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Should a retailer refuse to sell alcohol to a legal adult if a minor is present?

Should a retailer refuse to sell alcohol to a legal adult if a minor is present?

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radcen said:
There's something of controversy going on here. A local retailer is refusing to sell alcohol to legal adults if a minor is present with them. Doesn't matter how old or young the minor is, and it doesn't matter if the minor is the adult's own kid.

The retailer is not breaking any laws by doing this, so that's not the issue... but should they? How would you react if a retailer refused to sell you alcohol just because you had your kid with you?

Please note that in this state it is perfectly legal for parents to serve their own minor children alcohol.
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If it's a private business, the owner should be able to refuse to sell alcohol, or whatever else he is selling, to anyone he doesn't want as a customer.

It the customer doesn't like it, he will go elsewhere.
 
Other.

It's up to the retailer.

I suspect that the retailer in question thinks the adult will give the alcohol to the minor, and either disapproves of this possibility or is afraid of fines of some sort.

Either way it's the retailer's decision and if they don't want to sell alcohol in that situation it's fine by me.
 
justabubba said:
no matter the form of math used, the answer remains the same
one of the properties of mathematics i have long appreciated
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Without using variables, it's only simple arithmetic for simple minds. Each aspect of the equation has at least one value variable, for example the variable of time, wherein going to a bar to drink and leaving kids in car or TCBY is not the same as going to a liquor store for five minutes while leaving kids with cones in their hands at the TCBY, or in the car with windows open and music running. Algebra is your friend, I suggest using it when analyzing situations.
 
Summerwind said:
Without using variables, it's only simple arithmetic for simple minds. Each aspect of the equation has at least one value variable, for example the variable of time, wherein going to a bar to drink and leaving kids in car or TCBY is not the same as going to a liquor store for five minutes while leaving kids with cones in their hands at the TCBY, or in the car with windows open and music running. Algebra is your friend, I suggest using it when analyzing situations.
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thank you for proving that no matter the math used, the answer remains the same: the parent prioritized the acquisition of liquor more than the safety of the children placed at risk
the retailer who opts not to sell as outlined in the OP probably is also math proficient to arrive at the same conclusion
 
justabubba said:
thank you for proving that no matter the math used, the answer remains the same: the parent prioritized the acquisition of liquor more than the safety of the children placed at risk
the retailer who opts not to sell as outlined in the OP probably is also math proficient to arrive at the same conclusion
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The simpleton answer surely remains the same. I'm not a simpleton and won't ever adopt the foolishness of analyzing life's situations with such shallow intellect.
 
radcen said:
There's something of controversy going on here. A local retailer is refusing to sell alcohol to legal adults if a minor is present with them. Doesn't matter how old or young the minor is, and it doesn't matter if the minor is the adult's own kid.

The retailer is not breaking any laws by doing this, so that's not the issue... but should they? How would you react if a retailer refused to sell you alcohol just because you had your kid with you?

Please note that in this state it is perfectly legal for parents to serve their own minor children alcohol.
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No, that shouldn't happen. I understand why the retailer is doing it though. I'd stop going to a place like that and just buy my alcohol somewhere else.
 
radcen said:
There's something of controversy going on here. A local retailer is refusing to sell alcohol to legal adults if a minor is present with them. Doesn't matter how old or young the minor is, and it doesn't matter if the minor is the adult's own kid.

The retailer is not breaking any laws by doing this, so that's not the issue... but should they? How would you react if a retailer refused to sell you alcohol just because you had your kid with you?

Please note that in this state it is perfectly legal for parents to serve their own minor children alcohol.
Click to expand...

One of the reasons people start their own businesses is so they can do pretty much whateverthehell they want to. It's stupid in my book. I wouldn't buy any alcohol at all from the guy if he ever refused me 'cause me child was with me. But that's his right. There's a meat market in the next town that everyone goes to . . . we all call the owner "The Meat Nazi".

Customer: "How do I cook your prime rib to well done? How long will it take?"
Meat Nazi: Well done????!!!!!! No prime rib for you.
 
Summerwind said:
Oh, I see. Perhaps multi-quoting could be your friend.
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I quoted the post to which I referred. If it was you, whatever. My point stands. The claim in question was far too broad to be taken seriously.
 
ecofarm said:
I quoted the post to which I referred. If it was you, whatever. My point stands. The claim in question was far too broad to be taken seriously.
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Oh, I see. When you screw up and are thereby misunderstood, it's all everyone else's fault because we don't have ESP. Got it.
 
radcen said:
There's something of controversy going on here. A local retailer is refusing to sell alcohol to legal adults if a minor is present with them. Doesn't matter how old or young the minor is, and it doesn't matter if the minor is the adult's own kid.

The retailer is not breaking any laws by doing this, so that's not the issue... but should they? How would you react if a retailer refused to sell you alcohol just because you had your kid with you?

Please note that in this state it is perfectly legal for parents to serve their own minor children alcohol.
Click to expand...

If it happens to you, then:

1. Server is doing it because it's store policy and they don't want to get fired
2. Manager has made it store policy because they don't want to get sued

Day and age we live in, and as annoying as it is, it's hard to begrudge those reasons. A store wants you to buy their stuff at the end of the day.
 
