Strange experience buying modeling supplies at K-Mart

[selector]

Folks, I am going to close this thread, with respect to Grampys Trains.  It has served its purpose, long since in fact, and is no longer pertinent.  Let's get back to trains.

-Crandell

[HEdward]

The line at the cashier was long so I went to self checkout to buy some WD-40.  DUH!  "Please wait for customer service to assist you!"  Geez.  She was busy with another customer, so I waited anyway.  The spray paint thing I knew about before hand.  Still, cashiers should never be asking questions at Krap-Mart. 

I was made to pause while buying swimming pool supplies at self-checkout as well, but at WallyWorld the CS person cleared my advanced age within seconds.  You also need to be at least 18 years old to purchase Rusteze Medicated Bumper Ointment. 

I've taken a look at people's MySpace accounts and there's something disturbing there relating to age restrictions.  Browse 18-20 year olds and look at the kids that don't smoke but do drink and compare that with the number that are the reverse.  Kinda weird that they admit to drinking illegally but don't smoke legally. 

Profiling at one of my past jobs was a joke.  They made us key either R or S for Mr. or MS. at the start of a transaction.  I typed in S for everyone.  Those clowns in Ft Worthless did all the real demographic studies at the busiest stores, in malls.  Meanwhile the majority of the total business was done in the smaller stores that had a totally different demographic.  Managing a Shack was sure to get a strange experience at least three or four times a week.

 

[mikesmowers]

  

I say let them buy the stuff and huff it if they are stupid enough to. Maybe it will kill them and we won't be bothered with them anymore. Us, as taxpayers, would probley see a drop in our taxes because the government won't be spending all those $$$ trying to keep them from doing it. There would probley be less crime in the world also, because most of the people that huff that kind of stuff are mostly the ones doing the crimes.

[tomikawaTT]

Everyone seems to have the assumption that only kids are the ones huffing. Just a couple of years ago a 45 year old man killed himself huffing. Along with doing other drugs at the same time.

If somebody wants to succumb to terminal stupidity, let them.  Preferably before they either reproduce or get sentenced to ?? years of incarceration at taxpayer expense.

 I know for a fact that some places ask info so they can track where most of their customers are coming from. Where they travel from to shop at their store.. this doesn't neccessarily apply here.

That's called, 'determining customer demographics,' and is the reason that the mail-in warranty registration looks like a census form.  Funny - if a government agency does the same thing it's called, 'profiling,' and the ACLU goes ballistic.

I am 27 and get carded all the time for various things. Even by children that were before me in school. And they know who I am. Sure I may look like I'm 16... (so I'm told).. But I understand its policy. Now if I was 50-something, I would be happy to be carded.. Makes me feel young.   Of course when I do turn 50, I'll probably look like I'm 25. hehehe. Until people stop abusing common product like aerosol, there will be stricter and stricter regulations. They should card for buying H2O.... Someone might build an H-bomb.

mike

Nah.  Can't build an H bomb with H2O, you have to have D2O or T2O - which can only be obtained from H2O at a large, complex facility that would have a humongous electric bill.  (I wonder if Northlandz would qualify???)

As for, "Abusing common products," I have yet to find the provision in the Constitution that requires the government to wipe the noses and change the diapers of the citizenry.  I also have nothing but contempt for the politically popular idea, "I don't like (some activity performed in private by an adult,) so there should be a law to keep YOU from doing it."

I am perfectly capable of minding my own business.  I wish the social reformers and political nannies would do the same.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[jasperofzeal]

Hi everyone: This has been a lively discussion.  It really wan't my intention to critize K-Mart or the girl at the register.  The episode kinda caught me off guard, because that was the first, and so far the last time I'd been asked for my birth date when buying spray paint or any aerosol.  I later bought more hair spray at the same K-Mart with no questions asked.  If that was store policy, it apparantly isn't enforced all the time.  But, it does seem that good service these days, be it K-Mart, bank, etc. is a dying concept.

You got carded for the hairspray and the girl asked what you were going to use it for because you bought the last can that she had planned on buying at the end of her shift.  The later time when you purchased another can and didn't get carded, well, there was not need to probe, I guess they had restocked the hairsprays.

