We Card

[Darius871]

So yesterday was my birthday, and on Saturday night out of curiousity I went to a convenience store last night to buy a pack of smokes at 11:58 PM. Believe it or not, the guy wouldn't sell them to me, even though I was two minutes from being 18. I looked at the clock, looked back at him, and just laughed inside.

And that's not even the funny part: I thought it was ridiculous, but I just said 'Ok whatever, let's just wait until 12:01 then.' He said 'nope, we close at midnight, sorry.' Unbe-freaking-lievable. I went to the 24-hr place nextdoor and bought some, and on the way home I drove past the place I went to first. The cashier was still there at 12:15, cleaning up to go home, and somehow he couldn't have just sold me some smokes ten seconds after 12. Unbelievable, I felt like I was in a friggin sitcom.

Does this make sense to any rational human being here? Have the health Nazis gone too far? (maybe that's not fair to Nazis...)

[Frankychan]

you can't be serious right?

[Static Universe]

If you ever worked the night shift, you know that being an ***hole is about the only reward you get.

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Frankychan
you can't be serious right?

Dead serious. That's what it's like in Minnesota.

A friend of mine said that one time this 60-year old lady went up to him outside a gas station and said 'could you buy me a pack of cigarettes? I forgot my I.D.' They card everybody, apparently for no other reason than to piss people off.

[Hueij]

I know the US is always two steps ahead of us but over here things are beginning to look very bleak for smokers too. Maybe we should organize and start marching the streets of our respective capitals, armed with sigarets.

"SMOKERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!"

[David Floyd]

Does this make sense to any rational human being here? Have the health Nazis gone too far? (maybe that's not fair to Nazis...)

Actually, it isn't the health Nazis, it's the soccor moms and the fundies. Same reason we have draconian drinking laws, too.

[Dis]

smoking is bad for you. why do it?

I suggest smoking weed instead.

[Jaguar]

He should have waited until 12:01.

[Hueij]

smoking is bad for you. why do it?

If you only do what's good for you, you won't be doing much, won't you...

Besides, if you don't smoke you don't live any longer, it only feels longer.

[Dis]

that's not a very good argument.

for women it makes their skin look like crap. I never know why women do it. But even men look worse when smoking.

and that hacking cough is so attractive.

stop defending your disgusting habits. there is no good reason to smoke.

[Az]

I see nothing wrong with smoking once in a while, but making a habit of it is just stupid.

[Skanky Burns]

While to a sensible person two minutes doesn't make much difference, if he were fined for selling cigarettes to a minor two minutes could be two years for all the law cares. If he sells before midnight he could be busted for selling to a minor. If he sells after midnight he could be busted for selling outside the business' lisenced trading hours - again with a large fine. Why risk a hefty fine for someone you just met - who could very well be an undercover cop?

[Dis]

exactly. There is a word for placing yourself in another's situation.

You have store clerks who need the money working a crap job. The goverment is cracking down using undercover officers and such. They have no way of knowing.

don't blame the clerks, blame the goverment.

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Skanky Burns
While to a sensible person two minutes doesn't make much difference, if he were fined for selling cigarettes to a minor two minutes could be two years for all the law cares. If he sells before midnight he could be busted for selling to a minor. If he sells after midnight he could be busted for selling outside the business' lisenced trading hours - again with a large fine. Why risk a hefty fine for someone you just met - who could very well be an undercover cop?

I know, and the thought occurred to me even before I went in that he might smell a sting, as that's the same explanation I've gotten from every cashier to whom I ever said 'come on...'. Frankly I can't blame them, as they have been cracking down in Minnesota. Hell, there were anti-tobacco clubs I heard about in highschool that considered getting cashiers fired a fun way to spend a Friday night.

However, he ought to know that even if this were a test, any cop or judge in the country would know that selling the cigs 2 minutes early isn't worth fining. If they did do something that ridiculous, the business or the clerk could probably challenge the fine and turn it into a controversy that police departments never want.

Also, I highly doubt that undercover cops sting people to see if they sell things past 'licensed business hours', if there even is such a thing. It sounds more like a store policy issue than a legal issue. At every place I've ever worked, we always sold stuff to people after closing time, especially if they were chicks. I don't think (at least in the U.S.) there are any laws about selling after registered closing times.

[Darius871]

Btw Hueij responded pretty well; I'd prefer losing a year or two off my life to living a life free of pleasurable chemicals. You guys gonna quit drinking coffee anytime soon?

"Plus they take years off the end of your life, and those years suck anyway." - **** Solomon