Stopped from buying alco chocs...

Kersh · 15-04-2006 07:15AM #1

Late as ever buying an easter egg/chocs for the gf I went out to Liffey Valley yesterday. Picked out a crummy walnut whip egg and some cherry liquer choco;ates. When i got to the checkout the guy behind the counter said "sorry, cant sell these today there is alcohol in them", so I replied "its ok, im not religious, you can go ahead and check them out for me". He looked blankly at me, then said "sorry, store policy not to sell them today". I said some words along the lines of it being a bit unfair, he just laughed it off... just wondering did anyone else come across this at all. It was M&S... Dunnes had no eggs left.... so 'go to another shop' replies arent much good, im just wondering about this. It didnt bother me at all, more surprised me - I thought this country was moving on a little bit....

rugbug86 · 15-04-2006 07:32AM

maybe go in today and try again?

the_syco · 15-04-2006 08:09AM

I concur. Go in today, as they'll be still there, since no-one else could buy them yesterday.

_Kaiser_ · 15-04-2006 10:53AM

I don't think that's the OP's point. I think he's trying to highlight that this ridiculously outdated ban on alcohol on "Good Friday" is unworkable (I mean, not being able to buy choclates now?) and needs to go at this stage.

The sooner certain elements of this society either join the rest of us in the 21st century, or lose the influence they seem to still hold over the majority (I'm talking the Catholic Church and Irish language lobbyists), the better for all of us.

I'm not suggesting Religion and Irish should be banned, just that it should be removed from anything that lists them as a legal/educational requirement.
Let the onus be on the parents to raise and teach their children morality and their "native" language, rather than (as evidenced by the growing rise in antisocial behaviour) relying on others to do it for them - or to quote Homer (Simpson

), the "can't someone else do it?" attitude.

Crucifix · 15-04-2006 10:56AM

That's mad. I'm suprised the guy even noticed when he was checking stuff through.

Right_Side · 15-04-2006 11:01AM

Kersh wrote:

I thought this country was moving on a little bit....

I agree completely.

On a side-note, I saw four seperate groups of old people walking in the direction of the local church with massive crosses yesterday. It was so weird. Like a clut or something. Imagine you didn't know yesterday was Good Friday you would be completely unnerved!

Pigman II · 15-04-2006 11:02AM

When I first read that post I thought the teller was winding the OP up for a laugh or something. tbh I still can't quite believe it.

If it was store policy not to sell them yesterday then why have them on the shelves?

Personally I don't really care one way or another about the alco-ban & pubs closing on Good Friday but illogical brainless stuff like this just annoys the crap out of me.

Cake Fiend · 15-04-2006 11:05AM

Surely genuine, practicing catholics are now in the minority in this country?

Heathen · 15-04-2006 11:06AM

no way!! thats pure sad!! youd have to eat a hell of a lot of chocolate to get even remotely tipsy.. and its obvious you were buying them for easter... thats a sham.. lol.. we are so backwards in this country

Guy:Incognito · 15-04-2006 11:08AM

It's all good, they're all 70+ so will be dead in 20 years tops. Then we can Where did the no alcohol on being sold on good friday start? Italy is as much if not more of a catholic country than here and they dont do it.

Einstein · 15-04-2006 11:09AM

I also agree, but at the same time, regardless of yours or my belief, the country as a whole is a catholic community, and thats how the country will always respond to the likes of good friday etc.

If we lived in a buddhist or muslim society, and a catholic community were in the minority, the country's religious beliefs would be upheld before ours.

Guy:Incognito · 15-04-2006 11:11AM

Divers wrote:

I also agree, but at the same time, regardless of yours or my belief, the country as a whole is a catholic community, and thats how the country will always respond to the likes of good friday etc..

You probably posted at the same time as me. Italy dont shut pubs and not serve alcohol, it'sa free choice.

lodgepole · 15-04-2006 11:12AM

Macker Eire wrote:

youd have to eat a hell of a lot of chocolate to get even remotely tipsy...

There is no ban on drunkeness, it is a ban on the sale of alcohol. It would have been illegal for the shopkeeper to sell the chocolates.

Fup it, it's only a day. It's not the only Friday I don't go for a pint and if I want a drink I have plenty at home. At this point, like Christmas, Easter is more cultural than religious.

Right_Side · 15-04-2006 11:14AM

Lodgepole wrote:

Fup it, it's only a day. It's not the only Friday I don't go for a pint and if I want a drink I have plenty at home. At this point, like Christmas, Easter is more cultural than religious.

That's not the point. One should be free to go for a drink if one wishes to.

_Kaiser_ · 15-04-2006 11:17AM

Lodgepole wrote:

There is no ban on drunkeness, it is a ban on the sale of alcohol. It would have been illegal for the shopkeeper to sell the chocolates.

Fup it, it's only a day. It's not the only Friday I don't go for a pint and if I want a drink I have plenty at home. At this point, like Christmas, Easter is more cultural than religious.

Maybe so, and like yourself I don't HAVE to have a drink on Fridays (in fact, since I bought a car last year I don't drink that much at all these days).

The point is though that if someone wants to buy a few cans/bottles (or chocolates in this case), they should be free to, and the only reason they can't is because of pandering to a institution that IMO still holds far too much influence in this county.. as someone else posted, even in Italy - the home of the Catholic Church - they don't do this.

Cake Fiend · 15-04-2006 11:18AM

Stekelly wrote:

taly dont shut pubs and not serve alcohol, it'sa free choice.

