Huh? So what you’re saying is that if I, a Canadian, wanted to buy cigarettes or liquor in Dallas, I could not?
Do you know how hard it would be to get a Texas ID if I was only visiting for a few days or weeks?
I hope to god that you don’t work in an airport lounge.
I wanted to find some Oregon beers, since there are some very good microbrews in that state. But apparently Michigan is too far away to find any Oregon microbrews, so I settled for Samuel Adams beer.
You probably just saved me a lot of aggravation…thanks for the heads-up.
[sub]Oh shit.[/sub]
lmfao
Orygone.
Atreyu, you think you had a hard time, I went to the Secretary of State’s office to apply for my drivers license and they asked me for some ID. I had only been in the country for a little while so I was still carrying my passport with me everywhere I went. I duly handed over my passport which says on the front: European Union. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The lady behind the counter asked me where it was from and I said the UK. Brynda, who was with me at the time said England, just to clarify.
Then the lady said…wait for it…
“Is it written in English?” :smack:
After a couple of second to recover I said yes.
What I was thinking is “OK lady, England…English, don’t you see the resemblence???”
After that, it went without a hitch.
Maybe the store’s buyer hasn’t heard of Oregon either.
You do have a different situation than me. You’re in San Antonio with a heavy tourist trade. I’m thinking at least half your customers could be out of towners if not of state. I’m deep inside an East Dallas neighborhood. There’s little tourist trade there.
It’s not that I won’t make a sale with a different type of ID. What I do is call a manager and let him make the call. The fact is that a customer you don’t know could easily be a cop trying to trick you into selling alcohol or snokes without a proper ID check.
I did lie about one thing. I have taken Mexican ID’s in addition to Texas ID’s and Jailhose ID’s.
Some people are TOO careful with the, “This doesn’t look like you” line but with police doing sting operations it can be scary.
To be fair some store employee’s can be total assholes and others can be completely stupid. This I redily admit.
TyrC!
I’ve told this story before, but a friend of mine went to the Texas DMV to get a Texas license. Her husband, in the Air Force, had just been transferred to San Antonio. The idiot clerk told her she would have to take the driving test, a written test, and other assorted hoops to jump through, “because we don’t accept foreign driver’s licenses.” She couldn’t convince this twit that Alaska is a US state(probably it was size p… umm, size envy, Alaska being so much bigger than Texas) MY friend had to get the clerk’s supervisor before she could fill out the relatively simple paper work for a new license.
You think you have problems!
I’m a Brit. I love America. I think of myself as an American accidentally born into a British body. I visit the States as often as I can. And of course I often need to provide some ID. Which is where the fun starts.
Official person: I’ll need to see some ID.
Me: Sure. Such as my driving licence?
Official: Yeah, that’ll do.
Me: There ya go.
British driving licences do not bear a photograph. If you think that’s kinda silly, well, I’m not arguing. I think so too, but the British government knows best and they don’t think licences should have pix on 'em. Anyway, so of course this causes all kinds of problems with American officials (wherever encountered).
The only solution is to carry my passport with me everywhere I go (yep, they do have pix), which is a pain since it’s desperately important not to lose it so I’d prefer to keep it in the hotel’s deposit box.
I’m well aware of this but now and again, if my sense of mischief takes over, I’m tempted to treat the official person in question to my finest ‘indignant Brit’ routine.
Official: Sorry, this won’t do. I need some photo ID.
Me: (turning accent up to Alec Guiness notch 11 crossed with Basil Fawlty) My good man, you asked for a driving licence. I have furnished you with a driving licence. There it is. You’re holding it. A driving licence. My driving licence, which is why it’s got my name on it. As issued by Her Majesty’s Government. Good enough for the Queen of England, good enough for the British government and the Mother of all parliaments, and good enough for the entire British police force and armed services. So why, pray, should it not be good enough for you?
Official: But it doesn’t have your photo on it…
Me: My good fellow, you are in no need of a photo of me. If you want to know what I look like, I’m here, right in front of you. See this? It’s my face. This is what I look like. No need for a photograph! But if you really want one I’ll send you one in the post, er, sorry, in the mail, when I get home. Now, may I proceed or have you some more trifling bureaucratic nonsense to waste my time with?
So far I’ve only been arrested once. (On the New Jersey turnpike, as it happens.)
