to think this is ridiculous and petty?

[bellabreeze]

My local co-op wont serve me alcohol while im with my 12 year old now.. tonight I went there just me and my 12 year old daughter and my youngest and he wouldn't serve me because I was with her. First he asked me for Id (I am 31) and then he said does she have any id? (Talking about my daughter) I said no she is 12 he said he can't serve me then and I said you must be joking she's my daughter the drink isnt for her obviously and he said sorry I would if I could etc. A similar thing happened there before when I had my 8 children with me and the woman on the till said I am going to have to ask for I.d for you (talking about my 12 year old daughter) but I was like she's my daughter blah blah and she accepted that and it was ok. This seems so stupid??? the time when the woman said it was ok was when I went to the till with my weekly shop but today I only had a few things so went to the 10 items or less or whatever it is. I was annoyed

No, sorry, not bored, just like puzzles. I was just wondering whether it was possible for all of them to be young enough not to be able to be left. Didn't mean to offend anyone, sorry. Am also feeling rather inferior, I am 2 years older than the op and have my work cut out with 2 children. We didn't have as many children at my dd's birthday party as the op has in general.

No step children, one set of twins and my eldest DC is 12, technically I could leave her at home with some of the kids but don't see the point really as she likes to come and try to take charge of the shopping

The thing about rules like this is that it's really not worth getting upset about them. It's about accountability, ticking boxes and all that. Obviously the retailer has been pulled up for selling alcohol to underage customers and for that they can be heavily penalised. And now the thing is for underagers to ask older people to buy the alcohol for them. So the retailer now has a new challenge, to appear to be responsible when a customer shows up with a child in tow then hands the alcohol over to the child.

Clearly you are not this sort of customer, but rules have apply to everyone in order to work.

It may be inconvenient, and it may feel like poor treatment, but it isn't intended to be insulting but rather to protect the retailer's licence to trade.

Our co-op mustn't care as I'm 6 months pregnant with 3 kids and we all went in last week to buy a selection of beer & cider for my partners birthday and we were walking home from school and live about 3/4 mile away so I put all the bottles in their backpacks to even the shopping out.......the lady behind the counter was laughing at me!!
I would go in there alone if you can to buy nothing but ask for a meeting with the manager and ask him/her why, ask what there policy is! If you can't go in alone then write to them. They will end up loosing custom because if ours did that I wouldn't go in there for any shopping.......sometimes before I was pregnant if I fancied a bottle of wine on a Friday I'd pop in on my way home from school and buy one with a bar of chocolate and nothing else but I would have my kids with me!!!

Never ever had any trouble at all, I must look old. Never had anyone care wether I had my 14 yo with me or not.

Said DD is quite likely to have a glass of what I've purchased, but don't tell the thought police.

Is it necessary to bring your eight children with you to buy alcohol?

It may be, flogging! Or perhaps op should leave them all at home on their own while she shops?

As someone who has worked in supermarkets for a long time now I can tell you that it is bloody scary the amount of training we have to complete every few months. The DVD's are like horror stories with examples of fines, police, criminal records and court cases.

I know common sense has to be used but I don't blame checkout staff being very, very careful about what they sell to who.

People, people, can we stop focusing on how someone can produce 8 kids and why she doesn't leave them at home when she goes shopping? It's a bit, er, RUDE - don't you think?

dysfunctionalme, you are of course right but I'm not sure we should all just accept it. For a start, it can't be an effective way of stopping underage drinking - children who get adults to buy alcohol for them will know to stay out of the cashier's sight. And it moves us further along to the time when we will all have to carry ID cards all the time, and have our every action tracked, and that should surely not happen by the back door.

I agree with Devora - if an adult is buying for someone who is underage, then
a) they are likely to be in the 16-18 age bracket, not 12 and under
b) the 'minor' is going to stay outside, out of sight, surely at least that's what happened in my day ?

It's showing a complete disregard for common sense if they don't allow any parent to buy alcohol because they have their child with them, and, if there were an option,(ie, it's not the only shop in the village) that shop would certainly lose my custom.

And if enough people complained about it (I don't mean by being obnoxious to the cashier, obviously) then i'll bet shops will stop doing it. It's just a performance to send the message that they're not breaking the law; nobody believes it actually means they do break the law less often.

Surely the older children can babysit the younger ones while you buy your drink? Talking about IDs, when I was 13, I so wanted to look older, and on the bus I paid full fare and wasn't even asked, I felt so good. Decades on in my 50s, I was indignant when asked if I had a bus pass. But just recently at 66, I couldn't find my pass while searching in my purse and driver thought I was looking for money and gave me a normal ticket, and I was pink with delight, and told him he had made my day !!!!!!!!

Well if the oldest is 12, I wouldn´t wanttto leave her in charge of 7 others!

And why should OP leave any of her children at home if she doesn´t want to?

digerd, is buying alcohol an unsuitable activity in the presence of children? Really? Would you organise a babysitter if you knew you were picking up some plonk with your shopping?

YANBU. I could understand it if you were drunk and in charge of kids and they refused to serve you so you didn't get more drunk and incapable. But otherwise no it seems silly.

If they refuse to serve you because they think you are buying it for your 12 yr old who is standing next to you , tell them to call the police and report you to social services there and then !

I've seen the co-op do this. Refused to sell my friend a bottle of rose when her 13 yo was with her. I've also known them (same friend) to ring up most of her shopping (was something like ten to ten) and rang one bottle wine through but refused to put through the 2nd bottle as it was by then after 10pm! Seconds after 10pm. It was all the same basket of shopping fgs.

I got ID'd for a bottle of Grenadine syrup in Asda last year. I am 52. They said it was because it is from the alcohol section of the store. I showed them the bit of label where it gave the ingredients and said alcohol free. I got told that didn't matter, their stock list showed it as alcohol so it must be.