Bartender, a beer for my kid!

....continuing with the theme from my last post about customer service after my, ahem, "experience" at the 'you can do it, we can help' store. i stopped back in to target tonite on my way to the gym to pick up some new headphones. i found what i needed and zoomed to the front of the line in the express lane. as i was completing my transaction, i heard a ruckus in the lane next to me.

almost as ridiculous as airport security personnel strip searching an 80 year-old white woman in a wheelchair on suspicion of terrorist activities is the policies retailers employ to regarding alcohol purchases to "comply" with the government's mandate a few years back to card anyone that doesn't look 30. in today's american society, however, it really is difficult to peg an exact age to people of the younger generation. after all, "i thought she was 18" is an excuse used in court. i digress.

the scene: target, express lane 2. an attractive woman, probably between 30-33 stands in line purchasing some cookies, bread, tylenol and a six pack of fat tire (mmmm) beer. with her stands her husband (yes, they are married. i could tell by the boulder on her ring finger), who is undoubtedly over 30, and quite possibly pushing 40. his face is weathered and starting to wrinkle. his hair is jet black with traces of gray around the sideburn area. oh, and they happen to have their kid with them that is probably around 5 (he can form a complete sentence in english. so, he's either a prodigy 2 year old, or he's of the age when verbal communication is the norm--i.e. 5.).

the clerk, who had the unbelievably annoying habit of talking with her eyes closed and was quite possibly, um, "special," asked the woman for her id. the woman obliged. the clerk, eyes wide shut, turned to the husband and asked for his. he didn't have it on him, and the SPED, er, cashier quickly grabbed the beer back and told them she couldn't sell unless the mid-30's man could prove his age. arguing ensued. the lady customer exclaimed that she had her id, was of age (like her husband) and wanted to speak with a "manager" (i love the gratuitous use of "" when talking about supervisors and others in leadership positions in retail environments. really gives the due respect to the position, i feel). the manager waddled over, yes waddled, took in the situation, and calmly gave the couple the same lame evasion-in-the-form-of-company-policy as the clerk. he did, however, offer the man the opportunity to run out to his car to grab his ID and come back in to prove he was over 21. naturally, he declined and they cancelled the entire transaction and left.

now, i certainly understand why the "over 30" law was written. i remember my underage days where folks like shaun and the wolfe twins and others would walk with me to the store and buy some "beer" (ok, in this instance the "" are in reference to the laughable quality of the alcoholic piss-water we drank in college. but surely you could figure that out....if you're over 30, of course). but in the legal system, there is something called "the spirit of the law," which is to say that yes, the law is in place, but can and should be interpreted and applied in a fair and logical manner--such as when a 20 something comes in with a teenager and tries to buy alcohol. but when a married couple, obviously of legal age of consumption, arrives WITH THEIR 5 YR OLD KID and tries to buy an adult beverage (and when it's 10pm on a friday night and no one else is in the store), what really is the harm in not making the man run out to his car to prove his age?


retailers in general are smart. they're smart about logistics, smart about pricing, smart about supply and demand and other business-related concepts. they make money hand over fist and funnel some of those funds back into training programs to teach their employees about said business principles. somehow common sense is too precious a commodity to spread the wealth.