[DigitalEl]

So working 12 hour shifts on overnights suck. After about 9 hours, it's time for a magazine and a large coffee. Lucky thing there's a Circle K ("convenience" store) nearby. Ya know how sometimes you're just in the mood for somethin'? Well, I wanted a Maxim magazine and a Colombian blend. That's all I needed to get me through 'til 0600.

Too bad "the management" at this particular Circle K has decided Maxim is a filthy heathen's rag and that they'd save my soul by preventing me from seeing such raunch. Keep in mind that - like most every other convenience store - you can get cigarettes, beer, fatty snacks and other things that can kill you... All with 24 hour/7 day a week convenience. Not a Maxim though. Nor an FHM or a Stuff or (for you ladies) a Cosmo.

I asked the winner behind the counter why no lad mags. She said "the manager's pretty religious." I asked her if the tattoo mags with ads for bongs in them were more to his liking. That seemed to just make her nervous. I left without quizzing her further.

If this guy really doesn't sell certain magazines because of his religious beliefs, what DO his religious beliefs say about cigarettes and alcohol? It's like Wal*Mart selling only the "clean" version of music and refusing to sell certain magazines... But selling alcohol, tobacco and friggin' guns instead.

I was able to kill my break by picking up a Cycle World magazine. Good thing at least some of my interests intersect with the "redneck agenda." Hey, next time I may even go for the tattoo mag.

Don't you love it when the moralists decide what's best for all of us?

(Disclaimer: A store is a private business. Yes, it's their right to sell and not sell whatever they wish. After leaving with my Cycle World and a large coffee, I kicked myself for not "voting with my dollar" and going elsewhere).

[jwoods]

If he's christian, I don't think there is anything specific about avoiding alchohol or cigarettes. Sure they are bad for you, but it's not exactly taboo. Magazines that talk about sex, or show scantily clad women (or....gasp! Naked women) might be something that offends him. Who knows?

Not all Walmarts sell guns. At least in the state of Kalifornia they don't.

I thought the convience stores survived off selling beer, cigarettes, magazines, and gasoline. Maybe he has a different business model?

It's his store. He doesn't have to sell it if he doesn't want to.

And besides? Maxim?!? Come on. Why would you want to buy Maxim? It's porn for people afraid to buy porn.

edit: double post

[Salty]

Originally Posted by hayesk

It's his store. He doesn't have to sell it if he doesn't want to.

And besides? Maxim?!? Come on. Why would you want to buy Maxim? It's porn for people afraid to buy porn.

Yah and you have a connection to the internet... who's dumber, the manager who doesn't want to help you get your rocks off, or you for not knowing the quickest route?

[ghporter]

NO, it's NOT "HIS" STORE. It belongs to either Circle K or a franchisee. Managers are employees who have to follow corporate rules. If this guy is doing this on his own, then the district manager at least should know about it. Start with the Circle K web site and raise some stink. Maxim is about as "filthy" as People, just more conspicuous, and significantly LESS objectionable than "High Times" or most tattoo magazines.

Let the top brass know that "the manager of the store on X and Y streets in Phoenix is injecting his personal religious beliefs in what products he has available for customers to buy. I feel that this negatively impacts my own religious beliefs." They'll love that.

[SirCastor]

Maxim is an excuse for people who don't want to be accused of buying porn. It is filth. That's my opinion anyway.

The manager may be the franchisee. There may also be allowances through Circle K to choose what is sold and what isn't. The Brochures from the website seem to suggest that the Corporation will help you with your supply, and train you, but you may not be under any obligation to stock what everyone else stocks.

[DigitalEl]

Originally Posted by SaltyTard

Yah and you have a connection to the internet... who's dumber, the manager who doesn't want to help you get your rocks off, or you for not knowing the quickest route?

I'm not here to defend my choice of reading materials, especially to you. How typical to attack me b/c you don't like the magazine than to address the bigger issue I was raising.

I was the first to say that it is their right to sell what they wish and that I should've shown my disapproval by shopping elsewhere. As someone who uses the Lounge as his personal blog more than almost anyone else here, I'd have thought you'd understand my original post. I was simply sharing something that struck me funny.

-----

As for Maxim (okay, I will defend it a little), it's a time-killer magazine. Easy reading... Lots of pictures and it can be set aside and resumed when more important things pop up. I read it at work in the middle of the night with my female supervisor sitting right next to me. We laugh at some of the crazy stuff in it. I never said it was high-society .. and at 3 a.m., it's just what the doctor ordered. It's hardly "porn for people afraid to buy porn." Ever watch a senseless comedy on TV or listen to mindless pop you know is gonna be forgotten when the next big hit drops? Same thing... Just passing the time.

But whatever... I'll leave you all to The Economist and National Geographic. All you haters are such mental heavy lifters, I'm sure.

[DigitalEl]

...besides, who said the "religious" manager was Christian? I'm a Christian. I wasn't attacking Christians. The guy could be Buddhist, Jewish or a Jehovah's Witness for all I know.

[thunderous_funker]

Letseee.....

Arizona, moral crusader enough to banish the racy mags but capitalist enough to keep the liquor and cigs.

I'll guess Mormon.

[chris_h]

Originally Posted by DigitalEl

I asked the winner behind the counter...