# Why do cashiers do this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 10, 2011, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151 "2011-10-10T04:35:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/1 "2011-10-10T04:35:46Z")
Whenever I buy alcohol at the grocery store they put it in a brown paper bag before they put it in the store-branded plastic one, and when I buy at a liquor store they put it in a black plastic bag with no writing on it. Why? Is it a law? Is it a courtesy to people who are embarassed to be seen buying alcohol? Wouldn’t the paper/black bag be an obvious tip-off? ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/2 "2011-10-10T04:41:40Z")
In many places, it’s a legal requirement. I think it dates back to the Temperance movement, when people sought to hide the appearance of a society that condones alcohol, even if they couldn’t actually prevent people from drinking it. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/3 "2011-10-10T04:50:14Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > In many places, it’s a legal requirement. This may be true in some places but not all. It’s not the law around here yet it’s still done. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/4 "2011-10-10T12:36:06Z")
If you want to consume it right away in many places you can’t have the bottle exposed in public. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/5 "2011-10-10T13:43:00Z")
My local groc/wine store does it do keep the bottle from clanking against other stuff in the bag (and breaking?), esp if there are multiple bottles. If just buying one bottle, it does seem a bit puritanical: _“Ooh, can’t let the parson see that I’m swilling that demon alcoo-hol!”_ ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/6 "2011-10-10T16:25:52Z")
Just last week I told the clerk at my local ABC store that I didn’t need the paper bag unless it was a requirement. It is. The only thing they sell is hard liquor, I don’t know who they believe is being fooled. But laws don’t always make sense at first glance. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/7 "2011-10-10T18:51:52Z")
The paper bag that supermarkets use is to protect the glass _containers_. A Jewel (SuperValu is the parent company) in Evanston (Chicago area) where I occasionally go uses them even for ordinary grocery items like tomato sauce and applesauce. The black plastic bag that liquor stores use is probably to protect the \*contents \*from sunlight – many alcohol items are in tinted glass to begin with for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/8 "2011-10-10T22:07:38Z")
> [@FeAudrey](#): > > The paper bag that supermarkets use is to protect the glass _containers_. How is this supposed to work? If you break a glass bottle in a paper bag, the brown paper immediately saturates, and the bag falls apart into a mess of glass , liquid, and paper pulp. If you break glass in a plastic bag, there will likely be punctures but the bag itself will contain much of the contents and stay together. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/9 "2011-10-10T22:52:43Z")
If two bottles are in a plastic tote bag and each are, in addition, in a small paper bag, then there’s two layers of paper between them to cushion the impact when they shift in the larger bag. The point isn’t to help after the bottles break, it’s just a little extra to prevent them from breaking. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/10 "2011-10-10T23:37:47Z")
I live in California and recently purchased a bottle of vodka at Ralph’s (grocery store). Since it was the only thing I bought and I like to do what I can for the environment, I told the cashier I didn’t need a bag. No can do, she said. By state law, we HAVE to put liquor in a bag before it leaves the store. I never looked it up to verify if it’s actually state law, but that’s the story I got. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/11 "2011-10-10T23:58:32Z")
A supplier of bags [says](http://www.foodservicefiresale.com/Liquor_Bags_s/749.htm) “in most states, it is a law that liquor and wine must be wrapped if it is for takeout.” Of course, they’re trying to sell the bags, so take it with a grain of salt. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/12 "2011-10-11T00:47:03Z")
Plain paper bags with no writting on them are cheaper than ones with the store’s logo on them. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/13 "2011-10-11T06:43:23Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Plain paper bags with no writting on them are cheaper than ones with the store’s logo on them. No, they put it in a paper bag THEN into a bag with the store’s logo on them - it costs them _twice_ as much! The “has to be covered if you want to consume it right away” theory is interesting, but I’m talking about a bottle of VODKA. Even _I’M_ not going to take three steps outside the grocery and start swiggin’! Since I’m also in California I can only assume **Enola Gay** ’s explanation is the correct answer, which begs the question\*: why is this a law? \*hope I used that right. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/14 "2011-10-11T09:29:25Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > No, they put it in a paper bag THEN into a bag with the store’s logo on them - it costs them _twice_ as much! > > The “has to be covered if you want to consume it right away” theory is interesting, but I’m talking about a bottle of VODKA. Even _I’M_ not going to take three steps outside the grocery and start swiggin’! > > Since I’m also in California I can only assume **Enola Gay** ’s explanation is the correct answer, which begs the question\*: why is this a law? > > \*hope I used that right. Well, I don’t know why they’d double-bag, but as a CA liquor cashier, I have been told that at least a single bag is required for bottles of liquor and six-or-fewer packs of beer. And I have definitely seen people go out to their car, open their liquor, and go to town right there. Joe ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/15 "2011-10-11T09:35:54Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > And I have definitely seen people go out to their car, open their liquor, and go to town right there. > > Joe Wow - hard liquor or like a Club Cocktail? That is blowing my mind. I’m asking this as someone who really REALLY has a problem with alcohol and cannot imagine that happening. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/16 "2011-10-11T14:00:30Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > I live in California and recently purchased a bottle of vodka at Ralph’s (grocery store). Since it was the only thing I bought and I like to do what I can for the environment, I told the cashier I didn’t need a bag. No can do, she said. By state law, we HAVE to put liquor in a bag before it leaves the store. I never looked it up to verify if it’s actually state law, but that’s the story I got. One rationale for such a law might be that it removes a common defense for public intoxication/open container violations. If someone’s walking or driving around carrying a (full) bottle of booze, they can no longer claim that they just bought it from the store but didn’t get a bag. I couldn’t find anything in a brief search of CA codes, but their website is pretty hard to use. I tried searching on alcohol, liquor, wine, and spirits. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cashiers-do-this/599151/17 "2011-10-11T16:39:57Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > Wow - hard liquor or like a Club Cocktail? That is blowing my mind. I’m asking this as someone who really REALLY has a problem with alcohol and cannot imagine that happening. Yep. I have alcohol issues as well, but fuck, man, I can’t imagine it either. Usually just a Bud tall boy, but sometimes more. Believe it or not, the worst I saw wasn’t alcohol. Some already strung out guy bought a 24 ounce Monster energy, and chugged it right outside the door. Heart attack in 3…2…1… Joe