I was just carded buying school supplies at Target!

[Melissa B]

:svengo:

 

I have a belt full of school supplies: 24 packages of index cards, at least 40 notebooks, 4 boxes of crayons, 4 packages of pencils, etc. not to mention four children standing around me.  And the cashier tells me I cannot buy 2 bottles of Elmer's rubber cement without producing picture ID. I can just imagine my look, as she felt the need to repeat herself.  At 40 years old I need to produce ID to purchase glue. I would laugh if that wasn't so, so sad.  :(

[regentrude]

WHY on Earth???

[happi duck]

That's good to know that places are being careful about rubber cement...I'm assuming it's a huffing danger.  At least it's not as time consuming as buying Sudafed!

 

I wonder if Target has a "card everyone" policy.  I have never seen someone buy alcohol at our Target without showing id.

[Pippen]

Huffing. Inhalant abuse.

[Loowit]

I think this is becoming more common with a lot of things. I get carded every time I buy air in a can to get the dust out of my computer. I am not sure what the point is of carding though. Who is tracking it? What do if I buy "too much", whatever amount that is? I now want to buy some rubber cement just to see if they card me.

[brehon]

Just had a patient this morning (around 3ish...sigh) who developed flash pulmonary edema after huffing.

 

P.S. Being north of 40 myself I might just put whoever carded me on my Christmas card list...with a bonus gift if I were carded with all 6 kids in tow. ;)

[LaxMom]

Huffing. Inhalant abuse.

Yup. My (north of 40) husband got carded buying a two pack of air. When he asked why, he was told rather sniffily that, if you buy more than one, they record your ID. Irony: they only HAD two packs.

[Cinder]

I like the "card everyone" rule as it doesn't require the cashier to make a judgment call on age. I can't remember if I got carded the last time I bought rubber cement. We've switched to just using double-stick tape--it costs more but it's cleaner and doesn't stink.

 

I almost got carded at Kroger trying to buy cream soda. Yes, cream soda. It was Virgil's so it was in bottles, a 4-pack, beer colored, and the labels say "micro-brewed." When I pointed out it was soda the cashier said she saw "micro-brewed" on the label and just assumed "beer."

[brehon]

Around three in the morning or the patient was 3?!

Oh, sheesh. Sorry. Long night; only a portion of the cylinders are firing. No, the call was at 3 this morning. The patient was north of 50.

[regentrude]

The patient was north of 50.

So what good did it to card him before purchase?

[chiguirre]

I've been carded buying Sharpies. I'm not really sure what you can do with Sharpies that you can't do with washable markers, but it's standard procedure here at Target and Walmart.

[Mommyof4ks]

Yep, crazy. Sharpies are another thing kids cannot buy. My dd was told I had to come get them for her. She was so embarrassed. I had no idea.

[Starr]

Well, well, missy, what is it you are really buying to get through the school year?  :lol:

[Χά�ων]

Ok that's it! Tonight at 2am I am going to get dressed in my oldest pajamas mess up my hair and use make-up to make myself look like I have been away from a shower too long and I am going to go into town and buy EVERY bottle of rubber cement on the shelf.

[Parrothead]

So what good did it to card him before purchase?

Yeah, this is what I want to know.

 

Say he went to target to get the canned air (or Walmart and glue. It doesn't matter), got carded when he made his purchase then went home. We will just say that 9 hours later he ends up in the ER for huffing. What is done? Is every store in the tri-state area notified that this guy can't buy canned air or glue anymore? Is there some kind of tracking or are people making legal purchases being made to show ID for no real reason?

 

Does anyone know?

[Χά�ων]

I doubt it.  As far as I know they just enter a birth date into the system.  I guess the only purpose is so kids don't buy it.

Soo it's ok for adults to buy it for kids?

[brehon]

So what good did it to card him before purchase?

No good at all. It's a feel-good, look-we're-fighting-"drugs" law designed to give the illusion that the gov't is on top of the various addiction problems. And, yes, I am aware that paint, glue, compressed air, etc aren't drugs or illegal substances. I'm just speaking to intent.

 

You just can't save people from themselves. It's a hard lesson for rookie medical personnel to learn.

[chiguirre]

Soo it's ok for adults to buy it for kids?

You have to. Some of those things are on the ginormous school supply lists parents have to buy. I wonder if they lock the Sharpies and glue up in schools now?

[Joker]

I doubt it. As far as I know they just enter a birth date into the system. I guess the only purpose is so kids don't buy it.

