# Nice try bud, next time use your brother's ID **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 15, 2011, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431 "2011-02-15T07:28:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Arglefraster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@Arglefraster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arglefraster)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/21 "2011-02-15T15:37:29Z")
When I worked at a gas station I had a boy who looked about 15 or so try to buy cigarettes. Me: I need to see your ID please. Him: _Stares. Says nothing_ Me: I can’t see you cigarettes without an ID. Him: _Stares. Says nothing_ Me: O … kay. _Turns to next customer_ What can I help you with? The kid stood there for a good half hour, just staring. Then he turned around and left. I don’t know if he was trying to intimidate me or what. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/22 "2011-02-15T15:53:48Z")
When I was underaged in Kansas, our licenses were pieces of crap. No security measures, no holograms, nothing. The best they had was that if you were under 18, they would change the background of your picture from blue to red, but since no one outside the state (and probably no one inside the state either) knew about this, it was a pretty worthless system. So anyway, I could change the date of my birth. A small black pen and one stroke and, viola, I’m now 5 years older. A little alcohol on it and it’s back to normal. This worked fantastically because it was my real ID and so even if I were caught, they couldn’t take it away from me. But no one ever caught me. I got into bars every time. I got into Vegas casinos with no problem whatsoever. I once even fooled a cop who pulled me over. I didn’t realize I’d not changed my ID back and, when I talked him down to giving me a warning, he wrote the wrong DOB on the paperwork he handed me! I was invincible. I was unstoppable. I could get in anywhere and buy anything. Until Applebee’s. Goddamned Applebee’s. I’m with a group of friends late at night and I order a friggin’ chocolate Kahlua milkshake and the waitress asks for my ID, takes it behind the bar, inspects it with her bartender under a light and comes back shaking her head. Chocolate alcoholic drinks have been the bane of my existence ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/23 "2011-02-15T16:07:38Z")
I was amazed when I was ID’ed in a store this year. First, I’m forty-nine. Second, I was buying a bottle of root beer. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/24 "2011-02-15T17:03:21Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I looked like a kid well into my 20s and maybe even my early 30s. People would look at my ID and ask me my secret I’m still getting this now in my late twenties. My sister and I have met some distant relatives around Christmas, and a woman assumed she was older. This isn’t the first time that’s happened. She’s 18 (and looks it), and I’m 28. At this rate, I’ll probably be carded for mundane things like canned air well into my late 30s. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/25 "2011-02-15T17:18:13Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > You guys are probably sick of me telling this story, but the worst ID story we have is from a couple of summers ago when we had to produce ID to buy a beer at Wrigley Field when we were visiting Chicago. They refused my husband’s Canadian driver’s license on the grounds that it “wasn’t a REAL license.” To start with, we’re in our forties, so the grey hair and wrinkles probably gave it away that we’re over 21, but if policy is to ID everyone, then fine, but when they started demanding a _passport_ as ID to buy some cheap-ass, watered down beer, well, I was ready to pull 'em out, actually, since they were in my purse. > > Funny how an Alberta driver’s license is good enough for a State Trooper, but not a beer jockey. 🙂 I had my (UK) passport turned down as ID in a Boston bar (I think I was 23 at the time). British passports then had handwritten information inside, so my date of birth wasn’t typed. Sad part was I was travelling with 3 20 year olds. In order to get them into bars, we had all gotten Northern Ireland Liquor IDs from the father of one of the three, who ran a few off licenses. These were privately produced by the NI liquor sellers association, and had no legal standing. We got them blank, I put my regular age on mine, and the other three all made themselves one year older. I carried mine with my passport so that a doorman/bartender would be able to see that it matched “official” ID, and so maybe it would give the other three enough credibility. So, they turned my passport down. They then accepted the Liquor ID, not just from me, but from the other three as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/26 "2011-02-15T17:22:02Z")
Yeah, my husband got the under-30 carding at a grocery store last week when he was buying alcohol. He thanked the cashier sincerely, who was confused until she checked the DOB - he’s 40. If her jaw could have fallen on the floor, it would have. He also got carded several years ago at a Wisconsin supermarket while buying a ton of beer for a cookout our friends were hosting. They wouldn’t accept an out-of-state DL (Illinois), so we ended up at an awesome liquor store that has microbrews I’d never heard of before. They also remember us even though we come through maybe a few times a year at most, and make great recommendations. So, thanks to the supermarket for having stupid policies! Both of us went out the day we each turned 21, in a college town area infamous for carding due to the stings the cops would do, and neither of us got carded. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/27 "2011-02-15T17:43:06Z")
