I know that knife crime is a very serious issue and I fully condone whatever measures are necessary to curb this type of crime BUT....My daughter has just moved in to a new flat. She went to her local Sainsbury's today with her boyfriend to buy some kitchen bits and pieces - first flat she needed everything - including a cheese knife.
At the checkout the girl asked my daughter for ID (for the knife) which she produced (she's 23). The checkout girl also then asked her boyfriend for ID (he's 25) but he didn't have any. They refused to sell the knife to my daughter because in their opinion she may have been buying it for her boyfriend - presumably to use maliciously - I would have thought the conveyor full of other kitchen utensils would have been a bit of a clue as to their real intentions.
Now well up for an argument she protested to the manager to no avail and she left the shop empty handed and an hour of shopping time wasted. The managers parting comment was that if Sainburys sold her the knife and her boyfriend was under age she could sue them!!!!
I can't wait to waste a couple of hours tomorrow doing the biggest shop I can, loading up the converyor then walking away when my teenage son can't produce appropriate ID - which I demand they ask for - because I've put some lagers on the counter. I might even do it more than once just to really p*ss them off.
Check out girls are not the moral guardians of the general public......The lady in question simply has to satisfy herself that the person buying the knife is 18 years or over......It is not for them to make moral judgements.......

Exactly Opti!

Wrong!!!
It is drilled into checkout staff, if in doubt reject. Moral judgement as blank all to do with it!!
If the person looks under 25, cannot product ID, refuse sale, no moral judgements involved here, simple rules.
If you are found to have sold drinks/booze/knifes to underage it was instant dismissal.
So why risk it?
Nope...you're wrong Tunnie..... The woman in question was 23 and had I.D to prove it.....She was not allowed to purchase the knife because the lady on the till thought she might give it to her boyfriend....THAT IS A MORAL JUDGEMENT...

That is precisely the point in all this. If the person has ID to prove they are of the right age then a sale can be made within the letter of the law. She did have ID and the fact that her boyfriend didn't, or the person standing outside, or the dog tied to the lampost also couldn't prove their age should never come into it!!
I was once in the retail industry where our staff (I controlled 3,500 alone) sold tobacco, wines, spirits, over 18 DVD's, and fireworks. The staff were trained to ask for ID to prove age if the person buying
appeared under age. But if ID was present and correct then the sale went ahead. Who was with them did not matter a hoot!
Any sale that is refused because of who is with a person making a purchase, who has produced ID, is because of a moral judgement. This is especially so when the person accompanying the purchaser is well over 21!!
What I would say is though that any "young" person who is making one of these "legally restrained" purchases has ID on them, and also makes sure any younger person with them stays outside of the store!! Common sense is what this is all about, and it has flown out of the window yet again!!
