“Identitas”?? There’s no such thing….
Posted on | October 6, 2009 |
Identity is a hot topic in Classical scholarship. Gaining it, losing it, expressing it - whether in literature, epigraphical documents or archaeology, from Ovid expressing his fear of losing his Roman identity through being immersed in the foreign lands and languages of his exile, to the assertion of civic identity in the decrees of cities under the domination of kings in Greece and the Near East after Alexander the Great. Ironically, however, there was no such thing as the word “identitas” in Classical Latin, even though people now often assume the contrary. There are expressions for nationality, for being a particular sort of thing or person, but no single word for “identity”. So while the idea of identity may have been a hot topic for the Romans too, it wasn’t something they defined in a particular way. Imposing the idea of “identity” on them could therefore be seen as somewhat anachronistic, unless one picks apart what identity really is and means.
Now let’s skip forward a couple of thousand years to me standing in line yesterday at my local Safeway store, strawberries and a bottle of Californian wine in hand. I’d just come from the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles), where I’d taken my written test, on the way to securing both a Californian driving license and an invaluable form of ID. I’d had problems before in buying alcohol in mainstream stores, as they tend to look upon my English driving license with disdain (you have to supply ID when buying alcohol here if you look under 40). But this time I happened to have my passport with me and assumed there’d be no problem at all. I was wrong. Upon seeing my passport, which I view as the ultimate form of identification, the checkout lady claimed “That isn’t a proper form of ID - only Californian ID is accepted here”. My passport!
I left muttering things to do with xenophobia and xeno-ignorance, but really what this incident revealed most of all is the ridiculous extent to which rules can be taken. Stores like Safeway have become so obsessed with the idea of customers proving their identity that they’ve lost sight of which documents actually prove it most of all. Identification = a Californian ID or driver’s license card. Period.
Granted there is or should be difference between identification and identity in this modern culture obsessed with ID cards and mechanisms. But it’s not so great a difference really, as I experienced upon leaving Safeway, feeling that my English identity somehow counts for nothing in this vast country. If you have no identification deemed valid for proving who you are, it’s hard for your sense of identity not to be knocked a bit. It seems like the more we try to define and categorize each person’s identity, linguistically and materially, the more we confuse identification and identity, the less we’re able to show and feel personal identity beyond what’s written on bits of plastic and paper.
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October 7th, 2009 @ 8:07 am
I know this feeling - sort of weird not to somehow have personal “worth” separate from your identity as established by the powers that be. In a related vein, I am often not taken seriously until someone has either seen my car or been to my house - then, my “status” rises dramatically. I always wish they found me impressive, separate from my stuff.
November 2nd, 2009 @ 11:06 pm
I experienced the same feeling as you today, when I was standing at the counter of a Safeway store, with my European driving license, European identity card and (the ultimate proof of identity, as you rightly put it) my passport only to be turned down when I wanted to purchase a bottle of wine. And I found out the hard way that ONLY Californian ID’s are accepted. If the passport is good enough to travel around the world, why does it suddenly become useless when standing at the counter of a supermarket ?
November 26th, 2009 @ 12:33 am
Was this the Safeway on Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley? Had the same experience there. Words cannot describe how angry I am on them… this is what Safeway wrote to me:
“Dear Mr. xxxxx:
Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding your local Safeway store.
You expressed your concern regarding our alcohol policy at the store. We apologize that you were inconvenienced by our policy. Please realize that our policy is in no way a reflection on you our valued customer.
Our policies regarding the identification are not meant to inconvenience a select group of our customers, but to make every effort to protect all of our customers and communities, as well as our employees who are personally liable for alcohol sales.
Additionally, you expressed your concern regarding the level of service provided by our Manager in this regard. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience you encountered and that your experience was not consistent with our standards. Dominick’s continually strives for the highest quality of customer service.
We value you as our customer. Your valuable feedback is being forwarded to the appropriate parties for their review and consideration. Please be assured that your concerns will be addressed. We hope you will reconsider and continue to shop at Dominick’s.
Further, for your future reference, we would like to inform you that the valid forms of ID acceptable for the purchase of alcohol and cigarettes are:
Driver’s License
State ID card
Military ID
Passport
If you would like to discuss this further, please reply to this email or call our toll free number at 1-877-723-3929 and reference contact I.D. xxxxxx. One of our associates will be happy to assist you.
We appreciate your business and look forward to seeing you soon. Thank you for shopping at Safeway.
Sincerely,
Gail Mackay
Customer Service Cente”
now they have a sign “Passports not accepted to by alcohol” or something like that in the wine and liquor aisles. I find that completely unacceptable and ridiculous. And Xenophobic.
November 28th, 2009 @ 11:30 am
Yes indeed, the Safeway at Berkeley on Shattuck Ave. I emailed a complaint on their website just like youd did, and received the same answer as you. What I do not understand is why passports are not accepted. How ridiculous is that ? I’ve been avoiding shopping at Safeway ever since.