# If I can't trust a 20 year old to buy alcohol... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 3, 2012, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-cant-trust-a-20-year-old-to-buy-alcohol/611698 "2012-02-03T23:46:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-cant-trust-a-20-year-old-to-buy-alcohol/611698/61 "2012-02-26T10:21:49Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > If I can’t trust a 20 year old to buy alcohol, what can I trust him/her to do? > > How do I justify hiring someone under 21 if I can’t trust them to do something as simple as buy alcohol? I think that you can trust him to buy alcohol. You just cannot trust the government to refrain from arresting him. And, to answer the OP more fully, if you can trust a 20 year old to break the law, you tell us what you can trust him/her to do. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-cant-trust-a-20-year-old-to-buy-alcohol/611698/62 "2012-02-26T15:10:36Z")
Like **Vinyl Turnip** , now I no longer trust that the OP is competent enough to run a department or manage people. As others have pointed out, “trustworthiness” has nothing to do with meeting the minimum legal age for purchasing alchohol. And meeting the requirements for purchasing alchohol I’m sure has little to do with the actual job of working as an intern at a non-profit or his ability to perform that job. So I have to wonder why the OP would make such an absurd logical connection. Being a terrible driver reflects a competency (assuming they meet the minimum legal REQUIREMENT). And being a thief is a decision. These are things that are under a persons control. You can choose to practice a skill to get better at it or not be a criminal. OTOH, your age is not something you can control, nor can you control the laws that are specific to your age group. As this relates to the OPs competency as a manager and organizer of people - By demonstrating an inability to make a distinction between meeting formal job requirements (things like age, degrees, certifications), competency (the ability to perform tasks to expectations) and personal character (things like trustworthiness which relfect intent and desire), I would be concerned about what other bizzare connections the OP might make or fail to make. I mean imagine that your boss no longer trusts you to do your job because of some weird arbitrary criteria they invented in their head. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-cant-trust-a-20-year-old-to-buy-alcohol/611698/63 "2012-02-26T17:45:45Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > This 20yr old employee is most certainly _trustworthy_; as he has demonstrated clear reason to have faith in his words and actions. If part of his job duties include purchasing alcohol, then the fact that he is 20yrs old simply means that he is _unqualified_ for his position. This is quite simple. This is [incorrect](http://www.michigan.gov/mdcr/0,4613,7-138--55181--,00.html). You can rent everywhere as far I know, although you will be charged a much higher rate. > [@thelabdude](#): > > One more thread I wonder how it can go on and on. I blame it on brain [parasites](http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/10/toxoplasma_the_brain_parasite_that_influences_human_culture.php). ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-cant-trust-a-20-year-old-to-buy-alcohol/611698/64 "2012-02-26T17:49:34Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > If I can’t trust a 20 year old to buy alcohol, what can I trust him/her to do? > > I realize debating a legal drinking age is old and tired, but I’ve run into what I think is a strange new twist. Last December my non-profit was ramping up for the Christmas season with everyone working at 110%. The place was a mad house with every available body busy at work. We needed a handful of things picked up so I put together a list, looked around for someone I could send, and handed it off to one of the interns. He then informs me that he’s 20 and can’t buy the few alcoholic items we need. > > Through no fault of his own he had made himself _untrustworthy_. I couldn’t rely on him to perform a simple task–go to a store, buy something, then bring it back. Dude, that individual is honest and straightforward. And you’re pissed off because he would not do something illegal for you? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-cant-trust-a-20-year-old-to-buy-alcohol/611698/65 "2012-02-27T03:59:50Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > Okay, and that’s my point. The government (and our society) has said people under 21 are too irresponsible to buy alcohol. So why should I as an employer not do the same thing? If I have two applicants, one is 20 and the other 21, is it fair for me to simply dismiss one as irresponsible? Do the tasks you need this person to perform require more or less responsibility than consuming mood-altering substances unsupervised? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-cant-trust-a-20-year-old-to-buy-alcohol/611698.md?page=3)