The Law is Crackers: Busted for Buying Crackers
KaliMa
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So I assume they don't mean the same things that crackers means here in the US, being that there's gunpowder in them. I assume it's some kind of...firecrackers?
KaliMa
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I can't believe you need to be over 16 to buy those anywhere! That really IS nutty. I didn't know what they were called - thanks
The crackers in question are the ones you pull, they go pop, and a hat and a joke fall out. They are not dangerous, and I suspect you would have to buy several thousand in order to make even a small bang.
i got id'd in Tesco for buying party poppers (the little tubs you pull the string on.. and streamers fly out with a little bang). Bear in mind I am 30, have 3 kids, look 30, and have NEVER been checked for age ever.
If anything this is a blatant misuse of a law designed to stop the sale of real explosives, for the sake of being a jobsworth.
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familiar_stranger
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i was asked to prove my age recently when trying to buy some tobaco, i whipped out my sixteen plus card which stated i was over eighteen and yet i was refused on the grounds that they didn't accept that type of card... when i was sixteen (before the law was changed) i was told i needed a driving liscence which i wouldn't even be able to get for another year... shops and those serving can be quite annoying along with the laws they follow, as far as i'm concerned anyway.
as for the crackers i see no point in restricting them to over sixteens, i once took all the cords out of a twelve pack and stuck them together, i didn't even get the bang i was expecting. honestly speaking there are plenty of 'dangerous' items any age can buy so why refuse someone crackers?
it's the cashier's choice at the end of the day, if they're in a bad mood or just pathetic as a person they might just decide to cause a problem for fun.
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most people think i'm a bit strange, even abnormal. normal is the majority, the average, what is most frequent. if you lived around here, you'll see the positive of not being normal
as for the crackers i see no point in restricting them to over sixteens, i once took all the cords out of a twelve pack and stuck them together, i didn't even get the bang i was expecting. honestly speaking there are plenty of 'dangerous' items any age can buy so why refuse someone crackers?
it's the cashier's choice at the end of the day, if they're in a bad mood or just pathetic as a person they might just decide to cause a problem for fun.
The problem with ID is that there are several types, none of which are very clear, and most of which have been forged at one point or another. Its actually easier to spot an under-ager by the way they act, what they buy, and the way they carry themselves than it is by their ID.
The reason so many places are so anal about ID is because the onus of responsibility falls not upon the under-aged person attempting to purchase something, but on the person selling. Thus when the law is transgressed, the person selling can and does get utterly raped by the law, with huge fines and all manner of nastiness. Where I work there have been several altercations with teens (one or two that have nearly come to violence) over refusal of service. What these little f*****s fail to realise (or are well aware of) as they try to buy booze (or whatever) is that if they get caught, they will suffer little or no censure. The person on the other side of the counter can risk losing their job, thousands of pounds, and even find qualifications being revoked, not to mention a criminal record. With all that hanging over our heads, is it any wonder people over-react in matters of ID?
I'm not saying its right, but the system is obviously flawed. The weight of law should fall on those who are trying to illegally purchase. End of story.
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"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart,
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familiar_stranger
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The reason so many places are so anal about ID is because the onus of responsibility falls not upon the under-aged person attempting to purchase something, but on the person selling.
most of the time i've noticed it's about how you carry yourself across as, either how you act/dress or the people around you. i remember that a man was refused service when he tried to buy alcohol and a set of knives, the reason? he was with his seven year old son
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most people think i'm a bit strange, even abnormal. normal is the majority, the average, what is most frequent. if you lived around here, you'll see the positive of not being normal
There is great debate about a national ID at the moment, mostly because people consider such a thing to be an invasion of privacy and very "big brother". Normally I would say thats a load of balls, but the way our government has been acting lately, I have a tendency to agree, that it would just be another way to tighten the thumbscrews.
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"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart,
that you can't take part" [Mario Savo, 1964]
familiar_stranger
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it's a card secondary/high schools give to students when they turn sixteen, the ironic thing is back then it was supposed to stop underage kids buying cigarettes yet now isn't a valid form of identification.
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most people think i'm a bit strange, even abnormal. normal is the majority, the average, what is most frequent. if you lived around here, you'll see the positive of not being normal