[MPRR]

Everyone seems to have the assumption that only kids are the ones huffing. Just a couple of years ago a 45 year old man killed himself huffing. Along with doing other drugs at the same time. I know for a fact that some places ask info so they can track where most of their customers are coming from. Where they travel from to shop at their store.. this doesn't neccessarily apply here.

I am 27 and get carded all the time for various things. Even by children that were before me in school. And they know who I am. Sure I may look like I'm 16... (so I'm told).. But I understand its policy. Now if I was 50-something, I would be happy to be carded.. Makes me feel young.   Of course when I do turn 50, I'll probably look like I'm 25. hehehe. Until people stop abusing common product like aerosol, there will be stricter and stricter regulations. They should card for buying H2O.... Someone might build an H-bomb.

mike

[railroadnut675]

I get carded almost every time I buy something age restricted at Wal-Mart. Now, it's really obvious looking at my gray hair and the wrinkles on my face and hands that I'm old enough to be somebody's grandfather. What are they thinking, that some kid is gonna make himself up to look like he's almost half a century old? Come on, give me a break!

All they have to do is put on a Ronald Reagan mask

Oh! That's cruel and unusual!

My deepest apologies. I know, I know, the Reagan mask is only for people impersonating World War I survivors

So, what's wrong with WW I survivors?

Nothing. It's just that they have to be at least 108 years old by now.

[jackn2mpu]

Whenever I get carded for something by a late teen/early 20 something I just say I'm old enough to be your grandfather (I'm 56) and give them an icy stare. Works every time.

[Midnight Railroader]

I no longer tell the truth about what my supplies are for when I shop at a non-model railroad store.

If the folks at the lumber yard were paying attention, they'd think my entire garage was full of "cabinets" by now...

[vsmith]

Jeeez, I was buying spray paints back when I was 12 or 13 no problem, of course that was 30 years ago, but even as such, why bother buying spray paints anymore?

I really hate to say this but the new envro-friendly compounds used in modern spray paints are absolutley the worst **** ***** ***** ******of **** out there!

I have had Testors, Krylon, Floquil and others irrepairably clog on me, loose all propellant, sputter in an unholy seperated mess, after only 10 seconds of use, sometimes less. This is after shaking for well over a minute, pre heating the can, and making sure the nozzles were clear before spraying.

I have been mostly using Rustoleum and Krylon, which have been the least troublesome, but I will NEVER buy Testors spray EVER again.

[larak]

Io.

I don't get why they do it for hair spray though? Kids usually huff butane or gold and silver spray paint.

You can use the hair spray with a lighter or other fire to make a really nifty torch. 

Enjoy

Paul 

That's how we get rid of the tent caterpillars....

Phil 

It works good for getting rid of wasp and hornet nests too.

Interesting suggestion Jeffrey.

I use a propane torch taped to a length of conduit for the tent caterpillars. Hair spray is for potato cannons.

 

[WP 3020]

I get carded almost every time I buy something age restricted at Wal-Mart. Now, it's really obvious looking at my gray hair and the wrinkles on my face and hands that I'm old enough to be somebody's grandfather. What are they thinking, that some kid is gonna make himself up to look like he's almost half a century old? Come on, give me a break!

All they have to do is put on a Ronald Reagan mask

Oh! That's cruel and unusual!

My deepest apologies. I know, I know, the Reagan mask is only for people impersonating World War I survivors

So, what's wrong with WW I survivors?

[railroadnut675]

I get carded almost every time I buy something age restricted at Wal-Mart. Now, it's really obvious looking at my gray hair and the wrinkles on my face and hands that I'm old enough to be somebody's grandfather. What are they thinking, that some kid is gonna make himself up to look like he's almost half a century old? Come on, give me a break!

All they have to do is put on a Ronald Reagan mask

Oh! That's cruel and unusual!

My deepest apologies. I know, I know, the Reagan mask is only for people impersonating World War I survivors

[railroadnut675]

I got carded a few years ago at Damon's when I ordered a beer. I'm 56 now. The waiter told me they had so many problems with employees not checking customers that they should have that the company (or maybe that store) decided to play it safe and card everyone so their employees would not have to make a judgement call. It was worth the chuckle I got out of it.

