Learning some new tricks

A teenager in a convenience store asks her father to buy cigarettes for her. The father approaches the cashier, who has overheard the exchange. “I’ve got gas, some soda and I’ll take a pack of Salem’s,” Dad says.

Nervously, the cashier tells the father she won’t sell him the cigarettes.

And, unlike in real life, the cashier gets a round of applause.

It was the end of one of several role-playing exercises performed during a We Card seminar at the Hilton Garden Inn on Thursday. In the role of “girl” was Shauna Govan, a participant in the seminar. “Father” was Terry McKenna, a trainer for the Coalition of Responsible Tobacco Retailing Inc.

The two-hour training session was open to all retailers who sell tobacco. During the session, over 80 retailers learned what the state laws are, how to spot fake ID cards and how to respond to customers like “father.”

The room at the Hilton was packed with people like roller-grill hot dogs at a convenience store.

McKenna held up a large poster of a woman.

“This is Angela,” he said. “How old do you think she is?”

Shouts of “22!” “25!” and “18!” were responses.

“She’s 16,” McKenna said.

The crowd, dotted with the signature red and white shirts of Casey’s General Store employees, let out a collective gasp of disbelief.

McKenna presented more posters to demonstrate that most people who don’t work at a carnival can’t tell how old a person is simply by looking at them. So McKenna instructed seminar participants to “forget about 18, focus on 27,” stating that unless a customer looks over the age of 27, they should have their ID checked.

Kevin Goodwin, owner of the Tinder Box in Columbia, didn’t attend the seminar. But he said he’s frustrated with the way state tobacco sales laws are enforced. “I still want to know what 27 looks like,” Goodwin said, saying that the guideline isn’t all that helpful.

Goodwin said the state should be held accountable to the same laws it makes.

“If I sent my child who was underage to purchase me a pack of cigarettes, I’d be guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a minor,” Goodwin said. “I want to know how the state can send underage people to ‘sting’ otherwise honest retailers.”

Terri Durdaller, spokeswoman for the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, said that state law gives the agency the authority to use minors in sting operations. But the agency likes programs such as We Card.

“Any program that enhances the retailer’s knowledge of Missouri laws on tobacco is a program that we support,” she said.

Andrea Hash, manager of the smoke shop Welcome Smokers in Jefferson City, said Thursday’s role-playing helped her learn how to deal with unruly customers she has faced in the past.

“Some of them get upset, start cussing and screaming,” Hash said. “But I just keep my tone steady and tell them sorry, it’s against the law.”

We Card was started in 1995 by a coalition of tobacco companies in an effort to prevent underage sales of tobacco. McKenna said the training sessions are important because convenience stores are a primary target for minors. The norm in the convenience store industry is a single, busy, unsupervised employee in charge of an entire store.

“So those odds play toward the minors,” he said.

McKenna also said that knowing the laws, and how to comply with them, is a large part of the success of smoke shops, convenience stores and mass merchandise sellers. Retailers who sell to minors lose their tobacco license for up to five days.

That, according to McKenna, can be a huge financial blow to a convenience store.

“The tobacco category alone can represent anywhere from 33 to 40 percent of inside sales,” McKenna said. “So when it has that kind of impact on the business, it’s critical.”

McKenna also said that the sale of tobacco in small shops isn’t limited to that product alone.

“If you lose sales in tobacco, everything else — gas, beer and soda — are impacted,” McKenna said.

If a retail employee sells tobacco to a minor, the employee can be fined $25 for the first offense, $100 for the second and $250 for the third and any subsequent offenses. The first time a minor is caught attempting to purchase tobacco, the product is confiscated; the second time, they are required to attend a weekend tobacco education class. The penalty for using a fake ID carries a fine of $1,000, or one year in jail.