she could take my money for the six-pack, I complied, but I said sadly, "I'm so sorry that's your policy now, because it means I will never set foot in this store again."

In my shoulda-woulda-coulda mind, I wish I had just left the beer behind, but I did make my point politely - the poor girl didn't invent that idiotic policy - and I have, indeed, never returned to that store.

A spokeswoman for the supermarket chain, Rebecca Howes, said Hannaford's new policy is to check IDs of anyone who looks under 45 and wants to buy alcohol. The previous policy was to check for proof of age of those who look younger than 30.

The policy is not unlike those of many other Maine businesses and chains who want to stop minors from illegally buying alcoholic beverages and cigarettes.

Yeah, well, here's the thing: Carding middle-aged and elderly customers will do ABSOLUTELY NO FRICKING THING to stop minors from illegally buying alcoholic beverages and cigarettes. All it does is contribute to the notion that it's OK to require citizens to produce ID papers at the drop of a hat.

I certainly would not ever patronize a store that subscribes to such tyranny. And if it reaches the point where they all do it, I would rather do without beer and wine than submit.

Labels: , ,

2 Comments:

Blogger Kirsten said...

Fortunately, homebrewing is a viable option these days.

6:53 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Just like when I tried to buy a magazine at the airport in Munich. I'd already cleared security and 2 passport controls just to get to the gates. Before I boarded I stopped to buy a soccer magazine and was asked for my flight number and passport. When I couldn't produce my passport (my wife had it in her backpack), they wouldn't let me buy the friggin' magazine. I guess this was supposed to make me feel safe.

4:27 PM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home