You Might Need to Show Your Driver's License...

I was channel surfing yesterday afternoon and stopped at the Fox News Channel when I caught a bit of a story that grabbed my attention. I don't think I heard the whole story, but it bothered me a little. Remember when stores put cold medicine behind the counter in an effort to control how much was being bought? Since cold medicine has been heavily used in illegal meth production, the stores wanted to keep watch over the sale of the medicine. Some cold medicine makers even changed their formulas so that it could still remain on the shelves. I wonder if this has really helped.

As the Fox News story continued I was stunned to see that some stores/pharmacies now have a hand held device which scans drivers licenses when cold medicine is purchased. This way the store can keep a record of who is purchasing cold medicine and how many times it is bought. While I understand the need to control illegal drug labs, is this the only way? Yes I know that if a person only buys cold medicine once in a while, it should not be a problem. Just call me paranoid. I did read George Orwell's "1984" years ago. That is why the more times the government gets information on us the more I wonder if this is wise.

Soon all the states will be required to change the driver's licenses to comply with government regulations of a "national" ID/ driver's license. Yes we must be kept safe from attack and illegal aliens. Our national security is at risk, or so they say. It was not that long ago that when I had to get a couple of money orders for a little over $1000, I had to show my license and sign a book. Lately that seems to have almost gone away. At least I only had to do that only once. I've also noticed a change in buying liquor at some places. In the past when we would buy wine or beer at WalMart, the cashier would chuckle and ask if we were over 27. Now sometimes, they want a birth date. Oh but wait, it gets better. A couple of weeks ago we bought groceries at WalMart. When they rang up a bottle of wine, I had to give them my driver's license. They keyed in the number and I wondered why? We now have to show driver's licenses no matter what the age is to buy wine, beer, or liquor. Why? What's is funny is, at least at WalMart, not every store is following this new rule. Again, I wonder what is up.

Soon, we will have to show a driver's license to get married or have kids. Need a pair of shoes? Don't forget the license. Oh man! I forgot to get a quart of milk. Where did I put my license? Ah yes, the government is all knowing, all seeing, all screwed up.