Boss and all my co-workers have explicitly told me to do it, so I’m doing it, whether it’s just company policy or the law.
In any event, whenever I go into a liquor store, people get their liquor put in brown paper bags. We have no such things at 7-Eleven.
Heh, not sure in what state you’re working, but 7-Eleven is one of the places where I’ve never had to have this conversation. I say I don’t need a bag (i carried it to the counter, after all), and I get no argument.
ETA: And at some stores where the clerk is willing to work with me, I say: “Ok, you put it in the bag, but I don’t have to take it with me. I’ll remove it and leave it for you to use later.” If they agree to that, then I’m fine. They put it in the bag and fulfilled their religious belief. I don’t have to dispose of their trash.
Neil from The Young Ones: You’re bald AND you have long hair??
Hehehe, he’s one of my favorite characters.
I went bald on top, cut my hair sort for a few years, decided I didn’t like it and just stopped cutting my hair entirely. I call it a “natural skullet”. Kind of looks like Larry David totally gone to seed.
Oh, right. I suppose I never have said that. Virginia.
I read an article just now; as of 2012, anyway, there was no state law requiring me to bag beer or wine. I guess they want me to do that so that minors don’t see people carrying alcohol, and so that people don’t feel compelled to consume them on public property.
I’m sorry, but I can’t understand why minors seeing others buying alcohol is a problem (they stand in line without a bag, after all), and I don’t see why a bag would prevent consumption on the premises at all. In fact, the reason why stores around here used to provide people with paper bags for single beers was so that the purchaser could put it in the bag and consume it and kind of conceal that it was obviously a beer while walking down the street or driving.
It really sounds like your co-workers are caught up in the same stupid fantasy that a lot of other convenience store workers are under. I’d offer a bag to everyone, but I’d ask your manager what you’re supposed to do when the customer refuses the bag.
And the belief in these laws is particularly dumb when you consider that it would only apply to the purchase of a small quantity of beer. Most convenience stores don’t have a bag big enough for a 12 pack (and I’ve never had anyone insist this is a rule for 12 packs), and a bag big enough for a case of beer is out of the question for a convenience store.
For the record, I’ve never encountered anyone who worked at a liquor store that believed in this myth. If I didn’t want a bag, that was my business.
The important reason why the clerks must bag the booze is that no self-respecting drunk would ever drink booze except from a paper bag. The clerks (& management) are showing respect to the alcoholic lifestyle; the lifestyle that keeps them in business.
IMO each of the rest of us ordinary customers should just go with the flow. And take a ceremonial swig from the bottle still in the bag while walking to our car. Or crack one can or whatever’s appropriate depending on specifically what you just bought.
it’s the circle of (booze-hound) life. Keep it turning. Respect and preserve the traditions that came before you.
If you took a ceremonial swig before you got in the car, isn’t that an open container, and a problem?
Take your swig, put the bag in the trunk, and drive on. Oh yeah, for Texans, substitute “truckbed box” for “trunk”.
In some cases it’s quite the production.
Our store asks us to physically examine and scan the card. I can’t do that if it’s wedged into an ancient wallet slot with the plastic yellowed and scratched up. Heck, I’ve seen some so bad you can’t read what’s on the license. Another problem is the “wave card quickly and put it back in your pocket”. No, we have to actually read the damn thing. Oh, maybe if you look 80, sure, but if you’re under 40 I’m going to have to read the damn thing.
Also:
You’d be surprised how many people manage to forget even the “having your wallet” part of the transaction. At the grocery store where I work, it’s become an inside joke that if you ring up a customer and give them their total and they say “My wallet’s in the car, I’ll be right back”, that they will not be right back, because they realized in that instant that they left their wallet at home and don’t want to admit it to the cashier.
We even have “my wallet’s in the car” as one of the codes we can put in for why we’re cancelling a transaction.
Pennsylvania’s liquor laws are gradually becoming more modern. I can buy beer in some grocery stores now. However, my driver’s license must be scanned. Some are complaining about it, but I’m just thrilled I can grab a mix six along with my food.
I no longer carry a wallet unless I’m traveling. I hate bulky crap in my pockets and beyond my phone and a car fob my pockets are empty. If I’m walking the neighborhood the car fob is at home too.
An elastic sleeve on the back of my phone carries my primary credit card, my driver’s license, and a couple of large bills for emergency cash. That’s it; nothing else in any pocket.
While driving my phone sits in a charge cradle, since again crap in pockets is bad, and doubly so while sitting down.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve pulled up to the dry cleaners, left the car running & the phone in the car, walked in to pick up or drop off clothes, and been surprised when they wanted payment & my phone and therefore my CC is back in the car. Doesn’t happen for more major shopping events like groc or mall but happens a lot at my quick drop-off / pick-up stops.
I don’t tend to buy booze at a quick-stop; but if I did, I’d sure need to go back for my ID & method of payment more often than not. D’oh!
OTOH …
The other day I was buying lunch at a semi-fast-food joint. While I was ordering a rather scruffy looking dude came in, ordered at the adjacent register, and proffered a card for payment. Which declined. He smoothly said “Oh I must have turned it off on my phone, I’ll be right back.” And went out the door. The one cashier resignedly said to the other “We’ll never see him again.” as she cancelled his order.
Yep; I was there 20-ish minutes waiting for then eating my meal & he never returned. It was probably a stolen card and he was hoping for a free lunch. Or at least free to him.
Day 4. Busy times and slow times. Slow enough towards the end of my shift that I took my store manager’s advice from when I first came in and buggered off an hour early. I texted her and told her about it. She said, “Thanks. The Royal Farms is killing us.” It just opened a week or so ago. Hopefully, the novelty will wear off.
I was very upbeat and positive the entire day, except for one time when someone bombed the men’s restroom and left some paper towels and toilet paper on the floor. It’s like they were raised by animals.
Our 7-Eleven gets a lot of its business from the warehouse workers who work across the street. A couple hundred of them every shift. You can tell them by their hi-vis vests. To a person, they have been wonderful people, very encouraging, and it makes me want to do well for them.
Which I did. Today was the first day that was almost totally uneventful, especially in terms of my screwing up. You guys were right. I figured it out eventually.
Yaay!
Some folks are more confident than capable. Some folks are more capable than confident. This applies whether their job is janitor or brain surgeon.
You’re one of the latter; you can do more than you first expect. As you’re showing all of us, all of your customers, your manager, and most importantly yourself. Kick it!
Really glad to hear you’re getting your feet under you.
Yep, as someone who has integrating new workers into their jobs as part of my job description, I’m happy you feel like you’re getting into the groove of things. When you start encountering new situations and know how to solve them without asking anyone, then you’ve arrived.
If I my commiserate with the destruction of the bathroom, Ages ago I had a person wipe their butt on the toilet seat of one stall in the time it took me to notice it was out of paper while cleaning it and run upstairs to get toilet paper for it. The other stall had a full roll of paper.
I spent a year cleaning the restrooms (and other things) at the Pearl Harbor Memorial which is an international destination and survived to tell the tale. I went through gloves like nobody’s business, but I didn’t have to pay for them so that was OK.
I learned to love the floor drain while I was hosing poop off the walls.
Glad to hear things are coming together, @ekedolphin !
But now I have a question. Do you have a Big Book of Allowable IDTM? Has someone presented a passport as ID yet?
I don’t know if we have a big book of allowable ID. I haven’t seen anyone break out a passport, but I did have someone from Mexico present his permanent resident card.