What is this, r/ThatHappened? 
People calling in to businesses get real weird though–another guy I spoke with seemed perfectly okay, we took care of his issue and all seemed fine then at the end of the call he says, quite conversationally, “I hope you get cancer and DIE.” WTF, dude, really? What did I ever do to him? Freaks.
I had a fantastic vanilla soft serve sundae with pineapple and coconut on it, topped with a cherry. There was a liquor store in the adjoining strip mall, one could theoretically buy a little airplane bottle of rum and make a pina colada sundae.
I used to work as a manager at a chain of drugstores whose name was an adjective (e.g. Reliable Drug Stores). Many times irate older customers would demand to see the owner. Naturally the clerks would summon me. Sometimes after reading my name badge, sometimes after asking my name, they would indignantly declare something like “You’re just an employee, if you were the owner, you would be Mr Reliable!”. The first time I tried in vain to explain a joint stock company to the old codger. The next time one of the older clerks (I was 21 or 22 at the time) just said “Mr Reliable is very ill, sir, he has asked that Mr Mouse represent him”
This was an area with a clientele that skewed very much older. I actually learned a lot of compassion from working there.
Things may cost one dollar at these stores, but there is sometimes a tax of a few cents on certain items. If someone has exactly $1 in her hand and the total is $1.08 with tax, well, it isn’t a dollar store, is it?
I did a reverse situation on some young clerks. I was working second shift at NASA and got off at 11:00 PM. I stopped at a grocery store to pick up some beer. Since it was late there was only one register open with a young woman tending it. She was not old enough to ring up the beer. She called over the only other person I could see but he was too young also.
She I asked them, “Is it OK if I slide the beer across the scanner and you just collect the money”. They glanced at each other and thought it might be OK. As soon as rang up the beer and the woman told me the amount I whipped out my NASA badge and announced in a firm voice, " BATF inspector - could you please accompany me to the office". Oh, they just died. They were practically crying as I hastily explained my “joke”. I did get the beer, though.
That in a pre-scanner world was exactly how it worked where I grew up near Chicago. If you were having a steak dinner at Ponderosa (like Sizzler, but less of a salad bar) and wanted a beer, the kid at the register would ring up everything except the beer, then ask the customer to press the BEER button on the register.
I agree. My mind works the same as yours. But apparently it does not work that way for most people around here. I bet that if you ask the average store employee around here how much the total cost for an item is including sales tax they would tell you there is no way of determining that until they ring it up.
And that might be because of the weird sales tax laws and so many exemptions. Is a bottle of vitamins considered medicine and not taxed? Is a super soaker hat classified as clothing and only taxed at 3%?
Do you really think so? You are probably right, but they must ring up a sale of a single item dozens of times each week. Even the moss near the bottom of the tree gets some sunlight. But in Canada, tax exceptions are not commonplace (some books, some food, meals under $4 if you can time travel back to 2004…)
One time pre-scanner I was in line at a grocery store and the customers in front of me were buying two cases of beer. Since the cashier was underage he was not allowed to press the button that rang up the sale, so he had to ask them to lean over and press it. Unfortunately, they didn’t speak English and didn’t understand what he wanted them to do, or why he couldn’t just do it himself. Finally, I stepped forward and pressed the button.
In the UK we have pound stores, rather than dollar stores.
Not everything there costs a pound. Some are two for a pound. A few are three for a pound.
Occasionally, some are priced at 79p, for some reason.
A few items are higher quality, and priced at two or three pounds.
On occasion, I’ve seen an item with no price label (usually canned food) which seems overpriced at a pound. I have had occasion to ask an assistant the following question:
This item isn’t clearly labeled, but it seems overpriced at a pound. Is that really what it costs? Maybe it’s one of the two for a pound items? Or possibly a 79p item? That would be a reasonable price. It can’t possibly be two or three pounds, can it? Because that would be way overpriced.
However, it came out as “How much is this?”
As a cashier I don’t see what’s funny about that.
