"We card everyone"

As sad as it was to see Ukrops disappear from the Richmond scene, we did look forward to being able to buy wine and beer at at the former Ukrops locations when they reopened under the Martin's banner. In fact, on my first trip to Martin's I picked up a couple of bottles of vermouth (one dry and one sweet) and was stunned upon checking out when the cashier asked for my ID. Not only have I checked out with this cashier before during the 20 years I've been shopping there, (to their credit Martin's retained the Ukrops staff) but I am a gray-haired, bearded middle age guy who can't even pass for 50, never mind 21. I complied, of course, but I did comment that it seemed silly to me and even asked those behind me in line if they agreed. They did.

Having been a denizen of the corporate world for 34 years, I understand the risk-averse mindset that prompts a decision to card everyone. The thinking goes like this: "We don't want to get in trouble for selling alcohol to minors but we also don't ever want to offend anyone, or worse, be accused of singling out any person or group of people, so let's just card everyone." In today's hypersensitive, thin-skinned and litigious society there's some basis for concern. However, it just seems ridiculous to remove all human judgement from the process.

Asking where to draw the line when carding people is a valid question. The answer is somewhere younger than people who are obviously older than 50. Martin's policy of carding everyone is another reminder that when the Ukrops family sold, it meant more than a sign change on our local supermarket. I fear that it also means that common sense and a neighborhood feel have been supplanted by corporate policy.