# Some Passing Thoughts about Showing ID to Buy Alcohol **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [August 27, 2026, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588 "2026-08-27T03:16:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/181 "2026-09-05T17:11:15Z")
It’s gauranteed that is you are making an ass out of yourself for whatever reason: not liking the rules, prosletizing, belligerent whether drunk or sober, no one at that business, including owner/management want you or your money there. It drives other customers away, and is annoying and disruptive. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/182 "2026-09-05T17:17:43Z")
You are definitely on to something if the behavior in this thread is any indication. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/183 "2026-09-07T05:29:55Z")
Just FYI but Wisconsin was the last state to put photos on their driver’s license. That was in the 1980’s. Until then if you needed ID to buy booze or cash a check you had to go to your county’s Register of Deeds and get a state issued ID card. We refered to them as beer cards because that’s all we used them for. They were huge, multicolored cards and the goddamned thing wouldn’t fit in your wallet. 😡 [Url=][image|640x480](https://boards.straightdope.com/uploads/short-url/6sV3L1CTbW9vh4Ht8uD43bTbChU.jpeg)[/url] ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/184 "2026-09-07T06:39:08Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Then the adult _should_ buy it. Otherwise that sounds exactly like the type of trap that stores get in trouble for. “But officer, the parent was next to him, that’s why I sold alcohol to a minor” is not going to fly, and they _will_ get fined. They’re a stickler about wanting to keep their job. In my state the clerk may not just be fined - the last cashier who screwed up and sold alcohol to someone underage was taken out of the store in handcuffs. Really. Last I heard her lawyer had argued the penalty down from from six months in jail and a multi-thousand dollar fine to “just” the fine… but yeah, they take this sort of thing _very_ seriously in Indiana. And yes, you can get six months in jail for even a first offense. So… I don’t care if you don’t like being carded. I want to keep my job and even more importantly my freedom. I once had someone hand me an ID of the wrong ethnicity, gender, and age, the age being off by, I estimate, a good four decades. Clearly this person was not expecting me to actually _look_ at the ID. Yeah, that sale did not go through. > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Something that is Actually Dumb: at my grocery store you have to show proof of age to buy non-alcoholic beer. Yes, non-alcoholic beer. > > This is not a state law. Actually… It may not be State law where you live but this is 'Meruhca where we have to do the same thing at least 50 different ways. It is illegal due to STATE law to sell non-alcohol beer to minors in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana (where I live), Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Yes, I think it’s stupid, too. Nonetheless, that’s that law where I live. > [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Smapti](#): > > > > I can assure you that according to our regional head of IT, we don’t store any info from the scan - > > I would not be surprised if some larger chains lie about the info not being stored. For the book-keeping part of my job I can pull the raw data for any transaction at any register. I can confirm that where I work only the age is stored when an ID is scanned at a register. At least, that was still the case three weeks ago, the last time I had reason to pull such a report. If the ID is not scannable (it’s a passport, for example) then the information has to be entered in manually. There is a bypass the cashier can use, but if you mess up…well, as I said, the last person to do that at my store was arrested, perp-walked in cuffs, and taken down to the local jail. Since I do not work at Target I have no idea what information they do or do not keep. But at least some stores are being truthful when they say they don’t extract a bunch of info off your document. > [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > I mean, yes they should. But assume it’s a cash transaction, does that mean the adult actually has to hand the cash to the cashier? That shouldn’t be a problem, but seems like an unnecessarily fussy requirement. Everything is on video now. Absolutely I will never accept either a cash or a card swipe from a minor if alcohol is involved. Because I don’t want to be fired, fined, and jailed. I don’t want to have to explain to a judge, after I’ve lost my job and my apartment (because without a job I can’t pay rent and I’ll be evicted) that it was OK because it was the parent’s cash or card and I had checked the parent’s ID._It’d not worth the risk._ We’ve run into that with lottery tickets, too - a parent gives their kid some cash and tells them to pick out a ticket from the vending machine. Too bad if it’s a winner - it’s on video who is using the machine and if a kid bought a ticket the State lottery commission considers the ticket void and the parent to have committed a crime. > [@Sylvanz](#): > > Tl; Dr: I’m following the law and my store’s policy. Get over it and go somewhere else if you don’t like it. ^This. > [@griffin1977](#): > > The one that gets me is not allowing foreign driving licenses **that can be used to drive a car** to buy a beer. Like, this UK driving license shows the cops that my brother is qualified to drive tons of metal at freeway speeds down American roads, but my brother (who it obviously decades older than 21) cannot use it show he’s older than 21 so he can buy a beer WTF!?! My store definitely accepts Canadian driver’s licenses as a valid ID. Don’t ever recall seeing one from Mexico. According to my understanding of the rules we should be able to accept those, too. Other nations? I dunno - don’t recall seeing one. But most foreign customers have a passport anyway and we definitely accept those. In another fit of common sense we cashiers are allowed to skip the scanning on customers who appear to be above 40. Except that after the one cashier was arrested for an underage sale we were required to check EVERYONE with no exceptions for six months. That was the condition the judge imposed for the store to keep its liquor license, not a decision of the store. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Yeah, “i need to do this or they will fire me” is pretty much a conversation ender. I _wish…_ > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Rational shoppers will say, “okay”, and either pull out ID or decide not to purchase that item. Unfortunately, we also get non-rational customers. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/185 "2026-09-07T06:56:45Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > My store definitely accepts Canadian driver’s licenses as a valid ID. Don’t ever recall seeing one from Mexico. According to my understanding of the rules we should be able to accept those, too. Other nations? I dunno - don’t recall seeing one. But most foreign customers have a passport anyway and we definitely accept those. Glad to hear that. When I worked in Ontario’s Beer Stores, the policy was “any ID issued by a recognized government, as long as it has a photo and a date of birth.” I saw many Ontario driver’s licenses, of course, but also pretty much every other Canadian province. Plus, US driver’s licences from about 40 states, and a few foreign passports from overseas. A sensible policy, in my view. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/186 "2026-09-07T07:10:10Z")
Years ago, I had a couple guys come through my line to buy alcohol with Saudi Arabian driver’s licenses. We had to escalate that one all the way to the store manager because that scenario had never come up before and nobody was sure what the policy was. SM decided that as long as it had their photos and DOBs on it and didn’t appear to be fake it was acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/187 "2026-09-07T07:43:13Z")
Nobody was sure what to do because Saudi Arabia is dry? How was that your problem? Would you expect to be able to buy alcohol in Saudi Arabia if you showed them ID issued in California or wherever? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/188 "2026-09-07T07:51:56Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Nobody was sure what to do because Saudi Arabia is dry? Because we’d never seen an ID from Saudi Arabia before and nobody knew what one looked like or whether company policy allowed us to accept one. Canadian and Mexican IDs we’d dealt with. Stuff from another continent was a first. The fact that two guys from a dry country were using their DLs from there to buy alcohol while presumably on vacation is just an amusing side note. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2026, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/189 "2026-09-07T08:55:49Z")
My (English) grandpa used to have a Saudi driving licence he got while working over there. Several times he produced that one in England when stopped by the police for minor traffic violations, because they could never figure out what to do with it either, so it tended to result in him being let go with a warning… The older version he had was tricky to interpret if you couldn’t read the language. Weirdest ID I ever had while working on the checkout was a guy, late teens maybe early 20s, attempting to use a letter from the Israeli embassy confirming that they were reissuing him a lost/stolen passport. He was furious when I wouldn’t accept it, because ‘The embassy told me I could use this to confirm my ID until I got my new passport!’ Mate, it’s a bit of paper. Not even a bit of paper with a picture, and I’m not an immigration officer who’s checking your right to be in the country. I don’t care if you’re in the country legally, I just need proof of your age, and that is not… ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/190 "2026-09-07T09:10:18Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The fact that two guys from a dry country were using their DLs from there to buy alcohol while presumably on vacation is just an amusing side note. I don’t doubt that some Saudis are grateful to be in a place where they can freely buy alcohol. Pending an ID check, of course. Contrary to what some would tell you, not all Muslims, Mormons, and fundamentalist Christials eschew alcohol. Most of the Muslims whom I know here in Canada, came to get away from Islam and its rules, and they enjoy a beer after work. I’ve had Mormon clients who smoke, drink coffee, and enjoy beer. Hell, a good friend was raised in a strict Mormon household, yet he enjoys coffee, and a few beers, in between going out for a smoke when we’re at the racetrack. Yep, the racetrack; he also gambles on the horses. Point is, that one cannot assume what a person wants based on where he or she is from, or what their professed faith is. If the Saudis’ ID checks out, sell them whatever alcohol they want. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/191 "2026-09-07T09:30:48Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Contrary to what some would tell you, not all Muslims, Mormons, and fundamentalist Christials eschew alcohol. Most of the Muslims whom I know here in Canada, came to get away from Islam and its rules, and they enjoy a beer after work. I’ve had Mormon clients who smoke, drink coffee, and enjoy beer. Hell, a good friend was raised in a strict Mormon household, yet he enjoys coffee, and a few beers, in between going out for a smoke when we’re at the racetrack. Yep, the racetrack; he also gambles on the horses. This reminds me of another work anecdote I have from ten years ago or so. I was working the customer service counter and the phone started ringing, and the caller ID was showing a very Arab Muslim name. I answered the phone and it was a woman with an Arab accent speaking. She said her husband had gone shopping at our store the other day, and when she looked over their receipt there was an item that she didn’t recognize, and when she asked her husband about it he said he didn’t know what it was either, and so we must’ve accidentally charged them for something they didn’t buy. At the counter, I have access to the store order system from which I can look up any product we carry. I asked her what the name of the product was and she spelled it out letter-by-letter, and I keyed it into the system. It came back as a 12-pack of beer. I told her what it was and asked her if they’d bought anything like that. She responded “ABSOLUTELY NOT!” and hung up. I may or may not have ruined a marriage by disclosing to this woman that her husband was drinking on the sly. