So, I walk into my local Best Buy store today to pick up some CD's and Bioshock. I grab my reissues of Journey's ESC4P3 (perhaps a prelude to the internet 1337 speak of today?) and King Diamond's Abigail. Let's get one thing straight: there is only one "KING" of Rock 'n' Roll, and it isn't Elvis. Anyway, I also grab my copy of Bioshock, which will make my 360 happy since it has been played about as much as I cut myself for fun.

So, I bring my products to the clerk, she greets me with a rather cheerful "hello" and proceeds to ring up the transaction. "Sir, I'm sorry, but I'll have to see your ID for this rated M game." I was stunned, and not in a bad way mind you. In fact, I was rather flattered: I'm not exactly a teenager anymore, and while I'm sure she did this purely out of obligation, it nonetheless made me feel a bit younger than I am (I'm 30 people, and loving it).

This also took me aback simply because I hardly ever see this happen. Insert sarcasm: Are we finally getting to the point where parents can finally abandon all responsibility and rely on our friendly store clerks to watch the content our children purchase (end sarcasm). Still, can we just use common sense to decide if a person is of age enough to purchase an M rated game? I would like to think I look younger than I am, but I certainly hope I don't look young enough to be carded. Then again, it seems that "common sense" is far too much of a subjective concept to leave to an individual employee.

Should we always card based on enforced policy, and if so, does it bother you? Why or why not? Personally, I'm happy to see retail taking some step in enforcing a rating system that parents have screamed for since 1992, but I certainly wouldn't hold them 100% accountable if an under-aged youth should end up with said game: parenting starts, you know, at home. Till then, I'll be happy to feel as though my age affords me the privilage of something "mature."

Kids.