Identification is a touchy thing. It’s slightly sad that we have to prove who we are now and again. It’s also understandable-to a degree-because, when it comes down to it, there are just too many of us, and a number of those too many might just be no-goodniks out to cause trouble.
I worked at a Toys R Us retail toy store several summers ago, and, unbeknownst to the purchasing public, it is company policy to ask for identification with a credit card that is unsigned. If the card is signed, a simple matching of signatures is required. However, the number of cards that come through unsigned are many, and, once in a while, a customer does take offense at the clerk’s request for ID.
One gentleman, for instance, who was rather sketchy looking (by this I mean delinquent in appearance, odor, general cleanliness etc.), presented me with an unsigned card. Unfortunately, he took my request for identification as a judgment on his (rather sketchy) character and got all huffy and mean. Had I prejudged him based on his appearance? I don’t think so. While I took note of his suspect characteristics, I was just following policy. Would I have asked the same of someone clean cut in a coat and tie? Yes, definitely. Should Toys R Us advertise their policy? Yes, and they do, in the form of a small flier at every register. Was the gentleman the cardholder? Yes again, as far as I could tell.
Any of us of drinking age and probably many of us who aren’t have been asked for identification when purchasing alcohol at the grocer, liquor store or bar. I have been carded maybe thirty-five to forty percent of the time. Many times the clerk or waiter is just following policy, being responsible, what have you-sometimes they’re even apologetic about it. Other times, there’s something more personal involved. The waiter’s been having a bad day and wants to let his anger out by [attempting to] busting you.
However, few of us have been asked for identification when going to see a movie, fewer of us when renting a movie, and probably fewer still when purchasing a movie. Case in point: I’ve purchased probably 200 movies in my lifetime, for myself or as gifts, many of them rated R, one or two even rated NC-17, and I have never been asked for ID.until now.
This past weekend, I took a short trip for fall break, and at my exotic destination, I happened by Wal-Mart. I typically try to avoid Wal-Mart at all costs, not out of any kind of objection to their overtly conservative policies and tendency for wiping out small businesses, but just because I don’t like the look, feel and layout of the stores. I much prefer Target when talking large-scale department stores of the Wal-Mart ilk. But some towns, alas, are without Target.
One of the things Wal-Mart (and Target for that matter) can do because they buy in bulk is sell VHS tapes and DVDs for disgustingly low prices (Read: $12-14 for DVDs). The prices are so low that sometimes they’re hard to pass up. So sometimes you just have to buy Total Recall, when it’s sitting there looking out at you from its snazzy Mars-shaped metallic collector case. If you’ll pause for a second and recall, Total Recall is directed by violence artist Paul Verhoeven, based on a Philip K. Dick story, and stars the delightful Arnold Schwarzenegger. This being so, it’s rated R.
There I am checking out, the cashier rings my items up, and then she stares at me blankly, with empty, empty eyes, and says simply, woefully, “ID.” I take a quick step back. Have I purchased alcohol or pornography? Do I intend to gamble? No, no and no. So I retort in a brash and courageous tone of voice that lets her know well my discontent: “What for?” No answer. She just shakes the movie in my face. I laugh. What can I do? In the face of a fifteen year-old on a power trip, Zeus himself is humbled.
In these weeks where Anthrax-mongers are trying so hard to frighten the country, truth and trust become valuable variables. If the Wal-Marts of the world unite, we might just have a chance to beat them.
-Peter Hanrahan