When I buy beer at Kroger's, the self checkout line asks me to show my ID to the attendant but I don't even bother. They look at me and approve the sale.

This is all a product of the nanny government philosophy. Apparently, it has become accepted that the role of government is to protect us from ourselves rather than treating us as adults and allowing us to make our own decisions and accept the consequences of our actions.

 it not another government conspiracy!

I stole plans from the local afb, and next they plan to cover every American in bubble wrap

[my05hammer]

I was asked the same thing at our local K-Mart a few years ago.  I looked the girl in the face and answered her question with a question.  "What does the K in K-Mart stand for?" 

She didn't know, and I didn't tell her. 

 

                     Kresge.

 

Correcte.  Pronounced "Kress-gy"

 

 

[WP 3020]

One time a cashier was going to give one of my brothers(in his mid 40s and doesn't look over 40) a senior discount. Being the honest guy he is, told him his actual age. A friend told him later, that if someone thinks you look old enough for a senior discount, take it, they deserve to at least give you a discount for that kind of mistake. He got asked, by a girl behind a counter, how come he was always tan? He told her it was because he worked outside all day putting in concrete curbs and gutters. A blank look returned his reply. So he explained for new streets and sidewalks, thinking she might have been wondering why anyone would put concrete gutters on a house. But she said,"Oh... I just thought the curbs and sidewalks were always just there." I got carded a while back. The guy behind me groaned audibly,"You got to be kidding." I'm sure the cashier heard him, so I turned to him and said,"If she can't tell I'm over 25 or 30 I'll take it as a complement. I'd ask her for her number but her hand seems to be held down to the counter with that rock on her finger." Don't complain, take that kind of mistake as a compliment. It's not always the cashier who isn't thinking the wisest. Once I was behind a woman (because saying "a lady" would insult any female worthy of fitting that description) at a checkout stand. She was raising holy **** because the cashier asked for picture ID verification for her card. The instruction was printed on her card be she had checked the box on a form.

Don't blame the cashiers.  The store computer is programmed to ask for ID on certain items.  I've noticed a question pop up on the display screen whether the customer is over 18, to which the cashier must enter YES or NO before they can proceed.

When I delivered pizza, we had to calculate change in my head without a calculator and the customers demanded we be quick and accurate. If we weren't we wouldn't get a tip, our till wouldn't add up or we wouldn't have a job. My IQ isn't that great and I'm a HS dropout and I was able to do it. Is the job that much more complicated 15 years later. Later on I worked for a concrete co. and I had to read grade stakes, calculate offsets and grades on the fly (once more, in my head without a calculator) and keep ahead of the paver or curb machines. If they had to stop for you, you went home and then some other dumb laborer would take your place. IMHO The problem is the result of some of the cashiers not thinking logically or doing their job correctly. And then management and bureaucrats don't enforce and uphold the rational rules that have worked before and do not challenge people to keep thinking rationally, logically and be responsible. Instead they write stupid rules that enable stupidity and sloppy thinking.

Why is the water rising? Why are we starting to swirl around? And what is that loud flushing sound?

[NittanyLion]

I thought canned air was dumb enough

I never thought it was dumb.  Computer parts don't like the moisture that comes out of your mouth if you blow on them and its not like I own an air compressor.  Pre-compressed air is the only way. 

[R. T. POTEET]

I have upon extremely rare occasion purchased aerosol paint but never hair spray - I use Final Net and that comes in a pump bottle.

About six months ago, however, I did get asked to show identification at a local grocery store when buying a bottle of Scotch Whiskey - and no, I don't use it as hair tonic. It seems the corporate management was in our local area and this clerk had been advised/warned by her supervisor to be cautious about the store policy regarding identification - and she was just being safe to avoid being sorry and insuring that nothing slipped through the cracks.

I usually purchase my adult beverages at the Class VI store at my local DOD facility and, like tomikawaTT, I have to present my military identification but that's to prove I am an authorized patron; and by the way, I am four days short of my sixty-eighth birthday and I look the part.

