Woman shows alcohol fridges at gas stations that require ID to open
In a TikTok, a woman shows a machine that searches for identification linked to gas station store fridges that contain alcohol.
TikToker Michelle Kimball (@michellebellexo), who identifies as a bartender and posts about the industry and alcohol, shared a video Jan. 10 showing a small black machine that reads “SCAN ID HERE.” Kimball explains that the machine takes a photo of the ID and then grants access to one of the alcohol refrigerators if it’s valid and the customer is of legal age. The fridges in Kimball’s video are numbered, so customers can choose which fridge they get access to by showing their ID.
“I tried to open that door and I couldn’t open it,” Kimball says in her TikTok of the gas station store’s locked refrigerators. “I’ve never seen that before.”
As of Tuesday, Kimball’s video had nearly 4 million views.
@michellebellexo ID machine at a gas station to be able to open the door! Have you seen this before? #caniseeyourid#gasstation ♬ Original sound – Michelle Charlotte Bartender
In the video’s comments section, Kimball clarified that she saw the machine at a QuikTrip, a convenience store sometimes associated with gas stations.
Other TikTokers have also encountered the ID machine and locked refrigerators. In December 2022, TikTokers Plavojai Jenkins (@prpapi) and Kii Kii (@kiikiithemodel) featured similar-looking machines in their videos, apparently also on QuikTrips.
In May 2022, the convenience store chain announced that it had installed locked refrigerators at some of its locations to “reduce underage drinking.”
However, some commenters on Kimball’s video said the refrigerators were being used for other reasons as well.
“We started this because we lose a lot of money when people steal crates of beer,” commented @kayla_lipscomb, posing as a QuikTrip employee.
Others feared the machine would collect their personal information, not recognize them because they didn’t look like their ID card, or simply take too much time.
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*Initial publication: February 8, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. CST
Tricia Crimmins
Tricia Crimmins is the IRL Editor at the Daily Dot. She is also a New York-based comedian and an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She has previously written for Mashable, Complex Networks and Moment magazine. She can be found on Twitter at @TriciaCrimmins.
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