Compressed air stupidity at Target

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Geosurface

Geosurface

Diamond Member
Mar 22, 2012
5,773
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Just got back from Target and I feel like doing a little bit of bitching.

I bought a 2-pack (Shakur) of compressed air computer dusters, and when the cashier asked to see my ID I was at that point slightly annoyed, thinking to myself "okay I am very clearly in my 30's... but whatever" but then she asks me to withdraw my driver's license from my wallet and hand it over to be scanned.

Now this was a new experience to me, I had never had my driver's license scanned before, in fact I didn't even know this was possible.

I only recently got a driver's license here in Connecticut, and was until very recently still using my Nebraska license. I'm not sure if they can be scanned, but I don't believe so.

So as I left the store I found myself wondering, what would've happened if I still had that Nebraska license and it couldn't be scanned? What would've happened if I lived in the apartment building next door to the Target and just walked over, with some cash in my pocket, and didn't bother to bring my wallet or driver's license? Just can't purchase canned air then?

I was reminded of the South Park episode where Towelie buys a big bag of canned air to huff and get high off of. If you haven't seen it, it's pretty hilarious:

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/307803/im-walking-on-sunshine

(on a side note I've always loved how it says Towelie ran out of money for hard drugs and has resorted to computer duster, clearly they aren't familiar with how much it costs lol)

So yea, it just seems so stupid to me. For a little context, I'm 32 and have never been high or even buzzed off any sort of substance. Maybe this lack of experience with being carded, etc, plays into why I found this annoying.

I just don't see the logic behind these sorts of policies. So, it's okay for someone older than 18 to get high off huffing compressed air?

What's more, there are PLENTY of kids younger than 18 who are huge tech geeks who love to open up computers, build their own, etc and is it fair that they can't go buy these if they need them?

I don't like the idea of my ID needing to get involved in a harmless transaction.

The sooner this country gets over this stupid fucking drug war, nanny-state bullshit... the better.

I don't give a flying fuck if kids are huffing air, maybe a few of them will die from it and natural selection will get a rare chance to operate on humanity again.

What if I went in and bought canned air for some kids outside who asked? Would that be illegal in the same way as buying them alcohol? Or would it just be equivalent to buying them an M rated game? The whole policy is just fucking retarded. So is not letting kids buy M rated games, for that matter.

Anyway, that's enough ranting about this... make no mistake I realize this is a very very minor issue, and I realize the danger of making a thread about it is that it sounds like I think it's some huge social injustice. I really don't. I'm not one of those crazies who goes into a store full of work-a-day normal people with a camera in their face interrogating them about stupid policies they have no input in, shoots a bunch of footage of me quoting the constitution to Target security as my camera just shows the manager's torso the whole time, then throws it on YouTube like I think I'm some sort of champion of liberty.

No, it's a minor, stupid issue. I just felt like bitching about it a bit. Seriously though, where do we draw the line? Any over the counter med that could be used to make Meth or for Robo-trippin', we'd better lock behind the counter and card! Oh shit, you want to buy a baseball bat? You could murder someone with it! We'll need to write your name down. Yadda yadda yadda. Fuck, I could probably find a ton of shit inside that store to do something nefarious outside it's intended purpose with, perhaps even EVERY ITEM IN THE STORE. No more nanny-state please. No more drug war, please.
 
rcpratt

rcpratt

Lifer
Jul 2, 2009
10,433
110
116
It's pretty pathetic. I got carded for the first time buying Nyquil yesterday, while I was on my way home from work...wearing my suit. Seriously?
 
clamum

clamum

Lifer
Feb 13, 2003
26,252
403
126
All that text just because you got carded for air duster? And you never noticed the magnetic strip on the back of your license?
 
Jeff7

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
19
81
I just hate the bittering agent they put in there. Blast out something, and then I've got to get away from the area for awhile, otherwise I end up tasting that crap for the next hour or two.


