I wanted to see a picture of this woman! And I want to be carded when I am 65! I don't drink...but I am just saying...card me! I look under 45!

I've been carded and I have a grey goatee and am balding... it's all about control freaks in postitions of power over others (clerks in this case) who push people around in the guise of follwing the rules, just because they can.
There was this local 7-11 clerk who lived in his car and worked the graveyard shift here in my town a few years back. There's a State law in Or. that prohibits venders from selling fountain drinks to people with food stamps if the straw has already been inserted at the time of purchase. Being such a stupid/pointless law, of course no one enforces it... but this guy. He'd rather throw away the product than let someone use foodstamps with a damp straw.
He ended up quitting after a drunk driver plowed into the parking lot, bouncing off of (and detroying his car/house) and then barreled into the front glass of the store.
Kharma... ;p

Having worked at a gas station, I can attest that there are a lot of underage people who try to buy smokes and alchohol. Some of it's stupid--had one kid try to use his modified high school ID ot buy beer. Some of it's sad--a woman called wanting to know if she could write her 11 yo a note so he could buy smokes for her. I ID'd everyone the first time they bought from me, seldom after that. It wasn't a power play for me, it was simply covering my butt--I didn't want to pay the hefty fine and lose my job.

One night, a kid came in wanting smokes, no ID. Swore up and down that the day clerk sold to him no problem. I refused. Next week there was a sting; turns out one of the other customers in the store at the time was an off-duty cop. Coincidence in timing?

I was at a restaurant with my in-laws and my F.I.L. just turned 70. Everyone at the table was carded becuase the place had recently been busted for serving underage patrons. My F.I.L. didn't have his driver's licence so the waitress was saying she couldn't serve him any alcohol. After a brief talk with the manager he had his glass of wine and a good laugh.

I can really sympathize with the clerk. As a teenager I worked for another Hannaford supermarket in Maine, and they really have been getting more and more militant about IDs as the years go on. I had a lot of young looking 35-year-olds b***h and moan at me when I told them I needed ID. I needed the job, though, and it wasn't really a secret that you could get fired for not following the policy.

I am over 40 and look it - graying hair and all. I got proofed at a local grocery store chain for beer. I joked with the clerk about it, but if it happens again I am going to refuse. If they don't let me have it, they can cancel the whole sale.

There is not a chance in hell that anyone with half a brain would think I am under 21, or 31 for that matter.

May as well scan my friggin retinas to prove I am who I am and sign an affidavit that I won't give it to any minors. Signs of the apocalypse my friends...beware and be vigilant!

Now give me my f*kin beer before I choke you, you little prick.

Not sure about other States, but in Or., the law states that anyone who appears to be, I think it's 32 or younger, needs to be carded... but GREY and WRINKLES and AGE SPOTS... laws vary, and I can dig that, but in places where they allow leeway, for GOD'S SAKE, use yer marbles!!

Under 45! Dear, you look under 25, to me. I would be carding you in an instant, and asking for your phone number too! Of course, since I am your husband I already have that.

Ahh, love amongst the Plime vines...

<3 !!

Yeah, they wouldn't sell me beer at the local grocery store either....

...... I wish I didn't have to go to a separate store just to buy booze.

As an employee, I'd make it a habit of carding everyone. Not because of a power trip, but simply because there are sting operations in place to catch you making a mistake. The more someone insisted, the less likely I'd be to sell them anything. Businesses often send their own undercover people in to catch you not following th rules. I'd take no chances with my livelyhood, grey hair or not.

I look pretty young and I have warned several clerks to be careful because they didn't bother checking my ID. You don't know who they'll send in to catch you. The fine doesn't go the store anymore, it goes directly to the clerk. In addition to that, the bad press for the business can get you fired.

Also, why the hell wouldn't you have your ID on you anyway? If you drove to the store, you should be carrying it and it shouldn't be an issue. If you forgot it, it isn't the clerks fault.

I agree with innermoppet. As a teenager I worked with a regional convenient store chain and the ATF in Florida, busting clerks and bartenders.

Several years later, I was working as a clerk at a store, and had two teenagers come in trying to buy some obscure beer we never sold. I refused. Ten minutes later an older gentleman came in and wanted the same beer. I sold it to him but asked him if he was buying it for a couple of teenagers, and he said no.

Less than an hour later, two cops come in with about two beers left from that sixpack, and told me to call my manager because I was about to be arrested for selling beer to the two minors they caught drinking it behind the store.

Bottom line, don't harass the clerks. Most of them, are, just covering their asses.

Common.
Sense.

It comes in handy. I sympathize with your situation, but this is thinking some girl is 24 when she is actually 15. That could be a mistake that would be easy to make.

If a clerk can't tell some 65+ year old person is over 21, than really they have much greater problems.

Tell me, if you worked at a movie theatre, would you also card a 65 year old person who was trying to get into a PG Movie? A PG-13 movie? a R movie?

Worries about stings just don't cut it. If the police was to send in some minor with hollywood-quality make-up, train him how to impersonate a senior citizen, than you'd be able to laugh at any possible fine.

Okay, now we are being silly. There is no way you would get arrested or fined for selling alcohol to someone 21+ just because they then gave it to a minor.

Was the beer distributor arrested for selling you the beer? What if you sold it to the teenagers, would the beer distributor then be arrested (1 fewer connection)

Let me rephrase that, you can get arrested for anything, getting convicted is a-whole-nother story

The tape will show that you did not sell it to them.

Plus your argument doesn't make any sense. Asking for an ID (according to your scenario) wouldn't make any difference.

Is the number busy when you call?

YES!! THANK you, 2many... I mean, really. Just because there are laws in place like this doesn't mean we should immediately transform into a mindless robot, chirping out binary sequences like pavlovian androids. We DO still have, as you put it, COMMON SENSE. To how low of a degree of helplessness are people willing to denegrate to in order to maintain ... um... oh... AHHHHH!

*tears out own eyes, eats them, bursts into song*

"They're coming to take me away, ha-haaa.
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa.
To the funny farm, where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be happy
to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and they're coming
to take me away, ha-haaa!!!
To the happy home, with trees and flowers and chirping birds and basket
weavers who sit and smile and twiddle their thumbs and toes and they're
coming to take me away, ha-haa!!!
To the funny farm, where life is beautiful all the time... (fade out)"

*thud*

Paving the way towards a more uniformed micro chipped society. None of this embarrassment would have happened if everyone was "Identifiable".
Now STFU and pull up your sleeve,and put your arm across the scanner.
More fluff for the New World Order.

Well, see, the cops couldn't catch the two punks with the beer. They just got the remaining beer the kids threw down when they bolted. Of course I couldn't be convicted, but the cops were just being d**ks (yes, really, they can be), and trying to harass me.

And what tape? This was back in the 80s. There was no video cameras. Hell, most nights you worked alone, so when you got the punks coming in to do the beer runs, you just had to let them go. You couldn't chase them down and leave the store unattended. Of course, calling the police as they ran outside with two twelve packs did no good, as the police never showed up under 45 minutes.

Finally, my point is that yes, you use common sense, but you also get in the habit of asking just about everyone that comes close to being questionable. Your minimum wage job and possible jail time is not worth letting somebody take the beer without ID, just cause they are the 10th one that evening to say they don't have it.

If your boss, or the corporation tells you to ID every single person though, then you do. Complain to them if you can't seem to carry an ID around with you. The clerks are just doing their job. Sure, some might be on powertrips, but many just don't think you are worth the hassle.