I’m 45; I got carded at the supermarket last week. I’ll be a bit vain and say I don’t look 45, but I don’t look friggin’ 21 either, maybe not even 30 anymore. She told me after the fact that now they’re carding everyone who appears to be under 45. I don’t quite understand that rationale, or why she poured over my driver’s license like it was the Rosetta Stone, scratching at the back of it, holding it up to the light, accompanied by a fixed stare at me to determine if the photo was correct. I was half expecing her to ask me for a DNA swab. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/28 "2011-02-15T17:53:45Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I’m 45; I got carded at the supermarket last week. I’ll be a bit vain and say I don’t look 45, but I don’t look friggin’ 21 either, maybe not even 30 anymore. > > She told me after the fact that now they’re carding everyone who appears to be under 45. I don’t quite understand that rationale, or why she poured over my driver’s license like it was the Rosetta Stone, scratching at the back of it, holding it up to the light, accompanied by a fixed stare at me to determine if the photo was correct. I was half expecing her to ask me for a DNA swab. At Kmart, we had to card everyone who looked under about, oh 28? I had a woman come through and when I saw she was 36, I was so freaking embarassed, but she practically hugged me. I about made her day. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/29 "2011-02-15T18:03:04Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I’m 45; I got carded at the supermarket last week. I’ll be a bit vain and say I don’t look 45, but I don’t look friggin’ 21 either, maybe not even 30 anymore. Yeah, that’s how I feel too. I don’t look 40, but I sure as hell don’t look under 30, especially not with my 20 year old daughter standing next to me. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/30 "2011-02-15T18:07:33Z")
It’s why I actually find those “Please don’t be offended, it is store policy to ID everyone who appears under 40” signs to be **more** offensive. I’m 42. I think I look younger. But when I see one of those signs and don’t get ID’d, it makes me an unhappy bunny. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/31 "2011-02-15T18:10:08Z")
> [@Arglefraster](#): > > When I worked at a gas station I had a boy who looked about 15 or so try to buy cigarettes. > > Me: I need to see your ID please. > > Him: _Stares. Says nothing_ > > Me: I can’t see you cigarettes without an ID. > > Him: _Stares. Says nothing_ > > Me: O … kay. _Turns to next customer_ What can I help you with? > > The kid stood there for a good half hour, just staring. Then he turned around and left. I don’t know if he was trying to intimidate me or what. He was probably attempting to control your behavior with the Jedi mind trick. Apparently the Force was not strong in him. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/32 "2011-02-15T18:12:34Z")
When I worked in a liquor store I once carded a woman who, it turns out, was in her early thirties. When I asked for ID she looked a little surprised then whipped it out and told me I’d made her day! ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/33 "2011-02-15T18:26:08Z")
For dumb ID borrowing, I stayed with someone in small-town Australia a while back, who’s son had just been caught lending out their ID to possibly the dumbest kid in town. They looked quite like each other, had matched their hair styles and were only about 6 months apart in age (18 limit there), so in theory it was a well-thought out plan. Problem was, the older kid has a name that, put it this way, if you search on Facebook, it returns precisely one hit, which is him, and the dumbass 17-year-old friend tried to use it in his place of work… ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/34 "2011-02-15T19:38:18Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I once had some kid try to buy some cigars and hand me a _library card_. :rolleyes: (Well, it did have his picture on it) I used to work at a gas station adjacent to a college campus. Lot’s of students tried to use their college IDs (photo, but no DOB) to buy tobacco (no booze due to state law). No dice. I’d deny a sale to one of them, he’d turn around, give his money to a friend, and say you buy them. The friend would have ID and claim “they’re for me” despite them exchanging money and talking directly in front of me. :dubious: That was just insulting. And yes, the majority of them probally were over 18, but that didn’t matter unless they had valid ID. We had a very strict company policy of carding everyone who _looked like_ they could possibly be under 27, scanning the ID on the register, and recording the birthdate. We were supposed to do this everytime, regardless of how many times we’d waited on them. It sucked, but this was one of the very rare things in customer service that corporate _always_ had our backs and never sided with the customer over (not even a fake apology here’s a gift card to shut you up). ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/35 "2011-02-15T20:05:30Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > You sure have had a lot of interesting minimum wage jobs and bowel complaints. You know, you’re the only person I tried to ignore here and for some reason I can’t. You’re really… something. 😕 You must just see **Lynn** only in threads about minimum wage jobs and bowel complaints since I’ve certainly seen plenty of posts from her on other subjects. Perhaps that says more about you…? Now, why you would want to set someone to ignore simply because of that, I’m not even going to touch! ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/36 "2011-02-15T20:07:42Z")