Oh, and another good one: The register at a Walmart prompted for ID when I was buying a pair of sunglasses once, because they were categorized as Sporting Goods.
 
zokudu

zokudu

Diamond Member
Nov 11, 2009
4,364
1
81
Bought canned air at Radioshack. No issues didn't get carded.

They do the scanning thing here in NJ too, I get carded for lottery tickets and alcohol all the time and I always assumed it just checked to make sure the id was legit somehow but now that I think about it I bet Target is trying to keep track of how many cans of air you buy. A computer hobbyist needs what? A few cans a year or so. If you're buying several cans a week they probably are liable if you die from it somehow.
 
N

natto fire

Diamond Member
Jan 4, 2000
7,117
10
76
Just one of the thousands of ways the government wastes time and money saving morons from themselves. Also store policy is set depending on what kind of "image" the store desires. In this case Target wants to appear like they are "family friendly" and safe, hence carding for selling dangerous drugs.

That canned air is very weak for blowing dust IMO, I assumed they only made the stuff so that suburban kids could kill themselves chasing an escape from their white bread world.

I know Nebraska is the butt of a lot of jokes, but they seriously don't have magnetic strips in their licenses? It's a really old technology and I know that my first Ohio license had one (although uncoded) back in 1998.

So yeah, I agree that the multiple layers of preventing stupidity really only irritates the smart, but we apparently can't get the government to realize that. Really similar to the drug war and other stupid laws that try to deter and really just push the market into a different space. I could rant on about mistreatment of drug addicts and just plain mental instability, but yeah.
 
Geosurface

Geosurface

Diamond Member
Mar 22, 2012
5,773
4
0
Jeff7 said:
I just hate the bittering agent they put in there. Blast out something, and then I've got to get away from the area for awhile, otherwise I end up tasting that crap for the next hour or two.


Oh, and another good one: The register at a Walmart prompted for ID when I was buying a pair of sunglasses once, because they were categorized as Sporting Goods.
Click to expand...

Wow re: the sunglasses, that's nuts.

As for the bittering agent thing! Thank you for mentioning that.

YES that taste in the mouth is awful... just awful. I actually didn't know what that was. All I knew is I was pretty sure canned air didn't USED to do that.

They actually specifically add something to it which isn't required in order to make it do that? Just so that people are less likely to huff it?

I'm just sick of shit where the chance of some small % of people doing something stupid means the rest of us are subjected to inconvenience.
 
Geosurface

Geosurface

Diamond Member
Mar 22, 2012
5,773
4
0
Captain Howdy said:
I know Nebraska is the butt of a lot of jokes, but they seriously don't have magnetic strips in their licenses? It's a really old technology and I know that my first Ohio license had one (although uncoded) back in 1998.
Click to expand...

Okay I still had my NE license and I just checked, it does in fact have it and probably has for years.

I just never had any reason to learn that a driver's license could be scanned until today. Never happened to me before. That's probably why I was so inspired to bitch about it at all, the act of having your driver's license taken and scanned felt very... big brother, to someone who had never had it done before.

And yea, a lot of Nebraska is very hicked out, and it's pretty plain and boring but the capitol city of Lincoln where I'm from is a nice university town with lots of trees, some cool architecture, very nice people... not a bad place really. I make fun of the state plenty but it's actually a pretty nice place. Except Omaha, unless you like being stabbed.
 
D

darkewaffle

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2005
8,152
1
81
Not surprising, I know our local Staples has had problems with junkies buying compressed air. It's not really their job to protect them, (imo) but I think they do what they can. Of course then they just send someone else in to buy it for them lol, but it keeps them out of the store.
 
rcpratt

rcpratt

Lifer
Jul 2, 2009
10,433
110
116
Regarding swiping your driver's license...my card has a strip and I know it has something on it (occasionally scan it at a liquor store, usually at the casino...), but I have never had the cashier swipe it at the grocery store.

I wish they would implement ID swiping here for grocery stores...especially for the self-scan lines. But I guess they might perceive that to be too risky without someone verifying the photo (like that's hard to fake). I hate waiting for those idiots to come to my counter, take my card, type in my birthday, type it in again correctly...wastes two minutes of my life.
 
