Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Our children today face tougher issues than ever before....

Another eventful day involved a highly controversial alcohol sale I made. A lady came to my line with her kid and a basketful of groceries in tow. I rang up the beer, checked her license and continued to scan her items. She tells me that she tried to go to 2 other cashiers and they wouldn't sell it to her. I asked her why and she said "Cause my kid had her hand on it." "Your 2-year-old." "Yeah." Pause. "So?" "One lady said she wouldn't sell it to me, so I went to a different line and that cashier said she wouldn't 'cause the other lady had already refused me." "Seriously?" "No! Why would they do that?" "There's a law in Texas prohibiting third-party sales or someone else handling the beer that is supposed to be yours, but this HARDLY qualifies." (I'm completely unbendable as far as the rules go. I'm not gonna stretch anything for anybody; I simply don't give a flying crap if people get the alcohol or cigarettes they so vehemently desire. I'm actually a little happier when they don't; that's fewer idiots swerving erratically on the road and fewer idiots hacking their lungs up IN MY FACE and then saying 'I must be catching a cold.') But this, was just ridiculous. I told her "Yeah, we've been having a lot of problems with people buying alcohol for their babies. I think I read about it in the news the other night. You know how it is... a little Telletubies on TV... some Dora the Explorer cereal... and a sippy cup full of beer. Well, no more! Walmart is takin' a stand against parents hooking their toddlers up with booze."

After she was gone, one of the ladies came up to me and was like "Why did you sell beer to that lady?" I'm very even tempered at work - I don't get rude or impatient - but I was really irritated by the off-the-charts stupidity I was dealing with. I think my response was probably a bit combative (I know, that's a color ya'll RARELY see on me) :

"Because she was old enough, she had her ID, and because *that* wasn't a THIRD PARTY SALE! Third party sales are pretty much for teenagers and up, NOT for a 2-year-old!!! C'mon are ya kiddin' me?!!! Do you ACTUALLY think the beer for her BABY?!?? You believe her little girl orchestrated a whole underhanded plot to acquire illegal alcohol??!?? The kid isn't even capable of saying 'dog'; I don't really see her soliciting her mother to get her liquor at the grocery store!" "Well-"

Well nothing. Our little conversation was over. I turned my back to her and started checking out the waiting customer, making it clear to her that we were done wasting time discussing such a ludicrous topic.

The reason you get treated like a moron when you're a cashier - is because some of them ARE.





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Well how wrong I was.
Two days later the front page of The Chronicle read
" 'Booze Babies' Account For Over 15% of Liquor Industry's Total Revenue "
I'm glad that someone is shedding light on this troubling issue that is plaguing American society. I'm sure all 60 of their readers are more aware than ever of the rise in toddler delinquency.

The good news is that, in a follow-up article, the paper reported that recently many preschools in Texas have elected to provide AA meetings for all their classes. Directly following their afternoon nap and diaper change, they are urged and supported in a positive group environment to "kick the bottle". Figuratively speaking. (Bottle use, in the case of milk, water and most fruit-based juices, is still strongly encouraged.)

2 comments:

Mrs. Klink said...

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Mrs. Klink said...

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