First violation on the alcohol selling rules where I work is instantly losing your job, no extenuating circumstances and no appeal. If the authorities decide to be dicks about it you can also get a hefty fine and jail time. For a first offense.
I’ll stop there because we’re not in the Pit.
Me neither, and I’m not a cashier.
Regarding the beer thing, perhaps that varies by jurisdiction, but where I am (Wisconsin), it has nothing to do with the age of the cashier (though they do have to be 18), it has to do with whether or not they (or someone in the immediate area that can ‘supervise’ the sale) as a bartender’s license.
At my store, I have a lot of my cashiers get their bartender’s license, otherwise they have to constantly call for a manager to come out when someone’s buying alcohol. At times, that can be a big hassle.
Same here, and I’m not a cashier. Making a young woman cry to get your jollies, that’s pretty low.
Sounds like my grandmother. She always wanted a Brandy Alexander or a coffee nudge. A lot of the bartenders are a bit younger and wouldn’t know either drink. If my dad was with her, he’d tell the bartender or waiter how to make it, and she’d get her drink.
If he wasn’t, she expected me to tell the bartender/waiter. Would have been easier if she knew the recipe, or had it printed on a card. Also would avoid the situation where the bartender/waiter would know a recipe, but it wouldn’t be the one she wanted. For example, she expected ice cream in her Brandy Alexander, but some places use cream or even half and half.
If it happened at my store, you’d be asked to leave and told you’re no longer welcome back. Our cashiers (mostly high school aged girls) get harassed enough as it is. Thinking it’s funny to pretend to be some type of federal agent and that you need to escort them ‘to the office’ wouldn’t go over well. I suppose if someone really wanted to push the subject, impersonating a federal officer is generally frowned upon.
To say this in a nicer way. Cashiers put up with customer’s bullshit day in and day out. Whether it’s the 50 year old married guy asking when the 16 year old cashier gets off of work so he can pick her up and take her for a ride on his new motorcycle (real example), telling a joke she’s already heard a dozen times this week, being generally rude, nasty or condescending and now apparently pretending be with BATF.
Don’t be another asshole she has to deal with.
It’s unfortunate that all my cashiers have an understanding that when there’s a customer in the store that they have some type of problem they can always call for me (or one of the managers) and we can cover their register for a few minutes so they don’t have to deal with that person.
But seriously, if you pulled that shit in my store, you wouldn’t be allowed back in. That crossed the line.
A lifetime ago, when I worked in a convenience store in Indiana, my recollection was that you had to be 21 to buy alcohol, 18 to sell alcohol, and 16 to stock alcohol. I’m not 100% on the exact ages, but I’m pretty sure on the sequence.
And the “press the sale button for me” would have been a transparent dodge that would never have flown - if that were official policy at the store, it would have lost its liquor license, and a manager that instructed their clerks to do that would probably be in serious legal difficulties.
As to @mixdenny’s “joke”, if that actually happened: that’s not over the line. It’s in a completely different zip code. Impersonating a federal law enforcement officer (which is, in fact, a federal crime) in order to “prank” a couple of teenagers by making them think their lives were about to be ruined, because they had the temerity to try to provide you with good customer service and to be gullible enough to fall for your BS? That’s actively awful.
Every year we had to take my oldest aunt out for her birthday. We always went to an expensive Chinese restaurant, which was her favorite. So what did she order? Chow mein. Every single year, she ordered fucking chow mein. It wasn’t even on the menu, they had to make it special just for her. After several years of this, they even recognized the “Chow mein lady” when she came in.
It varies by jurisdiction. In Indiana you have to be 21 to sell alcohol, full stop. So anyone under 21 has to step aside, let a supervisor complete that portion of the ring-up, after which they can resume and finish the order.
Anyone over 21 can sell alcohol, no manager or bartender’s license required.
Whether or not that makes sense to you or to a customer doesn’t matter, it’s the law in our state and we have to obey it.