I had a friend my freshman year who had a fake idea but he failed out after the first semester. So as his going away present to the rest of us he started taking me to the liquor store with him in October when it was obvious he was done. After three months of seeing me in there several times a week for three months the cashier forgot over Christmas that he had never seen my ID. I went in in January and said hey like I always did went and got our normal order of $200 worth of booze. He asked where Brandon was but I told him he failed out while he was ringing me up. Never got carded at that store until I was 21 then he was shocked. I made a lot of money being able to buy for the rest of the kids. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/37 "2011-02-15T20:55:57Z")
When my husband was in high school, one of his friends was that impossibly-older-looking kid with the full beard that everyone had at least one of in their high school. So he was the kid who went and bought all their beer. Until the time he went up to the counter and plunked down the case of beer…while wearing his varsity football jacket, with “Class of '94” proudly displayed on it. To this day, they still make fun of him for it. ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/38 "2011-02-15T21:10:17Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I almost got into a fist fight as a clerk with a guy I refused to sell to. > > The scene … prom night. A limo pulls up and six kids pile out and come into the store and take forever choosing a variety of wine coolers and beer. Like a wagon train, the each brought something up to the counter and then five of them left to get back into the limo. The one guy who remained stood there smiling in his tux with his ID proudly displayed. > > “Dude, there’s no way I’m selling you alcohol for a limo full of high school kids.” > “This isn’t for them; it’s all for me.” > “What am I an idiot?” > > Long story short, I pulled all the alcohol behind the counter and he grabbed for it and we got into a bit of yelling match with plenty of “Assholes”, “Fuck heads” and “Douchebags” thown about. He finally left after threatening to come back after prom to beat me up. Surprisingly, he never showed. I’d have called the cops on his ass. Buying alcohol for minors is a crime, so’s threatening physical assault. Very least, his employer would have been interested to know that he’s purchasing alcohol for his consumption while on the job. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/39 "2011-02-15T21:13:27Z")
My best friend in high school was, I am now aware, an alcoholic. So, he was very resourceful in acquiring liquor. I was with him on both of these underage adventures - At a liquor store he was able to convince the proprietor that he was interested in the gift packages as he was buying the booze for his dad’s birthday! After carefully looking over many different choices, he settled on the Johnny Walker Red Label gift box. Never even got asked for ID. The drinking age was 18 then, and we had been made aware that the cops had gone around and cracked down on all the local merchants, to not sell to the underage kids. So, just to be safe, we headed over to the next county and found the most out-of-the-way backwood store. There we were able to confuse the proprietor by convincing him that we were 18, not 17 - by showing him our IDs and counting on our fingers each year, “1959 - One, 1960 - Two, etc.,” up to 18 for the current year 1976. After we went through it about 4 times, he gave up and sold us the booze, still confused. The trick was we counted our birth year as “One” not zero. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431/40 "2011-02-15T21:52:40Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > At a liquor store he was able to convince the proprietor that he was interested in the gift packages as he was buying the booze for his dad’s birthday! After carefully looking over many different choices, he settled on the Johnny Walker Red Label gift box. Never even got asked for ID. Definitely a good call to go premium, though not OTT premium. When I bartended, if you asked me what the specials were, or what the cheapest beer was, I’d be much more likely to look closely at your ID. That and if you put Jimmy Buffet on on the juke box. Back when I was underage in the UK, we found a great way of getting served at pubs, that almost never failed. On the way in, you would grab an empty off the table (preferably from the beer garden) and take it up to the bar, asking for another pint of the same. They’d look at you, not remember you, and ask what it was. You’d then tell them what you wanted, and ask for a fresh glass - saying the old one tasted a little soapy or something. I don’t remember that one ever failing if you looked anywhere plausible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-try-bud-next-time-use-your-brothers-id/571431.md?page=3)