# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 11
**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, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/201 "2026-09-07T17:13:34Z")
> [@LurkMeister](#): > > 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. That sort of rule is why employer won’t put anyone under 21 in a cashier position. There are a bunch of other jobs someone under 21 can have, but not that one. ---
**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, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/202 "2026-09-07T17:38:38Z")
I’m not sure about the law regarding underage cashiers here in the mitten, but we don’t let underage run the register either. We have lots of things that need to be done that they can do. ---
**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, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/203 "2026-09-07T18:37:10Z")
Where i live, there are a lot of underage staff working cash registers. And if i want to buy a bottle of wine, they call over a supervisor who checks my id and rings up the alcohol. Happens fairly often, no big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/204 "2026-09-07T18:56:33Z")
We employ 16 year olds as cashiers. You have to be 18 to approve an alcohol (beer & wine) sale. If both cashier and bagger are under 18, a supervisor is called. It’s not really a problem. We don’t sell liquor. There are a couple of states that we operate in where a 16 year old could sell beer & wine, but our company policy still requires an 18 year old to approve the sale. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/205 "2026-09-07T19:10:07Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Where i live, there are a lot of underage staff working cash registers. And if i want to buy a bottle of wine, they call over a supervisor who checks my id and rings up the alcohol. I shop at two different grocery stores, from two different chains, near me. At one, many of the cashiers are under 21, and they do what you describe: they call for a supervisor or another cashier who’s 21+to ring up liquor. At the other, the staffing seems to be more like what @Broomstick describes at the store where she works: the cashiers seem to all be 21+. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/206 "2026-09-07T19:16:01Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > 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. Okay, where _you_ work. > [@Broomstick](#): > > Since I do not work at Target I have no idea what information they do or do not keep. ---
**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, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/207 "2026-09-07T20:57:04Z")
That is, what she said _ **where she works** _. We are all aware of what has gone on at target. Again if you don’t like the policy don’t shop there. Don’t be a dick just say I guess I don’t want this anyway and go down the block. Throwing a fit won’t change the policy. It just makes everyone relieved when you take your entitled self out the door. Speaking for my store we are excessively busy. We are the busiest convenience store in our small town. We hear, “I’ll never come here again!!!” all the time for more stupid things than carding. We never get less busy, and if you don’t come back (which they usually do they just want to see if they can get their own way) we won’t miss your business. Move along I’m busy and don’t have time or bandwidth for your paranoia. Shrug ---
**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, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/208 "2026-09-07T21:27:48Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > 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. The DOB on Saudi documents not only uses Arabic numerals, they do _not_ use the Gregorian calendar. However, stuff like passports and DL ought to have equivalents that you will recognize. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/209 "2026-09-08T03:45:42Z")
> [@Sylvanz](#): > > We are all aware of what has gone on at target. Again if you don’t like the policy don’t shop there. Don’t be a dick just say I guess I don’t want this anyway and go down the block. Throwing a fit won’t change the policy. I do not know what you are making me out to be the bad guy here. When i went to Target, I was civil to the clerk, and yes, i had her cancel the transaction, I said i was not comfortable with my info being scanned. She was not surprised someone did that, either, she was polite about it. Knowing the issues with Target, I was prepared to pay with cash. After I left I sent an email to Target management and a letter to the CEO- which is how you do complaints about high level policies with chain stores. I was not a 'dick", nor did I throw a “fit”. Nor was I 'entitled" except to keep my personal info private- and given Targets history, that concern was well founded. In fact for security reasons I highly suggest that people not buy alcohol at target nor use a card. Now, some have said their business does not store DL info, and I believe them. But as i have shown above, target had not just CC info hacked, > [@DrDeth](#): > > Target later acknowledged that the attack had also exposed contact and identifying information for as many as 70 million individuals. So Target certainly stored some personal info, even if not from scanning DL. ---
**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 8, 2026, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/210 "2026-09-08T03:53:53Z")
Having data hacked doesn’t make them evil. It’s happened to a lot of reputable companies. I’m pretty sure my age is already out there on the Internet for bad people to find. Identity theft is certainly a risk, but i don’t think showing your id to buy booze significantly increases your risk. If you don’t like Target’s policies, shop somewhere else. But i don’t think you’ve convinced anyone else to avoid them. Anyway, most everyplace i shop asks for id if i buy booze. Despite my obviously being old enough. ---
**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 8, 2026, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/211 "2026-09-08T10:51:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Okay, where _you_ work. > > > [@Broomstick](#): > > > > Since I do not work at Target I have no idea what information they do or do not keep. So… don’t shop at Target. Problem solved? Maybe. The point is not all stores are Target. Vote with your dollars. Write the corporation (which it looks like you did). > [@DPRK](#): > > The DOB on Saudi documents not only uses Arabic numerals, they do _not_ use the Gregorian calendar. However, stuff like passports and DL ought to have equivalents that you will recognize. They do, but the trick is locating it within the document and being sure the date you’re looking at is the one you need to look at. Not rocket science, but I always seem to have one or two co-workers who have… issues. New Mexico, Hawai’i, and Alaska are all part of the US. Half dollars are real US coins and yes we take them. That sort of thing. Probably has something to do with why I’m one of the folks who get to decipher foreign passports in non-Latin script writing systems. ---
**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 10, 2026, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/212 "2026-09-10T08:03:26Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Where i live, there are a lot of underage staff working cash registers. And if i want to buy a bottle of wine, they call over a supervisor who checks my id and rings up the alcohol. Happens fairly often, no big deal. Sure. Or you could have all cashiers over 21. Both systems work. ---
**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 10, 2026, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/213 "2026-09-10T09:58:54Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Where i live, there are a lot of underage staff working cash registers. And if i want to buy a bottle of wine, they call over a supervisor who checks my id and rings up the alcohol. Happens fairly often, no big deal. Here you can sell alcohol and bartend at 18, but you can’t drink it until you’re 21. That just kills me. I could legally drink most of my senior year in high school because the age was 18 then. But I could get beer since when I was a freshman because there were seniors that would sell it to you. For a fee, of course. Then there was the old “take an older relatives birth certificate to the county court house and get an ID in their name” thing. Several people I knew in high school had ID cards with their pictures on it but an older cousins name and birth date on it. I don’t even know if that works today. ---
**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 10, 2026, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/214 "2026-09-10T10:28:38Z")
Missed the edit window > [@pkbites](#): > > I don’t even know if that works today. It wasnt the serious crime then that it is today. Identity theft wasn’t a big thing yet. ---
**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 10, 2026, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/215 "2026-09-10T12:01:04Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Here you can sell alcohol and bartend at 18, but you can’t drink it until you’re 21. That just kills me. I think that’s true here, too. Since that’s not my job, i don’t need to know. But i know that some clerks are too young to sell alcohol. They may be 16. And they can call over a supervisor. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588/216 "2026-09-12T22:20:25Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > It’s literally impossible to get drunk on near beer. Hold my Beer… 😁 Kroger must have had some recent policy change. I now have to actually pull out the driver’s license to buy beer now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-passing-thoughts-about-showing-id-to-buy-alcohol/1032588.md?page=10)