'No precious...Mommy just drinks when Daddy drinks...and after dinner...and sometimes after lunch...and occasionally when I wake up...'
 
radcen said:
There's something of controversy going on here. A local retailer is refusing to sell alcohol to legal adults if a minor is present with them. Doesn't matter how old or young the minor is, and it doesn't matter if the minor is the adult's own kid.

The retailer is not breaking any laws by doing this, so that's not the issue... but should they? How would you react if a retailer refused to sell you alcohol just because you had your kid with you?

Please note that in this state it is perfectly legal for parents to serve their own minor children alcohol.
Click to expand...

This happened to me years ago, when I was in my early 20's about 10 years ago and my girlfriend was with me. I was getting alcohol and she was merely in line with me, when the clerk (at a drug store) told me he wouldn't sell to me. He didn't ask to card her. I was pissed and asked if he does the same to mothers in line with children, and he said no. That was my cue to not shop at rite aid again.
 
CRUE CAB said:
Because 15 and 16 year olds are so responsible.
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That is the drinking age in Belgium and it is fine there, it was nice as a 16 year old to order beer in a restaurant. They even have bars in the schools (albeit after classes).
 
Summerwind said:
Oh, I see. When you screw up and are thereby misunderstood, it's all everyone else's fault because we don't have ESP. Got it.
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Dream on. You were wrong. You are wrong. Whether or not I noticed who spewed that crap is irrelevant
 
If a retailer chooses to impose his morality (that I dont agree with) on my, I will take my business elsewhere.

Since here big chain grocery stores can sell alcohol, I dont see it as an issue. THe parent company would have to create the edict and then have managers enforce it on every cashier.

Good luck.
 
Summerwind said:
Yes, but Texas like Idaho, doesn't allow selling hard liquor in regular stores, unless that's changed since I left. Some cities/counties you can't buy at all, there are no liquor stores. Some you can't buy wine with dinner with or without children... To suggest Texas is superior in it's liquor laws is to be uninformed (unless there was a huge change since 1983 when I left or 1997 when I last visited).
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Ha.. the only reason I know this is because I do work for a chain of liqueur stores and noticed the new signs.

My days of heavy drinking are mostly over.
 
radcen said:
There's something of controversy going on here. A local retailer is refusing to sell alcohol to legal adults if a minor is present with them. Doesn't matter how old or young the minor is, and it doesn't matter if the minor is the adult's own kid.

The retailer is not breaking any laws by doing this, so that's not the issue... but should they? How would you react if a retailer refused to sell you alcohol just because you had your kid with you?

Please note that in this state it is perfectly legal for parents to serve their own minor children alcohol.
Click to expand...
Only if they're refusing to sell every kind of controled substance to a legal buyer if a minor is present, to include selling perscriptions.
 
justabubba said:
in my state, spirit package sales can only be made at state-operated ABC (alcoholic beverage commission) stores

the rules prohibit anyone of the ages 18, 19, and 20 from entering the facility, even if accompanied by a 21+ legal buyer

my assumption is to prevent those ineligibles from being able to identify what eligible buyers could purchase on their behalf

could the same purpose be intended by the rules you are subject to at the store in question
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Do you live in Wyoming?
 
Summerwind said:
Yes, but Texas like Idaho, doesn't allow selling hard liquor in regular stores, unless that's changed since I left. Some cities/counties you can't buy at all, there are no liquor stores. Some you can't buy wine with dinner with or without children... To suggest Texas is superior in it's liquor laws is to be uninformed (unless there was a huge change since 1983 when I left or 1997 when I last visited).
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Texas is strange. If a minor is supervised by their parents it is legal for them to drink. But you can't buy liquor on Sunday, you can't buy any alcohol after midnight on Monday-Thursday, after 1:00 on Saturday, or before noon. Bars have to stop serving at two am. Liquor stores have to close at nine pm. drinking on the property where it is prohibited is a felony. You can't consume alcohol within 1000 feet of a school. Than you have dry counties that have restaurants that can serve sdo long as you sign a piece of paper joining their club. They can serve all night long.

The liquor laws here are absolutely stupid.
 
No, I don't think a retailer should refuse to sell alcohol to an adult if a minor is present. Or when a legal adult is present but doesn't have ID.
 
Carjosse said:
That is the drinking age in Belgium and it is fine there, it was nice as a 16 year old to order beer in a restaurant. They even have bars in the schools (albeit after classes).
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Lemmee check, oh yea. Don't give a damn about what some other nation does or doesn't.
 
Summerwind said:
I'm guessing here, but I wonder if it's because they fear that selling to an adult with a minor present will end up the adult being the straw purchaser for the minor. Of course the failure of that thought is that when minors use straw purchasers, they don't enter the store with him, they stay outside in the car or even in the next parking lot over. Only "honest" people would actually have a minor with them.
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That was my first thought. Perhaps the store owner had prior bad experience and is extra careful?
Not sure if I can judge if he is right or wrong, based on the information given.
 
Only if the retailer has the honest feeling that the minor will be given the alcohol as soon as they depart from the store (in other words adults buying alcohol for minors).

This is of course not when they are parent/their own teenager, or when it is a parent with an infant. In those cases it should not be refused.
 
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