They actually run my license through a card scanner here, so they may be tracking and able to prevent someone from buying again.

[GailV]

I was carded for buying Silly String, which meant they had to scan my driver's license.  Unfortunately, I have one of the new Missouri driver's licenses which cannot be scanned by the Target scanning system, so a supervisor had to come over and approve the purchase.  So, yeah, that's possibly in a computer system somewhere that I was purchasing Silly String.

[happypamama]

It is funny! I'm in my mid-thirties (and don't look 18 anymore) and got carded a couple of weeks ago while picking up some beer for my husband. Never mind the hugely pregnant belly. That store has a policy of carding everyone, regardless of how old they look.

[Wildcat]

I like the "card everyone" rule as it doesn't require the cashier to make a judgment call on age. I can't remember if I got carded the last time I bought rubber cement. We've switched to just using double-stick tape--it costs more but it's cleaner and doesn't stink.

 

I almost got carded at Kroger trying to buy cream soda. Yes, cream soda. It was Virgil's so it was in bottles, a 4-pack, beer colored, and the labels say "micro-brewed." When I pointed out it was soda the cashier said she saw "micro-brewed" on the label and just assumed "beer."

 

I once got into micro-arguments when trying to buy Root Beer and Red Wine Vinegar on separate occasions and at separate stores. The cashiers saw the words "Beer" and "Wine" and just didn't think. Well, the one with the Root Beer I had to argue with a bit....

 

I doubt it.  As far as I know they just enter a birth date into the system.  I guess the only purpose is so kids don't buy it.

 

That is what I was told when I had to by ds' compressed air. He's 17 and was buying other computer stuff, and yet needed mommy to buy it for him.  I told the cashier to mention to the manager that if they don't want kids trying to buy it to not stock it in the school supplies next to the cutesy thumb drives!

 

Soo it's ok for adults to buy it for kids?

 

Apparently! And like it was asked upthread.... do the schools lock up the sharpies and glue in the classrooms? I thinketh the answer is a big fat "nope"!

 

 

[Halftime Hope]

Carbuerator cleaner.   I got carded at WM for carb cleaner.   :willy_nilly:

[QueenCat]

 I am not sure what the point is of carding though. Who is tracking it? What do if I buy "too much", whatever amount that is?

 

In some states, you can't buy certain inhalants if you are under 18, so the carding is to prove your over 18.

[Moxie]

Most likely, some store was sued when Junior bought his canned air and did harm to himself. This is just CYA for the stores. No one actually thinks this solves any real problems.

[QueenCat]

It is funny! I'm in my mid-thirties (and don't look 18 anymore) and got carded a couple of weeks ago while picking up some beer for my husband. Never mind the hugely pregnant belly. That store has a policy of carding everyone, regardless of how old they look.

 

In TN, state law requires EVERYONE to be carded for beer purchases (but not wine or liquor), regardless of how old they look. You could look 90, and you will still be carded. They can lose their license to sell if they don't card.

[lovinmomma]

Most likely, some store was sued when Junior bought his canned air and did harm to himself. This is just CYA for the stores. No one actually thinks this solves any real problems.

 

Agreed.

[SunnyDays]

Wow. I rarely buy wine at Target anymore because they scan my license every time. Not just card me, which I would understand, but collect my personal info. No idea whether they store it or not. I have nothing to hide, but it's no ones business how much alcohol I do or don't consume.... It's just irritating.

 

The sad thing is, it now inconveniences everyone else to buy cold medicine or glue, but the people who are looking to get high or destroy themselves will just go find other material with which to do it.

[Dmmetler]

My former district wouldn't allow us to ask for scissors on the school supply lists-they were considered "Weapons", so we had to have a class set and were supposed to keep them locked up when not in use. Same with compasses with points for high school geometry.

 

I'm guessing we wouldn't be allowed to ask for Sharpies or rubber cement either, although I don't remember those being an issue when I was teaching (before DD was born).

 

 

[Lady Marmalade]

You have to. Some of those things are on the ginormous school supply lists parents have to buy. I wonder if they lock the Sharpies and glue up in schools now?

 

Actually, I think they do lock up most of those things.  That ginormous list of stuff had to be provided before school started.  Then all the supplies were put into a community-use bin and put away in a cabinet to be pulled out as needed.