As it should be, tbh. If the whole not drinking thing is a matter of faith, then surely it's an excercise in pointlessness to force it upon people

Making it illegal to buy alcohol because of religious expectations is as moronic as legally forcing people to give something up for lent would be.

In response to the usual tirade that gets dragged up every year when someone complains about this law, I'm not hugely bothered by the fact that I couldn't get alcohol last night - I'm bothered by the fact that my legal right to do so was removed, completely pointlessly.

CiaranC · 15-04-2006 11:22AM

Presumably M&S werent selling any cosmetics either yesterday? All perfume etc contains trace amounts of alcohol too. I didnt notice Boots closing down for the day either.

Crucifix · 15-04-2006 11:24AM

CiaranC wrote:

Presumably M&S werent selling any cosmetics either yesterday? All perfume etc contains trace amounts of alcohol too. I didnt notice Boots closing down for the day either.

Heh heh, that just conjures images of rampant alcoholics who forgot to stock up on thursday eating face cream and swigging listerine.

lodgepole · 15-04-2006 11:25AM

Right_Side wrote:

That's not the point. One should be free to go for a drink if one wishes to.

Which point wasn't the point? Why should one be free to go for a drink? Why is it a big deal that alcohol isn't sold on two days of the year?

Kaiser2000 described the law as "unworkable", but I don't see how that's the case. If there were no eggs left in the store then it's really the OP's own fault for leaving it so late. It's not the end of the world, and it's not so serious as to warrant a change in a law that has existed here for a long time and has never caused any trouble.

lostexpectation · 15-04-2006 11:26AM

I guess in some consumerist society way he was trying to observe a catholic tradition by buying the chocolate liquers wasn't he?

lodgepole · 15-04-2006 11:26AM

Sico wrote:

I'm bothered by the fact that my legal right to do so was removed

You never had a legal right to buy alcohol on Good Friday.

Cake Fiend · 15-04-2006 11:30AM

Lodgepole wrote:

You never had a legal right to buy alcohol on Good Friday.

Replace 'removed' with 'denied' then, if you're going to keep that pole lodged up your ass. The point is, my rights should not be curtailed because of the fanciful beliefs of a cult.

Right_Side · 15-04-2006 11:31AM

Lodgepole wrote:

Which point wasn't the point?

The whole...'its only one day' point.

Why should one be free to go for a drink?

Because we don't live in a dictatorship.

Why is it a big deal that alcohol isn't sold on two days of the year?

It infringes on a person's right to do as they wish without the state interfering unnecessarily.

lodgepole · 15-04-2006 11:38AM

Sico wrote:

Replace 'removed' with 'denied' then, if you're going to keep that stick up your ass.

The stick up my ass is there for a reason. You never had the legal right to buy alcohol on Good Friday or Christmas because Irish society has decided that should be the case. The number of genuine practicing Catholics in the country is now tiny, and the influence of the Church all but gone. So why is the law still in place? Because it always has been, and it does no harm, beyond slightly inconveniencing some people who forgot to buy their eggs on time.

On a lot of topics i'm all about retaining basic rights and that one person's moral code shouldn't dictate another persons (outside of a state's laws obviously) but in this case I see no actual harm in the restricting of our rights on these particular days.

Right_Side · 15-04-2006 11:40AM

Lodgepole wrote:

The number of genuine practicing Catholics in the country is now tiny, and the influence of the Church all but gone. So why is the law still in place? Because it always has been, and it does no harm, beyond slightly inconveniencing some people who forgot to buy their eggs on time.

So we shouldn't change laws when society changes? Just because something has always been some way we should keep it?

So, for example, just because homosexuality was always illegal it shouldn't have been changed?

lodgepole · 15-04-2006 11:42AM

Right_Side wrote:

The whole...'its only one day' point.

Thanks, I wasn't sure whether you meant that or the culture/religion thing.

Because we don't live in a dictatorship.

A law that causes inconvenience doesn't equal a dictatorship. Your wording is far too strong.

It infringes on a person's right to do as they wish without the state interfering unnecessarily.

I think I covered that in my other post.

lostexpectation · 15-04-2006 11:43AM

Lodgepole wrote:

The number of genuine practicing Catholics in the country is now tiny, and the influence of the Church all but gone.

this isn't true

whiskeyman · 15-04-2006 11:43AM

Lodgepole wrote:

it is a ban on the sale of alcohol. It would have been illegal for the shopkeeper to sell the chocolates.

Is there anywhere in law what constitutes what exactly is banned on Good Friday?

Since many chocolate liqueurs only contain around 2-5% of the drink itself, the alcohol content is minimal, and the chocolate would be considered the main product, and derivative of enjoyment. ( I cant remember the last time I was drunk eating them....).

There's more alcohol in a bottle of mouthwash (Listerine is around 28% alcohol I think).... anyone stopped from buying that yesterday?

lodgepole · 15-04-2006 11:45AM

Right_Side wrote:

So we shouldn't change laws when society changes? Just because something has always been some way we should keep it?

Not at all. I don't believe that Irish society has decided that alcohol should be put on sale on Christmas Day or Good Friday. Obviously i'm the minority in this thread but am I on a country wide level? I haven't seen any studies in the papers regarding it but I suspect you'd hear more about it if there was uproar over the issue.

lodgepole · 15-04-2006 11:47AM

lostexpectation wrote:

this isn't true

Which, the number of Catholics or the influence of the Church? Or both?

boneless · 15-04-2006 01:34PM

Easy solution for gettin' your own back... report the shop for having it's alcohol section open (by default) on a Good Friday

Stopped from buying alco chocs...

Comments