Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2010 18:01:54 GMT -1
This afternoon at Waitrose, my shopping consisted of a trolley full of food and four of those wee bottles of fruit cider. The checkout assistant refused to sell me the cider because my 17 year old didn't have ID.
When I queried the policy, I was told that I could be buying the cider for underage drinkers (her 20 year old boyfriend was with us, and had already produced his ID btw). I then asked if my daughter went outside and waited, would they sell me the cider? The answer was no, because they'd 'seen us together'.
I then asked if every adult with an under-18 was also unable to buy alcohol and was told this was 'discretionary'. So, I asked for the manager
I explained that I shop there several times a week, my daughter's usually with me--and I'd never been refused wine, beer or any other kind of alcohol with my food shopping. Give her her due, the girl was extremely polite and took a common sense view, apologising and processing the sale.
Now there are several things bothering me about what happened; firstly, an assumption was being made which I found pretty embarrassing in the middle of a busy shop. What raised this suspicion, the fact I had two young people with me and/or the nature of the alcohol I was buying?
Secondly, a broader principle; if I as a parent judge that my 17 year old daughter can have a bottle of cider or a glass of wine at home, surely that's a matter for ME, not the shop supplying the alcohol?
It's woolly thinking, this 'discretionary' policy, not to mention inconsistent--- and what's more it completely erodes personal responsibility.
The final irony is the cider's actually for the wean's dad
When I queried the policy, I was told that I could be buying the cider for underage drinkers (her 20 year old boyfriend was with us, and had already produced his ID btw). I then asked if my daughter went outside and waited, would they sell me the cider? The answer was no, because they'd 'seen us together'.
I then asked if every adult with an under-18 was also unable to buy alcohol and was told this was 'discretionary'. So, I asked for the manager
I explained that I shop there several times a week, my daughter's usually with me--and I'd never been refused wine, beer or any other kind of alcohol with my food shopping. Give her her due, the girl was extremely polite and took a common sense view, apologising and processing the sale.
Now there are several things bothering me about what happened; firstly, an assumption was being made which I found pretty embarrassing in the middle of a busy shop. What raised this suspicion, the fact I had two young people with me and/or the nature of the alcohol I was buying?
Secondly, a broader principle; if I as a parent judge that my 17 year old daughter can have a bottle of cider or a glass of wine at home, surely that's a matter for ME, not the shop supplying the alcohol?
It's woolly thinking, this 'discretionary' policy, not to mention inconsistent--- and what's more it completely erodes personal responsibility.
The final irony is the cider's actually for the wean's dad