[steemtrayn]

I was asked the same thing at our local K-Mart a few years ago.  I looked the girl in the face and answered her question with a question.  "What does the K in K-Mart stand for?" 

She didn't know, and I didn't tell her. 

 

                     Kresge.

[my05hammer]

I was asked the same thing at our local K-Mart a few years ago.  I looked the girl in the face and answered her question with a question.  "What does the K in K-Mart stand for?" 

She didn't know, and I didn't tell her. 

 

[loathar]

I use hair spray as a propellant for my potato gun.

Spud guns! I forgot about those! That would explain carding for hair spray.

Packer-Maybe they got sick of the little delinquents taking the Testors cans and spraying all over everything in the model isle. I yelled at a couple kids for doing that and got dirty looks from their parents. They got rid of the automotive touch up spray at mine too.

[Packer]

They card me when I buy any sort of paint. I'm 18, but look like I'm around 15.

Wallyword used to have testor's paint and glue, and models, but now they don't. Anyone know why?

[steemtrayn]

I use hair spray as a propellant for my potato gun.

[ARTHILL]

I had to show ID to buy a can of air to clean my computer. I thought canned air was dumb enough, but as a controlled substance? What next?

[tomikawaTT]

I get carded every time I go into my favorite food store.  Of course, the store is an Air Force commissary, and the card they want to see is my Military ID...

Going through the auto-checkout, I scanned a, "Not for sale to minors," item.  The attendant came over, inserted a key, hit a code and walked away without comment.  Of course, the Old Sarge looks like a grandfather (and is a great-grandfather...)

As for the question asked of the OP, I would have answered, "I don't know.  What does YOUR wife use it for?"  (Yes, I know he was dealing with a teenage female moron.  I have encountered the breed myself.  She was probably asking because, being herself totally clueless and lifeless, she was trying for a vicarious hit.)

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[jecorbett]

I got carded a few years ago at Damon's when I ordered a beer. I'm 56 now. The waiter told me they had so many problems with employees not checking customers that they should have that the company (or maybe that store) decided to play it safe and card everyone so their employees would not have to make a judgement call. It was worth the chuckle I got out of it.

When I buy beer at Kroger's, the self checkout line asks me to show my ID to the attendant but I don't even bother. They look at me and approve the sale.

This is all a product of the nanny government philosophy. Apparently, it has become accepted that the role of government is to protect us from ourselves rather than treating us as adults and allowing us to make our own decisions and accept the consequences of our actions.

[Grampys Trains]

Hi everyone: This has been a lively discussion.  It really wan't my intention to critize K-Mart or the girl at the register.  The episode kinda caught me off guard, because that was the first, and so far the last time I'd been asked for my birth date when buying spray paint or any aerosol.  I later bought more hair spray at the same K-Mart with no questions asked.  If that was store policy, it apparantly isn't enforced all the time.  But, it does seem that good service these days, be it K-Mart, bank, etc. is a dying concept.

[NittanyLion]

As someone that spends a lot of time being a cashier at the bookstore I work at, we're trained to do everything you people are saying is "stupid."  Its actually pretty insulting to be honest.  We have to go as fast as possible, otherwise people complain the line is taking too long.  To this end, we are taught and learn to function very mechanically.  Input number for cash, give number cash change, end.  When things don't add up right or the situation alters mid-course, its not exactly easy to shift gears like that.  Your brain is working on auto-pilot and even simple math has no place.  So when someone has 19.42 in change coming and they say "oh I have the 58 cents" sometimes it suddenly doesn't make sense at all why they'd want that.  If you've never had to do it, it might not seem very reasonable.  But it does to us.  In fact, its company policy that once we hit enter for the amount you hand us, that's it.  We're supposed to refuse even "oh i have the penny"  (we always take the penny).   And if our drawers are off even a couple bucks, its trouble.  Its easier for us to just take X and give Y for a lot of reasons, without other variables possibly messing up.

Yes, we all hate having to ask for zip codes or your ID or if you want to sign up for whatever.  But we get fired if we don't and don't complain to us because we don't care any more. 

[mikesmowers]

   You beat me to it Mr.B., I was going to say the same thing.