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/192 "2026-09-07T09:38:48Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Contrary to what some would tell you, not all Muslims, Mormons, and fundamentalist Christials eschew alcohol The hotels in Dubai are full of Muslims drinking $85 a bottle beer. If you find yourself there be sure to buy liquor at the duty free shop before entering the country. It’s much, much cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/193 "2026-09-07T09:52:26Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > It is illegal due to STATE law to sell non-alcohol beer to minors in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana (where I live), Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Wonder if they think because there is still a small amount of alcohol in them (.4%) someone could get intoxicated from them. It’s literally impossible to get drunk on near beer. The amount of non-alcoholic brew one would have to drink just to consume the alcohol content of 1 can of regular beer is approximately 160 ounces. That’s about 30-40 ounces more than a very large man’s stomach. And the smaller the person the less their stomach will hold. There’s typically more naturally occuring alcohol in unpasteurized orange juice than there is in near beer. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/194 "2026-09-07T10:34:37Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Wonder if they think because there is still a small amount of alcohol in them (.4%) someone could get intoxicated from them. However logical, I believe that’s the rationale. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/195 "2026-09-07T11:04:18Z")
It could just be that they think it’s training them to drink real beer or something. 🤷‍♀️ Or they didn’t trust sales clerks to tell the difference. It could even be that different legislators who voted for that law had different rationales. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/196 "2026-09-07T11:57:44Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Nobody was sure what to do because Saudi Arabia is dry? How was that your problem? Would you expect to be able to buy alcohol in Saudi Arabia if you showed them ID issued in California or wherever? No one where I work cares if a bunch of guys from a “dry” country want to buy alcohol (or, when it happened at my store, alcohol and bacon). However, documents from Saudia Arabi tend to have Arabic script and not the Latin alphabet most of us are more familiar with. Fortunately for the circumstance, Saudi passports have English as well as Arabic text which made locating the DOB easier than it would have otherwise been. We’ve occasionally encountered issues with Korean, Chinese, Russian, and other passports not because the documents were fake (they were valid) or unacceptable (my employer and management were fine with them) but because we had trouble reading them. If we can match the picture to the holder and, somewhere, find a DOB that shows they’re over 21 it’s all good. At least where I work. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/197 "2026-09-07T12:01:47Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Wonder if they think because there is still a small amount of alcohol in them (.4%) someone could get intoxicated from them. I have no idea what these goofs are thinking. My latest information (as always, subject to change with more data) is that there is at least one State legislator down in Indianapolis with a bug up his butt over NA beer and “malt beverages”, claiming they’re a “gateway” to alcoholism. My observations have me leaning more towards them being a “gateway” to _sobriety_ but I don’t make the laws. > [@pkbites](#): > > There’s typically more naturally occuring alcohol in unpasteurized orange juice than there is in near beer. PLEASE keep it down - I don’t want those yahoos getting any more whack ideas… ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/198 "2026-09-07T15:49:55Z")
Boy howdy do we ever. I could write a book on non-rational customers. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/199 "2026-09-07T15:55:03Z")
Having to show ID to buy alcohol reminds me of something that happened to me back in the 80’s. I was grocery shopping and there were two men in front of me in the checkout line who were buying beer. While they did have ID, apparently the clerk who was ringing up their order was underage and was not allowed, under Illinois law at the time, to push the button to ring up the order. The law allowed the customer to push the cash register button instead. However apparently neither of the two customers spoke English and did not understand the clerk’s explanation that they had to push the button. After a few minutes of this, I leaned over and pressed the button myself. I don’t remember if the clerk asked to see my ID when I did so. Note that this was back in the days before automated scanners and purchases were rung up manually, ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/200 "2026-09-07T16:02:12Z")
I worked at a pizza place in 1981 that served alcohol but just beer and wine. I turned 18 while working there. California law (at the time?) allowed 18 year olds to serve beer and wine but not liquor even though the drinking age was 21 and had been for decades. I had to check IDs but it was at my discretion if I thought they were of age or not. Penalties weren’t a big deal back then and I don’t think that the worker faced any kind of sanction. It was two years later when they significantly ramped up the penalties and enforcement. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588.md?page=11)