Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Yesterday]

Ok - been here many years - and I guess I am one of those ritualistic persons who always does everything like a ritual?

I get paid once per month -

therefore I pay my bills once a month - buy my ciggs once per month (in bulk) and buy my soju once per month (in bulk)

so anyway - for many years - I have been buying 10~12 of those 1.8 litre bottles of soju and that usually lasts me one month (30 days)...

it gets rid of always having to pop into some expensive corner store every day or two just to pick up a small bottle of soju

I find once per month in bulk is cheaper and more convenient...

anyway - the last 3 mnths - Emart has been writing down everything from my ID card whenever I buy my monthly soju - it actually rings some small alarm on the cash register and spits up some special receipt that requires the counter /cashier to write down my ID number, phone number, name, address etc etc

why - did they start doing this? Has it happened to you?
Do they think I am running an illegal bar?
((BY the way - I do not look under the age of 19 - I have just gone past 30))

(They never used to do it before - this all started about the same time they stopped allowing people to bring bags that were "bigger-than-this-size into stores) - I can understand that (bag issue) they are years behind most western countries) - but the soju purchase - why?

Do they take your ID if you buy a carton of OB beer?

[capebretoncanadian]

I don't know why they do it. You do drink a damn lot of Soju though...wow.

[billybrobby]

yeah, man, that's a lot of soju. frankly, I think you're running an illegal bar

[JongnoGuru]

Me, after 18~20 litres of soju a month:

[rothkowitz]

They're probably worried you're going to go nuts...thats a fair bit of soju man...yr chuggin a good 2/3 of a litre each and every night.

[cj1976]

Man, your liver must hate you. Maybe they're striking you off the organ donors list.

[peppergirl]

Asked my husband, apparently it's for tax purposes, in case you would be selling it in a bar. Never noticed how wine bottles have a little blue sticker on it saying '가종용'? Means the wine is not intended to be served at restaurants.

Apart from that, 10-12 1.8L bottles a month? I hope you don't drink all of that by yourself!

[billybrobby]

maybe he's building a rocket ship that is fueled by soju. i once tried to build a car that ran on vodka. ran ok, but the steering was all wobbly.

[elynnor]

...

[Yesterday]

[coolsage]

Are you for real? You have been in Korea too long. Other than for the obligatory ritualistic occasions, I never touch the stuff. I wouldn't even shampoo my dog with it. Even mouthwash is a better choice. Perhaps you should consider a different tipple, something that might cost more, but would involve some quality libation. You'll feel better and live longer. Cheers.

[BigBuds]

It happened to me back in 2002 a week before new years eve.

Back then, a Mate had a really enormous apartment (4 bedrooms and bloody large kitchen, living room and balconies) so we decided to have a new years party at his place. We had just over 110 people who all threw in 10,000 won before the party for alcohol.

So a mate and I thought it'd be funny to get pissed and then go shopping at our local Homeplus to purchase about 1,100,000 won worth of alcohol (we have a 24 hour Homeplus so don't think we were drunk during the day, not that there's anything wrong with that ). The cashier didn't know what to do, the manager came over and gave us a look that said " are you two alcoholics trying to kill yourselves" and we couldn't stop laughing. The silly little alarm went off on the register too and I had to give them my ARC and phone number and some other info.

We bought 4 trolleys worth of alcohol. One of the wheels on the first trolley actually buckled because we had overloaded it a bit. When we got down stairs to get a taxi the first one refused to take us for some unknown reason (Must have been thinking we just spent all our money on alcohol).

The second taxi driver was great, helped us load the car up and even help carry it all up to our mate's apartment on the 5th floor. We paid the fare and gave him a 6 pack tip.

[riley]

To give you another potential reason, could it be for tax reasons? If this happens no matter what you buy, maybe that's the reason. My wife told me that they wanted the phone number so that it would be possible to go towards getting a tax refund. I never quite understood it and they generally never harrass me for it.

[Hollywoodaction]

Dude, if that's just for you, you've got a major drinking problem. It doesn't matter if it affects you or not, you liver can only take so much abuse before it gives up on you. Ten bottles of 1.8L per month is like drinking more than 7 cans of beer (5% alcohol) per day. According to my calculation, it comes to about 230 cans of beer per month.

[ChopChaeJoe]

7 cans of beer a night doesn't sound all that excessive. Back when I was in band.....