andrewducker: (Offensive)
andrewducker ([personal profile] andrewducker) wrote2007-09-20 09:13 am
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Nose cut off, face spited

73 year old man refuses to say "I am over 21." Supermarket refuses to serve him alcohol. Both end up looking pretty fucking stupid.
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[identity profile] robhu.livejournal.com 2007-09-20 08:18 am (UTC)(link)
He was asked to /confirm/ he was over 21 which presumably means showing ID.

Even if it doesn't it's off the charts stupid to ask a 73 year old man such a question.

Something similar (but less extreme) happened recently with me. I couldn't go to a convention because I didn't have ID to prove that I'm over 18. This seems pretty stupid to me as it's obvious that I'm over 18. What is really stupid is that they wouldn't let someone in who had a passport that showed they were over 18 that was 2 months out of date.

[identity profile] pigeonhed.livejournal.com 2007-09-20 09:14 am (UTC)(link)
I would have reacted the same way as the 73 year old gentleman. (I am 42) The law expects the server of alcohol to refuse service if they have reason to suspect that the purchaser is under 18, but if they could reasonably assume the purchaser is over 18 then even if they are actually under-age no offence has been committed by the seller, only by the purchaser. The 'Over 21' approach used by many stores is a way of covering the grey area where somebody of 17 can reasonably look 18 or 19 and vice versa.

[identity profile] henriksdal.livejournal.com 2007-09-20 09:31 am (UTC)(link)
Argh. That's awesome; how can everyone involved have such a bad sense of humour failure? Mind, there's a woman at the Morrison's near my parent's house who always, always IDs me for alcohol in a really sour way, and then gives me the most droning lecture about it (despite me protesting I KNOW I WORK IN A PUB) and sometimes threatens to call security. It's weird, it's like she has a personal grudge against me.

Um, yes, those Morrison's people were just being really petty. I hate Morrison's anyway..

[identity profile] marrog.livejournal.com 2007-09-20 10:25 am (UTC)(link)
Blech, that's a little beyond a joke. Given that it's not the law to ask people to prove/state that they're overage; it's just illegal to serve underagers. The old man was a little humourless, but the manager taking the staffmember's side in that instance is incredibly bad customer service. It's his job to take the cheeky customer's side, apologise, promise to reprimand the server, then not bother forget the whole incident five minutes later. People in retail are starting to forget their jobs these days.

I can just about handle me and Bex being constantly carded. I could in some crazyland be under 18 (I actually look younger now than I did then) and I certainly act it, bouncing all over the place like a five-year-old, and then Bex, who probably couldn't pass for 18 under normal circumstances, looks young by association.

Also, the servers in Tescos are often about half our age and kids are terrible at judging ages, so I can totally forgive them - they always have the good grace to look embarrassed when Bex or I have had to run home and fetch ID to prove we're seven and nine years into the safe-zone, respectively.

But seriously now; there was no way that guy was going to be a legal threat. And then by being pissy back at him they turned him into a PR threat. Well done Morrisons.

[identity profile] henriksdal.livejournal.com 2007-09-20 11:20 am (UTC)(link)
OH AND it's not just old men, Morrisons seem to be developing a theme here: trouble down in Wiltshire and A Sunday Sun columnist (local north east sunday paper).

[identity profile] dreema.livejournal.com 2007-09-20 02:13 pm (UTC)(link)
I was down in st ives last week with [livejournal.com profile] misculanious. We walked into a pub, mainly to have some lunch, but I went up to the bar and asked for a pint of coke and a pint of blackcurrent cordial. The barperson asked for ID. Unluckily Nat had changed her trousers and left her photocard in the bathroom, so wasn't able to provide it. I asked why we needed id for soft drinks, apparently the bar staff didn't want us on the premises if we couldn't provide proof of age, so we left and had lunch elsewhere

[identity profile] xquiq.livejournal.com 2007-09-20 06:47 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm amazed at how everyone involved ends up looking like an absolute tosser - quite a result.

I think it's ridiculous to ask someone who's blatantly elderly to prove their age, but while asking them to confirm they're over 21 verbally may be overkill, it doesn't really inconvenience anyone.

I keep hearing that they're cracking down on this, but I can't say I've experience it. I've been asked to prove my age twice since I turned 18 and I don't exactly look like mature for my age.

[identity profile] bohemiancoast.livejournal.com 2007-09-20 08:26 pm (UTC)(link)
I try to avoid dealing with organisations that ask me unnecessary and intrusive questions, and I'm afraid I too would have had an identical sense of humour failure.

But as I already shop in Morrisons only if there is absolutely no alternative, I doubt it would stop me shopping there.

[identity profile] octopoid-horror.livejournal.com 2007-09-20 08:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Rules are there for a reason. The guy was being an arse. The supermarket are my heroes.
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