Giant Cashier Busted (sale, crimes, unemployment benefits)

[jaunespinoza]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

You couldn't be any more misinformed if you tried. The underage people the police use ALL look underage. This is what makes it more obvious that the businesses/cashiers are not doing their jobs. Where the heck did you get your info?

Not the one they used in Springfield. He clearly looked 10 years older than he was.

How much victim assistance has MADD ever given anyone? Z-E-R-O!

[mrstewart]

Originally Posted by Turbogyrl

All those holier than thou folks who responded to this thread... Did YOU ever forget to do something at work one day? Maybe the clerk was busy and it slipped his mind! Well guess what, if a minor wants booze he's gonna find a way to get it! A clerk who cards is only going to deter him a bit. Firing the clerk was ridiculous and a gross over reaction.

To those who are busy being their righteous selves, talking about drunk driver stats: that was not the issue at hand here in this thread. Under age purchase of alcohol was the issue. Your kind never misses an opportunity to spout off.

So this clerk should not be fired because she was not doing her job? How hard is it being a clerk? Is she performing brain surgery in between ringing folks at the register? NO. She has a few responsibilities and one of which is very important...CHECKING ID's....how hard can it be? There are even computer software prompts when alcohol is bought and the cashier is unable to go to the next screen without entering a birthdate...

If the folks at Target, JCrew, Banana Republic, etc. can ask me if I need a darn credit card every time I go in or if they can add my email address for the millionth time, a cashier can ask someone for their ID when purchasing alcohol.

At some point this would become a rote activity for a cashier....

[MaNova]

Originally Posted by Turbogyrl

To those who are busy being their righteous selves, talking about drunk driver stats: that was not the issue at hand here in this thread. Under age purchase of alcohol was the issue. Your kind never misses an opportunity to spout off.

Um, yes well...you are certainly spouting off with your opinions, so please don't begrudge it of others.

In reply to your remarks, I don't know who was talking about drunk driving stats, but I talked about underage drinking stats. Why? Because these stats are part of the reasons we have the underage drinking laws we do and why individuals who sell alcohol have the responsibility they do. Call me "righteous", but I'm sure as heck not going to minimize the issue with "aw, that poor clerk...he just forgot to check ID...after all, underage drinkers can get it from a friend anyway, he shouldn't be held accountable for selling booze to a kid..."

Not to say I'm "cheering on" (as some one else put it) the punishment in this case...or the fact that some clerk's life was ruined. There is no question that clerk made a mistake. The punishment seems somewhat harsh. My point isn't to rake that person over the coals without mercy. My point is responsibility and accountability.

[jenniferprestia]

Actually, I think most of us who aren't comfortable with this would not disagree that firing the cashier might be in order. It's the criminal record thing that gives us pause: is this proportionate to the crime? I would say no, but obviously others might disagree.

[pcity]

Originally Posted by MaNova

Approximately 5,000 people under the age of 21 die every year as a result of under age drinking in this country. That's just the worst of it. Check out the facts of this "victim-less crime."

Consequences of Underage Drinking (http://camy.org/factsheets/index.php?FactsheetID=29 - broken link)

Those stats are useless because the standards for an "alcohol-related" death are so ridiculous. You have one drop of alcohol in your blood, someone rams into you in their car, and that's an "alcohol-related" incident.

The homicide and suicide stats are even more screwed up- they assume that someone killed someone else or themselves because of alcohol and not any other underlying factor. Evidently, MADD never learned the difference between correlation and causation.

But as long as we're playing with useless statistics, here's one:

There's somewhere around 20 million 16-20 year olds in the US. Taking away the BS homicides/suicides stat, that leaves around 3000 alcohol-related deaths. I'll be generous and assume the 3000 stat is legit.

3000/20,000,000 = 0.00015

That's the portion that'll die from underage drinking related accidents (car or otherwise).

So I stand by my statement: 99% of the time, it is a victimless crime.

We as a country would do much better to follow the European model of actually teaching young adults how to act around alcohol, rather than wasting resources enforcing these silly zero-tolerance bans.

[bs13690]

No way should the store be fined. The employee is supposed to check IDs regardless of the amount of customers in the store. If you think the drinking age should be lower, lobby to have the law changed. But until it is changed the cashiers/bartenders need to follow it.

[mrstewart]

Originally Posted by pcity

Those stats are useless because the standards for an "alcohol-related" death are so ridiculous. You have one drop of alcohol in your blood, someone rams into you in their car, and that's an "alcohol-related" incident.

The homicide and suicide stats are even more screwed up- they assume that someone killed someone else or themselves because of alcohol and not any other underlying factor. Evidently, MADD never learned the difference between correlation and causation.

But as long as we're playing with useless statistics, here's one:

There's somewhere around 20 million 16-20 year olds in the US. Taking away the BS homicides/suicides stat, that leaves around 3000 alcohol-related deaths. I'll be generous and assume the 3000 stat is legit.

3000/20,000,000 = 0.00015

That's the portion that'll die from underage drinking related accidents (car or otherwise).

So I stand by my statement: 99% of the time, it is a victimless crime.

We as a country would do much better to follow the European model of actually teaching young adults how to act around alcohol, rather than wasting resources enforcing these silly zero-tolerance bans.

OK, until we adopt European laws we still have our own to abide by and these state that anyone under the age of 21 is too young to purchase alcohol...until the laws change and the age to drink and purchase are lowered we have to abide by OUR guidelines and no one elses.

[mrstewart]

Originally Posted by bs13690

No way should the store be fined. The employee is supposed to check IDs regardless of the amount of customers in the store. If you think the drinking age should be lower, lobby to have the law changed. But until it is changed the cashiers/bartenders need to follow it.

I think the reasoning behind the store being fined is to encourage the stores to instill more rigorous training standards for the cashiers. The State probably assumes that hitting them in the wallet will be a good motivator.

[Turbogyrl]

Originally Posted by mrstewart

So this clerk should not be fired because she was not doing her job? How hard is it being a clerk? Is she performing brain surgery in between ringing folks at the register? NO. She has a few responsibilities and one of which is very important...CHECKING ID's....how hard can it be? There are even computer software prompts when alcohol is bought and the cashier is unable to go to the next screen without entering a birthdate...

If the folks at Target, JCrew, Banana Republic, etc. can ask me if I need a darn credit card every time I go in or if they can add my email address for the millionth time, a cashier can ask someone for their ID when purchasing alcohol.

At some point this would become a rote activity for a cashier....

NO In my opinion, to which I am entitled, being fired was too harsh a punishment for a clerk in a grocery store. Chances are that person's job options were already limited... maybe there was a long line behind the person he forgot to card...grocery store clerks get rattled too... Grocery stores are quite different from JCrew & Banana Republic.

Frankly I find your remarks about "how difficult it is to be a clerk" pretty disparaging, and your attitude rigid & self righteous. Hope that YOU never get fired for a small mistake, or your kid or spouse. At least the folks at Trader Joes recognized that their clerk needs a job, and were kind enough to just punish the clerk & let him keep his job.

And to MaNova, yes, I am entitled to my opinion. Perhaps if the parents in the US taught their children to be responsible about alcohol then underage drinking wouldn't be so much a problem. I would think responsibility and accountability for teaching & informing your child about drinking begins at home.

[The Dissenter]

Personally, I think the firing and charging of this cashier is wrong. I understand about not wanting minors to buy alcohol but the punishment doesn't fit the crime.

I don't think carding has a major impact on underage alcohol consumption. I'm a college kid and plenty of my peers could hit the bottle or keg anytime they wanted long before they turned 21. They'll always find someone to buy it for them and it will stay on the DL.