British Supermarket Asks for Proof of Age for Buying Teaspoons

Tesco's, the store Britons seem to love to hate, is back in the news again. The giant supermarket recently asked 21-year-old Emma Sheppard for ID when she was trying to buy a 5-pack of teaspoons. She was then wrestled to the ground by agents from MI-5 who were assigned to anti-terrorism duties in British supermarkets.

Unfortunately, only one of those things is not true.

I wish this was the only time this ever happened in England. Unfortunately it happened back in May 2009 at an ASDA store.

Emma went to Tesco's to pick up a few things, including the value pack of teaspoons, and she was caught in the web of England's "Think 25" campaign, which means the cashiers have to check the ID of anyone who wants to buy alcohol, tobacco, lottery tickets, DVDs and computer games, weapons including knives, axes, and razor blades, and fireworks. The idea is that you have to prove that you're over 18 if you look under 25.

The problem was Emma Sheppard didn't have her ID, so she was not permitted to buy her weapons of mass stirring.

A Tesco spokesperson told the Daily Mail, "Some utensils, such as knifes, will carry a 'Think 25' alert when scanned through the checkout. There is an element of common sense involved and this was a mistake, for which we are sorry."

Woah. Anyone who has read any of my other Tesco stories (which you can find here, here, and here) knows that Tesco never apologizes for anything, so this is a big deal. For someone from Tesco to apologize and not fob this off on some lame "health and safety" excuse could very well mean that Tesco may finally be recovering from its terminal stupidity.

I'm not holding my breath though.


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