President Biden: The NEW one and only politics thread

Wait … they don’t sell liquor? I haven’t paid close enough attention. Next time I’m back East I’m going to look.

Also, why was grocery stores in quotes?

 

For the reasons MC mentioned. If you want liquor in Pa., head your ass to Fine Wine and Good Spirits (at least by me).

 

"You're a man with some sheets" earns you my like.

That or it's the most awesomeness "Charlie Brown at Halloween/Great Pumpkin" reference ever.

 

You can. You just have to drive to a wet county that has liquor stores and/or beer in grocery stores to get it. But you can’t have too much or you can be charged with over possession. Always made a nervous drive back to my grad school apartment from the county line liquor store when I’d have 10 cases in the back of my Wagoneer.

 

I used to have to drive to Tennessee on Sundays to get beer.

 

The most aggravating part about Tennessee is having to show your ID every. single. time.
Many gas stations actually take your license and scan the bar code on the back.
I like about as much under 21 as I do a pink ant eater. Still get carded. State law.

 

This is really kind of silly at this point. I mean, did he have that reaction when virtually every gas station in the country went the self-serve route -- oh, at least 35 years ago now?

Business evolves and changes, and self-checkout is just...something that's happening, yes, as a cost-saver for companies, and because it allows them to use personnel elsewhere instead. The focus of virtually all retail stores, and any kind of sales, is also on online operations now -- the creating, building and improving of them. It is all part and parcel of technology growth, which is not going to be stopped by your father, or anyone else.

 

About two-thirds of Kentucky counties were dry when I lived there, and every county was dry on Sunday.

 

Self-checkout at the gas station is easy. Self-checkout at the supermarket is a huge time sink because of all the shoppers who completely fuck it up, usually due to coupons. This means it's not even a labor saving feature for the markets, since they have to station one or two clerks (could be running their own lines) by the self-checkout area to resolve all the fuckups. I mean, it's spooky season and every damn store has pumpkins for sale. Marvelous to watch a nice befuddled old lady try to run one of those through the scanner (they're not coded, have to use the human checkout lines).

 

I definitely agree with you that more regular check-stands should be available, particularly at Walmart, where we always seem to be busy.

But the fact of the matter is, companies are going the self-serve route, and refusing to get with the program isn't going to change anything. You may as well get comfortable with self-checkout because it's not going anywhere, and likely will only keep expanding.

 

I do self checkout exclusively at 2 of our local grocery stores because I hate waiting and they tend to be understaffed. The biggest issue is that the devices at the local Shop-Rite are just brutal to use if you try to pack as you go. So I end up scanning first and then packing, which is beyond annoying.

 

Funny thing. My local Stop n' Shop, which is huge, has a self-checkout section, but also never has less than 5-6 human checkers working. I believe this is because Cape Cod skews so old (median age of my town is 61) that it saves them money.
Swingline, back when I first moved to Massachusetts, in the early '70s, liquor stores were closed on Sunday. So late at Saturday night parties in Cambridge, there'd be a lottery. Loser had to drive to New Hampshire the next morning for more supplies. Since the border was like 40 minutes away, this was not a severe penalty.