And the world slips ever more into insanity...

[Peter]

Man, 72, refused alcohol over age
Supermarket staff refused to sell alcohol to a white-haired 72-year-old man - because he would not confirm he was over 21.

Check-out staff at Morrisons in West Kirby, Wirral, demanded Tony Ralls prove he was old enough to buy his two bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Mr Ralls asked to see the manager who put the wine back on the shelf.

The grandfather-of-three said he had refused to confirm he was over 21 as it was a "stupid question."

Mr Ralls, a retired insurance firm regional manager, said he expected the store manager to resolve the situation but he was disappointed.

"I felt like saying 'What do I look like? Are you a fool?'

   It's bureaucracy gone mad
Tony Ralls

"He picks up the wine and, in the manner of a child taking home his ball, says 'Well, we won't serve you'."

The pensioner abandoned his shopping on the conveyor belt and left the store - but not before demanding a complaints form and phone number for Morrisons' headquarters.

Mr Ralls said: "It is bureaucracy gone mad. If the check-out lady, who was about 40, had asked me with a twinkle in her eye perhaps I would not have been so tetchy.

"But she asked me the question with a perfectly straight face and I said I wouldn't dignify the question with an answer.

"And if the manager had explained that all the staff had to ask everyone because they had previously been fined, but said I was clearly over 21, it would have been fine - but he showed no sense of humour."

Mr Ralls added that he felt embarrassed to return to the supermarket and wanted an apology for "the stupid and unnecessary confrontation."

He added: "I applaud any efforts to stop kids being served and standing on street corners getting drunk. But this was just totally stupid."

A Morrisons spokesman said: "We take our responsibility with regard to selling alcohol very seriously and all our stores operate the Task 21 scheme, which addresses the difficulties our staff face in being able to determine if a customer is legally old enough to buy alcohol.

"To further limit any element of doubt staff at the West Kirby store are required to ask anyone buying alcohol to confirm that they are over 21."

[Scrapheap]

You have a 21 yr old drinking age too??

[SovaNu]

i wasn't carded today. i usually am at M&S. the guy said i trust you're over 21 and gave me a weird look. i felt old.

[Calandale]

Or maybe he was hitting on you?

[duncvis]

You have a 21 yr old drinking age too??

No, its 18 here but in recent years many shops started asking everyone who appeared to be under 21 for ID to prove they were over 18, in the hope of less booze getting to antisocial little twats hanging round the streets picking fights and smashing stuff up. It doesn't appear to have worked.

[Christopher McCandless]

You have a 21 yr old drinking age too??

No, its 18 here but in recent years many shops started asking everyone who appeared to be under 21 for ID to prove they were over 18, in the hope of less booze getting to antisocial little twats hanging round the streets picking fights and smashing stuff up. It doesn't appear to have worked.

Some shops are not selling to under 21s now, i think its Asda mainly. Personally i think the alcohol age should be 16.

[purposefulinsanity]

You think he'd have been flattered to get asked for ID at his age

[DirtDawg]

You think he'd have been flattered to get asked for ID at his age

I don't know.
seventy two is a bit past the age where regular people deserve a bit of respect. I don't mean all of them, mind you, but they deserve the benefit of the doubt if they seem civvil. He was merely harassed for no reason.

I am not nearly as humble as he. I would probabaly have heaved both of the bottles towards the managrer intentionally to break them and asked if he could price check them for me.

[Leto729]

I got carded once when I lived in a college town of Spearfish I was 35 years old. I just took it out and smiled.

[purposefulinsanity]

You think he'd have been flattered to get asked for ID at his age

I don't know.
seventy two is a bit past the age where regular people deserve a bit of respect. I don't mean all of them, mind you, but they deserve the benefit of the doubt if they seem civvil. He was merely harassed for no reason.

I am not nearly as humble as he. I would probabaly have heaved both of the bottles towards the managrer intentionally to break them and asked if he could price check them for me.

I was only joking dirtdawg- its clear from the story just now ridiculous asking someone of that age for ID is. 

[Calandale]

I get it regularly. Sometimes, it's a royal pain.
Will be worse, if my license expires.

[Parts]

I have only been carded twice since I turned 21 and rarely before that.  My wife got carded for a lottery ticket when she was 30 which you only have to be 18 for. 

[maldoror]

At a 7-11 I worked at we were forced to card absolutely everyone for beer. The register made us enter in a birthdate every time we scanned beer. Of course, the majority of the time I just made one up, but once when I didn't card some guy for dip I got red carded, which basically means that they're going to fire you (luckily, my boss was understanding). It turned out the guy I didn't card was 23, and you have to be 18 to buy it, but their reasoning was that, since we were supposed to card anyone who doesn't look older than 27 and he was 23, he couldn't have looked over 27, or something. And somewhere, a double murder goes unsolved... 

[Calandale]

I remember when they first started
really cracking down, and put signs up
saying something like "Under 30? If so,
you need ID" Well, here I was, probably
around 33 or 34, and I simply COULDN'T
buy beer, as I had no ID. Had to get my
wife to do it. Silly ass shit. Got in an argument
with a manager at a drug store, because I
didn't have ID for tobacco too. At least with
the beard, THAT is seldom a problem.

[SovaNu]

i love your passion MarkingDawg.

And somewhere, a double murder goes unsolved... 

exactly.