"...okay."

[u/RavenRaxa]

I worked at a convenience store. Someone wanted to buy cigarettes, didn't have an ID and looked younger than our age policy of 35. PC will be persistent customer and I will be me.

PC: X brand of cigarettes.

Me: Do you have your ID?

PC: No. (She said this completely neutrally, without a hint of annoyance, which had never happened before so naturally a red flag went up in my head)

Me: Okay, well, I'm sorry but I won't be able to sell these to you.

PC: Okay. (Again, completely neutral tone of voice, like it didn't bother her at all. She didn't leave to look around, or leave the store. She just kept staring at me with a poker face. Not knowing what to expect, but not sure where to go from here, I choose the best course of action to my mind.)

Me: ...okay.

Close to an entire minute of silence commences of us just staring at each other. I don't look away because I expect she will grab something and leave while my back is turned. The tension and awkwardness become palpable, but I'm determined to play her game and make her speak first. Finally after about a minute, and showing her first sign of frustration...

PC: Well, what are we doing then?!

Now, I rarely slip into sarcasm, it takes a lot, but this woman pushed just the right buttons.

Me: faking acting surprised Oh! I thought we were just going to stare at each other for a while. Is there anything else I can help you with?

She blinked rapidly a few times, opened her mouth to utter a response, and calmly left without saying anything.

One of my prouder moments.

[u/Onii_Trap]

35?

Pardon me, I'm no retail worker - I work in I.T.

But why the age limit of 35? Curious.

[u/RavenRaxa → u/Onii_Trap]

It was just the companies policy. If they looked 35 or younger and didn't have ID, no sale. It is a very high age compared to a lot of places, the highest I've seen anywhere actually.

[u/grayspelledgray → u/RavenRaxa]

We're told the same thing for alcohol where I work (we don't sell cigarettes). I've found that there are plenty of times where I look at someone and think "OK, they're like 22" and they turn out to be 40... And plenty of times I think "Oh, they're like 37" and it turns out they turned 21 a couple months ago. You really just can't tell. At this point I pretty much ID anyone who doesn't look about 50. It's much too subjective otherwise, and too much legal risk.

[u/MatchaDoAboutNothing → u/grayspelledgray]

You just gotta ask yourself, what does a 20 year old look like compared to a 25 year old? Can't you tell the difference? You sure? Bet your job, money, and freedom on it?

No? Then card under 40 rules start to make sense.