# The ticket taker asked if I was old enough to see the movie... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 10, 2004, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288 "2004-04-10T05:56:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/1 "2004-04-10T05:56:41Z")
It was PG-13… I’m 19 years old. He looked about 20-22, a real smartass prick, and there were a few kids my age standing around. _waves goodbye to self esteem_ ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/2 "2004-04-10T06:23:05Z")
Hehe, one day you’ll brag about things like this. Unless the guy was just being an ass? Did he truly think you were too young, or was he being a jerk? Don’t let it get you down anyway, it’s his problem, not yours. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Star\_Was](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Star\_Was](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Star_Was)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/3 "2004-04-10T06:26:17Z")
I am 26 and still get carded for R rated movies, despite the sign that says they card people 25 and under. ---
**Author:** ![ContumeliousBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/57b2e6/32.png) [@ContumeliousBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ContumeliousBob)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/4 "2004-04-10T12:12:01Z")
Maybe that was his method of getting dates? People like compliments. Being perky like uh twelve year old is uh good I guess. Im going to go take a bath now. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/5 "2004-04-10T12:18:13Z")
Complimenting a 30 year old woman by guessing that she’s 20 is one thing. But saying a 19 year old woman looks like a pre-teen? And as a compliment? That’s really creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/6 "2004-04-10T12:20:40Z")
There’s no other choice … he will have to be killed. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/7 "2004-04-10T14:25:46Z")
“I find your demeanor insulting, and your attitude unacceptable. Where’s your manager? I want to talk to him, and nobody’s getting past me until I do.” ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/8 "2004-04-10T14:49:10Z")
I was once at a theater that was just across a parking lot from a grocery store. I go up and ask for a ticket to an R-rated movie (don’t remember which one). The girl behind the counter, who looks maybe sixteen, asks for ID. “I could go next door and buy beer,” I snapped, as I pulled it out. I was 21. I don’t mind getting carded for stuff where it’s 21 and up, but 17??? ---
**Author:** ![ReuvenB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@ReuvenB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReuvenB)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/9 "2004-04-10T15:07:48Z")
I’m sixteen. I don’t get carded for movies. Must be the beard. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/10 "2004-04-10T15:44:18Z")
Sometimes you just look young. When I worked at a theater I asked a gal if she was over 17 and she blurted she was 23. Well considering she was wearing pink overalls and wearing her hair in pigtails I pretty much think it was an honest mistake. I hardly think it’s a “call the manager” issue. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/11 "2004-04-10T15:50:41Z")
slight hijack: Is it a crime for the theatre to allow someone under 18 to see an R rated movie? End hijack ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/12 "2004-04-10T16:02:43Z")
The drinking age here is 19. I’m 32 and sometimes still get carded. Maybe the ticket-taker had been given some kind of goofy ass “quota” because there had been complaints. In highschool, a friend of mine worked in a movie theatre that had three screens (you do NOT want to hear the popcorn horror stories). One day when someone complained about a bunch of kids too young to be in one movie (IIRC, they had bought tickets for a PG-13 flick, but went into the R-rated theatre). So too “clamp down” :rolleyes: the manager had the ticket-takers ask one person in every group of teens. Didn’t matter if the teen looked 40, the ticket-taker had to ask one teen in every herd that went in. It didn’t solve the problem, because once you got past the one ticket-taker you could still go in to any of the theatres. This was a small place that really wasn’t set up in a way that could have impeded the sneaky kids from switching from the PG screen to the R-rated one. Well, not unless he got an usher that wasn’t 16 himself (hard to have any authority when you are the same age as the kids who think you are a loser in your polyester usher outfit and are too young yourself to be in the the theatre that’s screening the flick.) ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/13 "2004-04-10T16:04:34Z")
I’m older than 35 and when I don’t wear my glasses I still get carded. Of course, I still have the acne I had as a teenager. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/14 "2004-04-10T16:13:40Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > slight hijack: > > Is it a crime for the theatre to allow someone under 18 to see an R rated movie? > > End hijack Nope. MPAA ratings are voluntarily (and rather sparingly) enforced by theaters. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/15 "2004-04-10T17:16:18Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > The drinking age here is 19. I’m 32 and sometimes still get carded. > > Maybe the ticket-taker had been given some kind of goofy ass “quota” because there had been complaints. In highschool, a friend of mine worked in a movie theatre that had three screens (you do NOT want to hear the popcorn horror stories). Yes, we do! ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/16 "2004-04-10T17:36:08Z")
I used to be able to get into bars at 15 without being asked for ID. The first time I was ever asked was after I had turned 18 (the legal age at the time). But the most bizarre thing that’s happened along this line was not long after I moved to the US, I went to the store to buy some tobacco, and was asked for my ID. I was 43. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/17 "2004-04-10T19:23:09Z")
Just to make you feel better, I’ve been going to see films with an ‘18’ certificate since I was 14, and never got asked for i.d. And I’ve been a regular at a pub since I was 16, never got carded there either. 😃 The guy who asked you for i.d was probably just taking the piss. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/18 "2004-04-10T19:26:25Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Complimenting a 30 year old woman by guessing that she’s 20 is one thing. But saying a 19 year old woman looks like a pre-teen? And as a compliment? That’s really creepy. I’m pretty sure **Soapbox Monkey** is a guy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/19 "2004-04-10T19:34:43Z")
I think a proper comment to the ticket-taker would have been “I bought the freakin’ ticket, didn’t I?” ---
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288/20 "2004-04-10T20:11:48Z")
> [@AngelicGemma](#): > > I’m pretty sure **Soapbox Monkey** is a guy. 🙂 Yes, I am. Which made it more of an insult. I’m already sensitive enough about…umm…EVERYTHING about me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ticket-taker-asked-if-i-was-old-enough-to-see-the-movie/239288.md?page=2)