Ripping fabric is funny - seems like it's an "old school" thing now. It seemed to me that the older shopkeepers knew what was what and would rip into the bolt without blinking an eye, but the younger staff would give me a look like I'd just asked them to slice off one of their own fingers.
But I remember buying "material" with my grandma; the shops
always snipped the selvage and ripped across the fabric - only certain special fabrics and trims were cut with scissors. Then we'd take our ripped fabric home, get out the cardboard template, and start marking out a grid which we would then carefully cut apart with scissors...
It sure has changed since then!