I heard of a bad experience from a friend of mine that happened to him this weekend at a local gas station and was wondering if any one else thinks that this is gong a little over board? Him and his daughter walked in to this unnamed gas station on Sunday morning and bought some things to go to a family outing, on the counter among other things were a 18 pack of beer, and the clerk then asked him for his daughters ID to make sure that she was really his daughter and that he was not purchasing the beer to give to her. Now to me this is totally uncalled for. I understand that their has been some stations getting in trouble for selling beer to minors but to go as far as to ask this guy for his daughters ID is uncalled for I think. Just to let you know that he and many others that have heard this will never go back because of this type of action. What do you guys think?

Overboard

this happened to my family last december in Billings at the west end walmart. The clerk asked for all of our ids. I'm 27 and the youngest in my family? Then to be a smart a$$ i had my five year old whip out her midrivers child id! The clerk told me, that taunting her was uncalled for!

I'd thank the clerk for caring. Then proceed to buy my beer and make sure my kids don't get into it.

There's no amount of authoritarian busybodying that Jeff won't approve of.

Businesses are crazy careful about I.D. these days because the fines are steep. An employee can get fired, no questions asked, if they are caught not asking for age I.D. on cigarettes and alcohol. By producing said ID, you are saving that person's job and possible a multi-thousand dollar fine.

Losing your job and being fined several thousand dollars a whack makes a person cautious. You can help by doing as the clerk asks and be grateful that such caution is being taken.

Or you throw a tantrum because you were inconvenienced for a few seconds. Your call.

Amorette, no one said they threw a tantrum, and I won't have to worry about it because I haven't gone to this store in along time and this gentleman showed them all the proper ID and then left.

I never realized you had to show ID other than for yourself when purchasing beer. How many people would really walk up to the counter with a child and buy beer for them. I would think if they were buying for the child, they would be a little sneakier. After all, it was the adult making the purchase, not the child. I want, also, to make it clear that I do not approve of buying for minors.

The thing is that they were NOT sneakier. Teens were hanging around the doors to stores asking adults to buy beer for them offering to pay the person extra. When this became very prevalent, the legislature passed a law making the store owners and clerks also responsible for the illegal act. When it comes to people breaking the law, there is no such thing as too stupid.

16-3-301. Unlawful purchases, transfers, sales, or deliveries -- presumption of legal age.

(3) It is unlawful for any licensee, a licensee's employee, or any other person to sell, deliver, or give away or cause or permit to be sold, delivered, or given away any alcoholic beverage to:
(a) any person under 21 years of age; or
(b) any person actually, apparently, or obviously intoxicated.

They are not allowed to ask for I.D from anyone other than the person purchasing the alcohol.

You mean, "After the feds threatened to cut funding, the legislature was forced to enact a law..."

And apparently, the average bartender stops reading at the "; or".

[This message has been edited by Buck Showalter (6/20/2011)]

If it is such a wide spread problem I don't understand why this station is the only one asking for this kind of info? I think they just keep getting in trouble themselves, either that or the other stations are not worried about it.

16-3-301. Unlawful purchases, transfers, sales, or deliveries -- presumption of legal age.

(3) It is unlawful for any licensee, a licensee's employee, or any other person to sell, deliver, or give away or cause or permit to be sold, delivered, or given away any alcoholic beverage to:
(a) any person under 21 years of age; or
(b) any person actually, apparently, or obviously intoxicated.

They are not allowed to ask for I.D from anyone other than the person purchasing the alcohol.

Umm... where exactly does it say they aren't allowed to ask for ID from others Given the nature of the fines and other bad things that can happen to store owners/employees, all of the CYA is probably in order.

[This message has been edited by Richard Bonine, Jr. (6/20/2011)]

My wife and I went to a store (out of town) to buy groceries, and in them was a bottle of cooking wine. They asked for my wife's ID. I said "no... here is MY ID, I'm buying the wine." "We need her ID too." "Would you like to see my 3 year old son's ID?" "Why would I want to see his ID?" "Thats a great question... because he is not buying the wine. If I had my 14 year old daughter with me, would you refuse to sell me cooking wine?" They then sold me the wine.

Another time I was asked "are you over the age of 45?" "No. But I'm well over 21." "Well then I need to see your ID, since you're under 45." "No. That isn't the way it works. You could ask me if I'm over 21 - that is the only age that really matters here. If I APPEAR to be under 45, you ask for my ID, and I give it to you. You don't ID me if I AM under 45, only if I appear to be under 45." "Well, you appear to be under 45. Can I see your ID?" "Absolutely."

Kacey,

"...It is unlawful for any licensee, a licensee's employee, or any other person to sell, deliver, or give away OR CAUSE OR PERMIT to be sold, delivered, or given away any alcoholic beverage to...."

The store can easily be seen as "causing or permitting" that alcohol to be given to a minor when there is an unrelated minor standing there next to the purchaser. That is why they check. As annoying as it is.

so at what age do they need to see the ID of a person with the buyer? if I went in a store with my 12 year old daugher, would I need to show her ID as well as mine?

Leave your kids in the car. Problem solved.

Looks good to leave your kids in the car while you are in the store purchasing booze.

I'm not sure proving the buyer is the parent of a child with them solves anything-- when I was in high school I knew PLENTY of kids whose parents bought for them! it was actually pretty common

[This message has been edited by t.anderson (6/20/2011)]

Didn't see any teens at 10:25 sunday morning hanging around the doors of M&H asking adults to buy them beer. Must be really really sneeky.
No worries Cubby, found a new station that is more than happy to sell me gas, beer and cigarettes. Yes Amorette, I drink and smoke.

way overboard!!

So can we gather from this that one would not be allowed to buy alcohol in the presence of a teenager who doesn't share their last name? Seems there would be any number of totally innocent scenarios that this policy would interfere with.

i had a similar exsperience a couple months ago me and my buddy went in to buy a 18 pack of beer and the he was the one paying and so when she asked for i.d. he showed her then she asked for mine and i did not have on me and she said next time make sure you do. which if i am buying the beer i will have it with me. and i know that the fine for selling to a minor is only around 250 and a loss of you job at most places that sell beer.i know this because it happened to me a couple years ago. but i think cubby is right asking for his daughters i.d. is going a little to far.

How many convenience store clerks would even recognize a bogus ID?

Not everybody has a MT license that would look familiar to the average clerk.

Oh how we struggle with social issues that inconvenience us. It's good that people take issue with incursions on their civil rights. That said, we are prone to encounter incoveniences to protect the rights of all concerned, especially in the bigger picture. This isn't a little thing about abuses of liquor, and we all know it.
On another note, 50 years ago my then prenant wife and I walked into the Crossroads for an evening of dining and dancing. Being newly weds we enjoyed a night out once in a while. Because she was only 20 at the time, we were asked to leave since my being 23 wasn't old enough to "chaperone" my wife. A bit awkward, since we had been there a number of times before. But the man was being super careful for whatever reason. Simply said, "Stuff happens."

Back when I lived in Baker, I was working at the Jaycee's Beer Garden during the Fallon County Fair. I carded one young woman and she handed me a North Dakota drivers license that said she was legal. She didn't get her beer because even though the picture looked like her, I knew it was her much older sister who I'd gone to college with about 10 years earlier.

She was about 200 miles away from home and I'm sure she didn't think she'd run into anyone who knew her sister. LOL