October 18, 2004
Carded
Carded
It looks like beer. It tastes yucky like beer. But last time I checked, the actual alcohol content in non-alcoholic beer was negligible. Anyway, I bought some O'Douls today to use in beef stew since Cook's Illustrated said it worked well and my friends have often recommended beer as a stew base. If I'd thought anyone would think I was buying beer, I would have been more than a little embarassed -- not only because I don't drink and belong to a teetotalling church, but because I'm about as pregnant as pregnant can be and carting around a two year old besides.
I unloaded all my groceries and last but not least the near beer. Everything rings up and when they get to the final item, they scan it and stare at me expectantly. "Can I see your I.D. please?" I don't look that young and it is non-alcoholic beer, so I was a bit surprised, but I complied. The woman checking my I.D. had never heard of non-alcoholic beer and didn't seem to quite believe me when I told her that's what it was. Why would the computer ask for I.D. otherwise? She also told me that since the computer insists on a birthday for all alcoholic (or apparently alcoholic looking) beverages, they now card everyone -- even if they are 80.
The wonders of the computer age never cease.
Oh bu-ruther! That is ridiculous! Carded for NON-alcoholic beer! Sheesh! I'm a teetotaler, too. Thanks for the warning for any future purchases of the same.
Speaking of Cook's Illustrated, (shhhhh!!) I just bought my hubby a subscription to it for Christmas. Of course, I'll be reading it, too. *wink*
Posted by: Kim at October 19, 2004 12:56 AMI would think it appropriate to show fake ID when buying fake beer, but I'm from New York, so...
And I take this as one more sign of both an increasingly litigious society and a dumber one. Clearly they want to cover their hineys (when selling Heiny, I guess) by carding everyone no matter the age. Clearly also they assume the cashiers aren't intelligent enough to decide who needs carding & who doesn't. Oy.
Posted by: skinnydan at October 19, 2004 08:42 AMI was once carded for buying non-alchoholic beer while pregnant, too. That clerk said that they had a too-broad coding system that brought up the prompt to id for everything from a beer manufacturer. It seemed to me that more than anything it was probably just laziness on the part of whoever does the coding. Figuring out new codes for non-alchie products made by Coors or Bud or whoever would take a bit of thought and effort, after all.
Posted by: ninaradio at October 19, 2004 02:45 PMYou know, Nina, I vaguely remembered that someone I knew had been carded for buying something non-alcoholic, but I forgot who or under what circumstances.
Posted by: Jordana at October 19, 2004 02:49 PM
Jordana Adams, Chief Pontificator