You know, one of the things I like about 7-Eleven is that most of our customer transactions are fairly drama free. There's nothing complicated, no returns, sales, discounts, etc, and most of it is less than $20. With one huge, glaring exception.
Identification.
Seriously, is there one god-damn person in Oklahoma City who doesn't know that if you look slightly younger than Methuselah, 7-Eleven is going to to ID you. Even before I worked here, I knew that the old man at the 7-Eleven across the street from my apartment, who I bought cigarettes from almost every day, was going to ID me.
God damn, I've been threatened with physical violence, cussed at, called every name in the book, a racist, or even worse, a Republican, a bitch, a fag, a pussy... what the fuck, people. How hard is it? Especially if you have it right there in your wallet? What inconvenience is it to you?
But seriously, I don't care how many times I've IDed you before. I wouldn't ask again if I could remember, so I'm not taking your word for it. Besides that, I just watched you get out of the driver's seat of your car. So... you're driving around without your ID and you expect me to have sympathy for you? Besides that, we're not talking about baby formula or water or something like that, tobacco and/or beer (but oddly enough, people trying to buy tobacco give me far more grief) are total luxury items. And bad for you, to boot! So, no, I don't feel guilty. So you "walked all the way up here in the cold". Why did you think I wouldn't ID you? Why did you take a chance on me remembering you? What if it was somebody new up here?
It's probably just because I'm white and they're not, because I've observed that the black clerks don't have a big problem, but black people and especially the boys are almost always the biggest grief I get in this department. I suspect that they think it messes up their "hard" image when they've got to admit to only being 20 and prove something to some fat white guy like me before he'll "allow" them to buy something. For the record, I ID just as many, if not more, young white kids as black kids. If anything, I expect most secret shoppers to be white kids, because they always have been in the past, and every shoplifter and beer runner I've ever caught has been white, so I'm actually more suspicious of white people.
Protip: Anyone who has ever said the phrase "I'm a grown-ass man.", isn't. A "grown-ass man" would never say something so childish. A "grown-ass man" would cheerfully say "Sure, no problem." and hand over his fucking ID. Also, did I ask how many kids you have? Are people over 18 the only ones with babies and/or "baby mamas"?
Also, respect my intelligence. If you and your friend are both standing in front of me, and you ask for a pack of Newports, I ask you for ID, but you don't have it, so I say no, do NOT turn to your friend and have them immediately ask me for the same exact thing. Because I am going to say no, because you are still asking me to possibly break the law. Jesus Christ, people. The same applies to the young men I see approach someone they didn't come with outside and hand them money. When that person comes up to me and asks for something that they don't even seem to know how to pronounce correctly, I am going to say no. When I was in high school and wanted to drink or smoke, we had sense enough to work these transactions out ahead of time.
I'm not making any moral judgements. I'd sell vodka and Camel non-filters to kindergartners if there wasn't a law against it. I don't care. It's just that I was lucky to find a job in this economy that pays me $12 plus provides insurance for my family, and I'll be damned if I'm going to have to try and find another one just because you were too ignorant to bring out your ID.
Identification.
Seriously, is there one god-damn person in Oklahoma City who doesn't know that if you look slightly younger than Methuselah, 7-Eleven is going to to ID you. Even before I worked here, I knew that the old man at the 7-Eleven across the street from my apartment, who I bought cigarettes from almost every day, was going to ID me.
God damn, I've been threatened with physical violence, cussed at, called every name in the book, a racist, or even worse, a Republican, a bitch, a fag, a pussy... what the fuck, people. How hard is it? Especially if you have it right there in your wallet? What inconvenience is it to you?
But seriously, I don't care how many times I've IDed you before. I wouldn't ask again if I could remember, so I'm not taking your word for it. Besides that, I just watched you get out of the driver's seat of your car. So... you're driving around without your ID and you expect me to have sympathy for you? Besides that, we're not talking about baby formula or water or something like that, tobacco and/or beer (but oddly enough, people trying to buy tobacco give me far more grief) are total luxury items. And bad for you, to boot! So, no, I don't feel guilty. So you "walked all the way up here in the cold". Why did you think I wouldn't ID you? Why did you take a chance on me remembering you? What if it was somebody new up here?
It's probably just because I'm white and they're not, because I've observed that the black clerks don't have a big problem, but black people and especially the boys are almost always the biggest grief I get in this department. I suspect that they think it messes up their "hard" image when they've got to admit to only being 20 and prove something to some fat white guy like me before he'll "allow" them to buy something. For the record, I ID just as many, if not more, young white kids as black kids. If anything, I expect most secret shoppers to be white kids, because they always have been in the past, and every shoplifter and beer runner I've ever caught has been white, so I'm actually more suspicious of white people.
Protip: Anyone who has ever said the phrase "I'm a grown-ass man.", isn't. A "grown-ass man" would never say something so childish. A "grown-ass man" would cheerfully say "Sure, no problem." and hand over his fucking ID. Also, did I ask how many kids you have? Are people over 18 the only ones with babies and/or "baby mamas"?
Also, respect my intelligence. If you and your friend are both standing in front of me, and you ask for a pack of Newports, I ask you for ID, but you don't have it, so I say no, do NOT turn to your friend and have them immediately ask me for the same exact thing. Because I am going to say no, because you are still asking me to possibly break the law. Jesus Christ, people. The same applies to the young men I see approach someone they didn't come with outside and hand them money. When that person comes up to me and asks for something that they don't even seem to know how to pronounce correctly, I am going to say no. When I was in high school and wanted to drink or smoke, we had sense enough to work these transactions out ahead of time.
I'm not making any moral judgements. I'd sell vodka and Camel non-filters to kindergartners if there wasn't a law against it. I don't care. It's just that I was lucky to find a job in this economy that pays me $12 plus provides insurance for my family, and I'll be damned if I'm going to have to try and find another one just because you were too ignorant to bring out your ID.