 

The most expensive supply on our list every year was the cray-pas- we had to buy that all four years DD was in PS, and in all that time only once did a project come home using the oil crayons.  And of course, we never got any of those supplies back either.  Only the worn out crayons and pencils.

 

The day we got an extra "request" from the art department to send in an additional pack of markers, box of crayons and box of watercolors I went absolutely bonkers. 

[gardenmom5]

I've made it a policy to thank those clerks who ask for ID.  whether it's alcohol or something else.   I remember a clerk lecturing me on buying real vanilla.  I didn't understand why at the time.  (I just wanted "real" ingredients in my chocolate chip cookies!)

[*Lulu*]

I've run into trouble buying cold meds before.

 

When Bug was a toddler our family was hit with the cold from hades. I ran, well actually drug my stuffy sick butt along with all three kids, to Target to pick up extra tissues, some comfort food items, and cough meds for all 5 of us. I had 4 containers of cold medication in the basket (DH and I cannot use the same kind) and had to put one back. DH had to st by a pharmacy on his way home from work and buy his own because 4 would put me over my monthly limit.

 

I started stocking up after that.

 

I mean, I get why the rule is there, but if I am standing in line with three kids and a grown up all obviously sick and unable to all take the same meds.............

 

I just hate it when we legislate away common sense.

[FaithManor]

No good at all. It's a feel-good, look-we're-fighting-"drugs" law designed to give the illusion that the gov't is on top of the various addiction problems. And, yes, I am aware that paint, glue, compressed air, etc aren't drugs or illegal substances. I'm just speaking to intent.

 

You just can't save people from themselves. It's a hard lesson for rookie medical personnel to learn.

Yup! DD has picked up the same guy three times in two weeks for suicide by not taking his pills and when he does, washing them down with some vodka. He knows he's killing himself slowly, but it doesn't seem to matter. She used to really have a hard time with this kind of thing when she was a newbie, but now, as much as she wished people didn't do this to themselves and their loved ones, she accustomed to it and can compartmentalize very well.

 

I too think it's a policy designed to make it look like they are being tough and protecting kids, when in reality it really won't do anything. Every kid I know has had a need of rubber cement at some point in the year for a school project. The parent will buy it or the teacher will provide it. If they want to huff they will, so unless they are going to outlaw the manufacture of it, the policy isn't really doing anything substantial, but it will prevent honest kids who need to get their data mounted to that science backboard, from being able to take a five dollar bill to the store and get the necessary glue. Annoying to all of the honest kids, and likely not preventing any huffing in the dishonest kids.

[readinmom]

us

You have to. Some of those things are on the ginormous school supply lists parents have to buy. I wonder if they lock the Sharpies and glue up in schools now?

 

Sharpies are not allowed in our local schools.  Students can get suspended if caught with sharpies, white out, etc.  It's not just huffing; it's the tagging, as well. 

 

I guess expo markers should also be banned? 

[mommymilkies]

Gosh, our stores here card for everything it seems like! Seriously, almost every time I check out for a big payday shopping trip at Walmart, there is something new they have to card for.  I will say it's the only thing I get carded for anymore, though. :glare:

[Mom-ninja.]

I once had a very young cashier (couldn't have been older than early 20s) ask for my license to buy BBQ sauce. :lol:  It was "Hickory Bourbon" flavor. I couldn't help but laugh and tell him there is no alcohol in it.

[Loowit]

I don't mind if they want to see if I am over 18, although it is amusing to me. What bothers me is when they scan my driver's license. I don't know where that scanned information is going or if someone is tracking my personal purchases. It just feels a bit big brother to me.

 

 

In some states, you can't buy certain inhalants if you are under 18, so the carding is to prove your over 18.

[Joules]

My dad just got home fussing about being carded when he bought rubber cement.  He's 82!

[Lanny]

I read all of the posts in this astonishing thread, before starting to write this, and I am, just astonished... I wish each of you could put yourselves into my shoes (18+ years of residency in Colombia) and how that reads to people in Latin America.

Some months ago, there was a thread here on WTM, about the friend (best friend?) of someones DD, who had died, after huffing. I had no idea what that was, until I read that thread.

Here, we can buy the vast majority of medicines, by walking into a pharmacy. There are a few controlled medicines that are only sold in special pharmacies, but, in general, we can buy almost anything we need, by walking into a pharmacy, without a written prescription from an M.D.