Here’s the source of confusion. You think the cop wanted a licence, but what he really wanted was a license. I hope that clears things up for next time.
Yep, gotta be at least 13 to post on this message board. See you in four years!
::wanders off to find the BAN button::
Actually, they do have pictures now - photo-card licences were introduced in 1998. You don’t have to replace your paper, non-photo-bearing licence until it runs out - when you are 70 for most people.
The original reason for not having photos was the British long-standing aversion to anything resembling an identity card, I believe. That is also why you do not have to have your licence with you when driving your vehicle (unless that has changed, too, since I left the UK).
Here’s a key point, IMO: he didn’t know what “a third” meant, and he didn’t ask. He just went ahead and started slicing the product without having any idea of how much was wanted. Wouldn’t it acually have been easier to ask the obvious question?
I’ve encoutered similar situations. Once, a teenage (intern? not sure what his status was) was told to fold a stack of 8 1/2 x 11 form letters in thirds and place them in the accompanying stack of business size envelopes. He folded each letter in 1/2, then in 1/2 again. He had no idea what “fold in thirds” meant, and it didn’t occur to him to ask.
When it comes to problems of abysmal ignorance of basic facts, the problems could be surmounted fairly easily if people would just ask questions when they need to. But not only do the ones most in need of help refuse to ask questions, often, they will not admit to any lack of understanding even when asked. You give them instructions, and you say, “do you understand?” They say “yes,” but they don’t.
Perhaps we should blame the schools? Any child who is behind the rest of the class quickly learns the lesson: don’t ever ask questions, and don’t ever admit that you don’t understand. All it takes is a few instances of being teased and laughed at by the other kids, and/or sneered at and berated by the teacher (“Haven’t you been listening!? Didn’t you hear a word I said all week!?”).
I really hate this ingrained assumption one frequently encounters – the assumption thateveryone who is old enough to drive must have a drivers license. Really, folks, people who do not drive do exist.
I finally gave up and got a “non-drivers I.D.” from my state’s dept of motor vihicles. I hope it will work. After reading this thread, I fear it will be rejected due to not looking exactly the same as a “real license”.
Because my signature is somewhat illegible (but unique, dammit!) and I guess also because I’m a girl with an illegible signature (no man would ever get questioned about his signature, like I’m supposed to have a school-teacher-from-Little-House-on-the-Prairie signature) I was asked to supply a signature that the clerk (and her manager after the manager was called to help with the situation) could read. I said, “but this is the signature on all my identification from my driver’s license to my social security card, all my credit cards and my library card!” She just wanted me to sign my name so that she could distinguish it as my name IN ORDER TO VERIFY THAT I WAS THE PROPER USER OF THE CREDIT CARD! Hmmmm…should I have called the credit card company to report fraudulent charges by someone apparently not me signing with a signature obviously not mine?
Atreyu, sorry you had to go through all that, but your post was Frikkin’ FUNNY!! You write well, thanks for sharing. 
I would.
When I was in high school (in Wisconsin, right next to Michigan!) we frequented a Chinese restaurant that served alcohol to minors. Before concerts we would fill ourselves with cheap wine and beer.
One night, on our way out the door after such a binge, I decided to buy cigarettes from the restaurant’s vending machine. The waiter, who had been serving us beer all night, carded me. Not for the booze, for the cigarettes. He said I had to be 18.
I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard.
hahaha, as i’m reading this thread i get an email alert, take a quick look and it’s signed off "such and such in Oregon!
i’m in Australia, VERY bad at geography, but even I know there’s an Oregon
you want fun, trying using your french only (and no picture at the time) Quebec driver’s licence as ID to get into a club in Nebraska… oh yeah, and you have to be a unilingual anglophone for this to really be fun…
I also have the same “problem”.
At Besy Buy (I know, I know, they’re evil, yadda yadda) I had to provide my DL along with my credit card. My DL has my full name (first, middle, last). Because it’s long, it’s relatively legible so it would fit in the itty bitty box provided. My credit card doesn’t, so it has my illegible signature.
OK: We have a picture ID, picture recently taken, legible name.
We have credit card, no pic, but sig same as on receipt.
It had to argue for 5 minutes that I was the card owner.
Also, when people ask for my sig, I clarify: “Do you want me to sign my name, or do you want a signature?”