A

artvscommerce

Golden Member
Jul 27, 2010
1,143
17
81
I saw an episode of "intervention" about a very intelligent young girl who had everything going for her, who got hooked on canned air. It was seriously one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen on TV. Not saying I agree with the law/policy, but perhaps they're just trying to prevent a single individual from buying a dozen cans on a daily basis; not to ensure the purchaser is over 18.
 
rcpratt

rcpratt

Lifer
Jul 2, 2009
10,433
110
116
artvscommerce said:
I saw an episode of "intervention" about a very intelligent young girl who had everything going for her, who got hooked on canned air. It was seriously one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen on TV. Not saying I agree with the law/policy, but perhaps they're just trying to prevent a single individual from buying a dozen cans on a daily basis; not to ensure the purchaser is over 18.
Click to expand...
12 cans * $3 (minimum) * 30 = $1080/mo D:
 
Geosurface

Geosurface

Diamond Member
Mar 22, 2012
5,773
4
0
I just don't think it's the role of a store to be worrying about what you do after you leave... I mean, sure if I wheel my cart up to the register with a hatchet, garbage bags, a couple bags of lime, a shovel, and a few gallons of bleach, and a tarp... it certainly looks fishy as fuck.

But is it the role of the store to concern themselves with that, or is it their role to take my money and stfu?

Do they need to see ID in case I'm killing someone?

What if I buy too many bottles of Nyquil... I don't know.

Honestly, maybe some sort of pseudo-good argument CAN be made for them taking note if say, some meth-head looking guy comes in and buys boxes upon boxes of sudafed... maybe. But a well-dressed 30 something buying 1 2-pack of computer duster? Gimme a fuckin' break.
 
Saint Nick

Saint Nick

Lifer
Jan 21, 2005
17,722
6
81
Geosurface said:
Okay I still had my NE license and I just checked, it does in fact have it and probably has for years.

I just never had any reason to learn that a driver's license could be scanned until today. Never happened to me before. That's probably why I was so inspired to bitch about it at all, the act of having your driver's license taken and scanned felt very... big brother, to someone who had never had it done before.

And yea, a lot of Nebraska is very hicked out, and it's pretty plain and boring but the capitol city of Lincoln where I'm from is a nice university town with lots of trees, some cool architecture, very nice people... not a bad place really. I make fun of the state plenty but it's actually a pretty nice place. Except Omaha, unless you like being stabbed.
Click to expand...
You are a dummy. I live in Nebraska and neither of my past two licenses (issued Sept 2007 and Sept 2012) have "magnetic strips" on them. They do, however, have standard bar codes, and those of the PDF4xx variety.
 
Yreka

Yreka

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2005
4,084
0
76
Jeff7 said:
Oh, and another good one: The register at a Walmart prompted for ID when I was buying a pair of sunglasses once, because they were categorized as Sporting Goods.
Click to expand...

They had folding arms = Assault Glasses !
 
Geosurface

Geosurface

Diamond Member
Mar 22, 2012
5,773
4
0
Saint Nick said:
You are a dummy. I live in Nebraska and neither of my past two licenses (issued Sept 2007 and Sept 2012) have "magnetic strips" on them. They do, however, have standard bar codes, and those of the PDF4xx variety.
Click to expand...

Perhaps you are the dummy, because if you'll look back at my posts I never used the phrase "magnetic strip" someone else did. I merely referred to the ability for a Connecticut license to be scanned, and my uncertainty as to whether a Nebraska license shared this ability.

When someone expressed disbelief that a Nebraska license would not have this ability, I checked mine that I still have and confirmed for them (and myself) that it did.

So why am I a dummy again? For not specifically making a point to inform them that it wasn't a magnetic strip but rather a scannable bar-code?

Or for not knowing that the NE license had that in the first place? As I said I've never had any purchase in my life before today trigger anyone wanting to scan my license...
 
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