Contrast that to my experience in January 1999. We were in the Miami area and I got very sick. We had travel insurance and they sent a doctor to our hotel room that morning. He gave me written prescriptions for 1 or 2 medicines. We then drove to a nearby pharmacy and were told to come back, in 5 or 6 hours. I was very sick and I needed to take the medicine then... My wife had worked in a pharmacy for 8 years and she couldn't believe how this works in the USA.

There is a need for a true "War on Drugs" in the USA. Tragic what has happened there.

[mommymilkies]

I read all of the posts in this astonishing thread, before starting to write this, and I am, just astonished... I wish each of you could put yourselves into my shoes (18+ years of residency in Colombia) and how that reads to people in Latin America.

 

Some months ago, there was a thread here on WTM, about the friend (best friend?) of someones DD, who had died, after huffing. I had no idea what that was, until I read that thread.

 

Here, we can buy the vast majority of medicines, by walking into a pharmacy. There are a few controlled medicines that are only sold in special pharmacies, but, in general, we can buy almost anything we need, by walking into a pharmacy, without a written prescription from an M.D.

 

Contrast that to my experience in January 1999. We were in the Miami area and I got very sick. We had travel insurance and they sent a doctor to our hotel room that morning. He gave me written prescriptions for 1 or 2 medicines. We then drove to a nearby pharmacy and were told to come back, in 5 or 6 hours. I was very sick and I needed to take the medicine then... My wife had worked in a pharmacy for 8 years and she couldn't believe how this works in the USA.

 

There is a need for a true "War on Drugs" in the USA. Tragic what has happened there.

I am totally confused.  What social faux pas did I make by agreeing it's funny to be carded for glue?  Apparently this makes me insensitive to people in Latin America?  I must be completely stupid because I just do not understand what you are saying.

[msk]

For what it's worth, a friend used to be an undercover DEA agent.  At one point he had to go to various places and try to buy more than the allowed quantity of various substances, ask sketchy questions about why he couldn't purchase more, etc. as part of a study on whether retailers were following local laws and how they reported over-purchasing.  It sounded like one would have to purchase truly *ridiculous* amounts for anything to get flagged as something to investigate (and people making things like meth did purchase those ridiculous amounts).  I don't understand how regulating things adults might abuse on their own is supposed to work, but tracking the things drug makers or middle-men buy in crazy amounts makes more sense to me after talking with him.

 

As for swiping a license at Target, if we pay with a credit card the license is not telling them anything they don't already know.  This article was pretty interesting: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?pagewanted=all

 

 

[chiguirre]

I am totally confused.  What social faux pas did I make by agreeing it's funny to be carded for glue?  Apparently this makes me insensitive to people in Latin America?  I must be completely stupid because I just do not understand what you are saying.

What Lanny was saying was that you can buy almost anything in Latin America without an ID or a prescription. Prescriptions are only written for meds that have street value, not for things like the BCP or antibiotics or statins, etc. They don't card for alcohol or cigarette purchases and they would be completely befuddled by having to show ID to buy a Sharpie. In fact, you can go into a pharmacy on a weekend and ask the pharmacist what they would recommend for your rash, cough, headache etc. and they'll help you out. It's very different than the US.

[Lanny]

I am totally confused.  What social faux pas did I make by agreeing it's funny to be carded for glue?  Apparently this makes me insensitive to people in Latin America?  I must be completely stupid because I just do not understand what you are saying.

Nothing you or anyone else wrote made you insensitive to people in Latin America!

 

The point I tried to make is that in Latin America, we can buy almost any medicine we need, without having a written prescription from an M.D., and there, you are getting carded, for buying all of these routine things, that could be used by abusers, but, probably will be used for their intended use. People in Latin America would find that incredibly strange, to say the least...

[Lanny]

What Lanny was saying was that you can buy almost anything in Latin America without an ID or a prescription. Prescriptions are only written for meds that have street value, not for things like the BCP or antibiotics or statins, etc. They don't card for alcohol or cigarette purchases and they would be completely befuddled by having to show ID to buy a Sharpie. In fact, you can go into a pharmacy on a weekend and ask the pharmacist what they would recommend for your rash, cough, headache etc. and they'll help you out. It's very different than the US.

 

This!   Thank you for explaining it, so much better than I did!

 

Minors (those under 18) would be carded here in Colombia, trying to buy alcohol or cigarettes.

[In The Great White North]

"People in Latin America would find that incredibly strange, to say the least..."

 

I find it incredibly strange too. Are there actually laws about Sharpies in you state or did WM make this up?