Over Cautious Sales Assistant

Lexisgranny about 20 years ago, you can buy online if you search for butchers steel.

Exactly the same buying glue - I bought three glue pens to do paper crafts and was quite surprised to be questioned about my age and what I wanted them for. I do know that there are restrictions on selling glue but because those were just like pens with tiny nibs it just hadn't occurred to me.

Aldom

Callistemon21

Here is the Knife Angel, a sculpture made from knives collected by police across Britain in a knife amnesty and no longer out on the streets.

Thank you! I had heard of the Knife Angel till now.
It puts me in mind of the biblical quotation 'and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares.'
Having Googled the Angel I see that it tours the country and is currently outside Gloucester Cathedral.

Yes, that picture is outside Gloucester Cathedral. However, it has moved on from there and is now in Bradford, I think.

Jaxjacky. Did you buy it recently or was it handed down? I have just spent an hour or so in a fabulous kitchen kitchen shop that appeared to have every kitchen gadget under the sun………….but no steel!

Correction... Had not heard of...

Callistemon21

Here is the Knife Angel, a sculpture made from knives collected by police across Britain in a knife amnesty and no longer out on the streets.

Thank you! I had heard of the Knife Angel till now.
It puts me in mind of the biblical quotation 'and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares.'
Having Googled the Angel I see that it tours the country and is currently outside Gloucester Cathedral.

I use à steel Lexisgranny for my trusty Sabatier knife.

We have an assistant in our local Supermarket who asked to see our bus passes when we bought some wine lately, DH said without laughing he would bring his birth certificate the next time. She did not see the joke.
We then heard her say the same to an elderly gent with a walking stick and his answer was "No but I might drop it if you bu....around much more", the whole queue was in an uproar.
I suppose they have to ask.
Our DD asked for a good set of kitchen knives for Christmas she found that John Lewis and quite a few others would not sell online.

Quite frankly the question seems superfluous, if I was planning on going on a murdererous rampage with the knife I am hardly likely to tell the shop assistant the truth am I.

I knew someone, in her thirties, who went into Tesco, bought a large knife, came out and killed herself with it. I’ve often felt sorry for the person who sold it to her, no self service tills then.

I found the knife angel quite terrifying.

I ordered 2 pairs of small sewing scissors from Amazon and I had to come to the door to see 2 young rather nervous delivery people who had to check my age out. (admittedly, I think one was a trainee).

I think the shop assistant had been told specifically to exercise due caution and ask actual questions and maybe was nervous and clumsily tried to make a joke if it, is all.

Knife murder/attack is one of the methods women use as it doesn't involve the same strength as say a strangling or punching would. It is of course also used against women as its domestically easily available.

Here is the Knife Angel, a sculpture made from knives collected by police across Britain in a knife amnesty and no longer out on the streets.

I work in a store where on scanning certain products a prompt will appear on my screen asking me to ask the customer for proof that they are over 18.
Their are local authority checks done and the it is up to the individual assistant to enforce the ID requirement and the store risks being fined for not complying and can lose their licence to sell alcohol if they do.
It flashed up the other day for a cauliflower gadget 😤

She wasn’t being over-cautious, she was joking. However, having white hair and smart clothes does not automatically mean that you are not a criminal.

Biglouis, maybe it's time you began writing a thriller!

From time to time I sell antique pairs of very ornate sewing scissors and have not come across problems listing them for sale. It never crossed my mind that the buyers (all American ladies) would want them for any other purpose than embroidery or display in a collection.

It’s a joke, honestly, if you wanted to buy a small pair of scissors from me I’d warn you I was going to give you my “gimlet stare” to check you looked over 25. Them I might leave you with the remark “now, no running with the scissors”. If you want to shop with no human interaction eg humour you’d best stick to self service checkouts.

I have 4 very sharp Japanese knives and they're definitely kept in a drawer. I imagine the shop assistant was following guide lines..

NanaDana, I agree .
It's not good to be flippant about assault by knife.

There is a culture of facetiousness which is at best boring and at worst actually harmful.

I hate to see knives on display, even at home. My knives are all out of sight.

SquirrelSue I know the sales of knives (and knife crime in general) is not a laughing matter but the words Gangsta Granny immediately came into my mind!

I am in the middle of decluttering my kitchen and was amazed to see how many knives I had acquired over the years and yet how many of them I actually use. Do I really need different small knives for various cheeses - though they seemed like a good idea at the time. Why do I have a knife for grapefruit when neither of us are allowed grapefruit? However I could not be without a butter knife

I remember my grandmother using a ‘steel’ to sharpen knives, but I haven’t seen one for years. My problem seems to be that I have replaced knives but not disposed of the old ones.

I also worry a out knife blocks, apart from the obvious danger, what germs are lurking in the depths of the slots, how do you tell if you have cleaned them properly?

If it was a joke, it was in very bad taste. There's nothing remotely funny about knife crime. As for removing "dangerous" knife blocks from the kitchen, I'm sorry but that's a bit of a stretch for me. Other than keeping them out of the reach of children, mine's staying put. If, as we've tragically seen locally here on Tyneside, a teenager is determined to "tool up", they will do so whether knives are on display or not. In the trial for alleged murder which is ongoing here, a 14 year old took a steak knife from a drawer. So very sad, with so many ruined lives.

Supposing the OP was intending to take the knife, go outside, carefully cut it out of its packaging witht scissors she had hidden in her bag and then go on a knife rampage, would she have said yes when asked by the shop assistant whether it was her intention?

Perhaps she looked as if she might. I can see no reason why a knife fanatic should not be ^ 60 years of age with white hair and dressed smart, so obviously over the minimum age of 25 to buy a knife.^ She couls also have been buing the knife for someone else.

She probably didn't seriously expect you to run amok with it, but if she sold a lethal 6-inch knife to someone who DID want it to comceal it about their person and DID stab someone with stab someone with it, then she would be grilled about selling it.

The shop may have a rule that every buyer was asked the question, and there may even have been an occasion when a knife that had been bought there was used in an attack. If she was expected to check, then she couldn't pick and choose - EVERY buyer of such a knife must get the third degree. She couldn't ask for a birth certificate, or a reference from a JP that the buyer was a peaceful model citizen.

And maybe she expected Squirrellsue to laugh and say "Only the roast chicken I am cooking for dinner tonight"