(I’m the customer in this story. I’ve just entered the checkout line with my groceries and I notice a young man entering the queue behind me who is about to step into a puddle of brightly-colored liquid. He doesn’t seem to notice the “Caution” sign nearby. I reach over to stop him.)
Me: “Oh, hey, watch out there.”
Man: “What? Oh, jeez. Thanks for that.”
Me: “Yeah, of course.”
Man: *laughing a little* “I didn’t even see that. I wasn’t paying attention.”
Me: “Ah, it happens to the best of us.”
(I turn from my interaction with the man back to my groceries as I notice that the cashier is starting to ring me up. I helpfully put down a divider behind my groceries, as well. I exchange pleasantries with the cashier and begin pulling out my ID for the bottle of wine I’m purchasing. I’m in my 20s with extreme babyface, and I fully expect to be ID’d every time I purchase. The cashier takes my ID, scans it, and looks around me and gets the attention of the man behind me who is now on his phone.)
Cashier: “Excuse me, sir! I need your ID, too.”
Man: “Uh, what?”
Me: “Er, he’s not with me. These are all my groceries.”
Cashier: “Yes, but you obviously know him. I need his ID.”
Me: “I’ve never met this man before five minutes ago. I just warned him not to slip.”
Cashier: *very smugly and self-assuredly* “Yeah, no. You’re together and you’re buying this alcohol for him.”
(I can’t help but wonder how many people are buying entire carts of groceries only to disguise single bottles of wine for underage kids. The guy behind me doesn’t look old, but he does look older than my babyface, for sure.)
Man: “I have no idea who this lady is. And I’m not giving you my ID.”
Cashier: “I saw you guys enter the line at the same time. I can’t sell this to you until he gives me his ID.”
Me: “I’m… not sure what you want me to do here. I have literally never met this man in my life. I don’t even know his name.”
Cashier: “Yeah, are you sure about that? I’m going to need his ID, too, okay?”
Man: “I am not handing over my ID. I. Do. Not. Know. This. Person.”
(The man turns bodily away from both the cashier and me and seems to be gathering his own groceries from the belt to move lanes. The cashier suddenly loses their smug attitude and conviction.)
Cashier: *sounding sad or disappointed* “Oh… Are you guys really not together?”
Me: “I have literally never met him before today. I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to even speak with other customers in line. Am I able to buy this or not?”
Cashier: “Yeah…” *a sad sigh* “I guess, if you guys don’t know each other.”
(The cashier finally let me finish my transaction, but I caught her watching me like a hawk to see if the man exited another line to come speak with me. I never saw the man again and I am now paranoid of who enters line behind me every time I come into that store again.)
