I have a similar experience to Lightnin’. It seems that before 2002 I moved once every year. Not close either, but from all over the freaking state of Texas. I had, many a time, difficulty remembering my former address, from say, Blockbuster. If I had to recall something back as far as 1999, there’s no way in hell I’d remember. 
Not that I don’t understand where the folks come from that toe the front line, but I have a huge amount of empathy for the Defective Detective too. Sometimes, no matter how ‘coincidental’ it may seem, it can still be the truth. So, consider, especially when you know how ridiculous it is to get a passport. [ ::: shrug at just my experiences ::: ]
Wrong, wrong, wrong. The cashier gets cashiered and fined. The establishment gets fined. And the cashier, who probably isn’t working her dream job anyway, has a really tough time getting another job.
!
I mean, I suppose that could be true, but since 1995, I’ve always carried my passport with me, mostly because I’m kinda quirky that way, and I like having another form of official ID at the ready should (fate forbid) my driver’s license ever get lost or stolen.
Could you explain this, please?
I’ve been carded very rarely in my life, but when it’s happened (at bars and, of course, airports), I’ve used my passport without difficulty. Like **eleanorigby ** said, it *is * government-issued ID, and considering what you have to go through to get it (I mean, really, where were my *parents * born?!), I’d think that that would be sufficient. Then again, considering the hoops I had to jump through in order to get my CDL in New Jersey (fingerprints, background check, blah-blah-blah), maybe my driver’s license *is * more trustworthy than my passport. Hmmm.
But, anyway, I really am curious about why a U.S. passport might not be accepted for proof-of-age purposes.
And, yeah, Defective Detective, you really oughtta get that address business straightened out. In my state (don’t know about yours), they send you a sticker with the new address that you can affix to your license until it’s time to renew.
Yeah, but is a bartender in, say, California, more likely to be familiar with, and able to verify by sight the (likely) authenticity of, a driver’s license from, say, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania, or South Carolina?
And my buddy who serves in the Marines has told me that he’s had difficulty with using his military ID for proof-of-age purposes.
I don’t drive, don’t have a license, so I carry my passport, and I’ve gotten grief for it before. If it’s good enough for the God damned CIA and Government of Saudi Arabia and border cops, why not for the bartender? In order to drink in this country do I have to drive a car? I despise this.
No, you don’t have to drive a car. I assume that every state issues ID cards to non-drivers- CA does.
Yes, it’s a hassle. No, there is no logical explanation for not accepting a passport. Will that make you feel better next time you don’t get served? 
Driving.
He couldn’t get a vodka because they considered him a flight risk? Damn, clubbing sure is rife with pitfalls these days. Makes me glad I do most of my drinking at home. Nothing beats pruno from your very own toilet!
Gotta agree on the dubiousness of not remember your own street address, though, even a previous one. I’ve had a few myself, but if you’ve had so many you literally can’t remember the name of the street, it sounds like your problem may not be your inability to score Ketel One on demand, but rather that you are (or at least would appear to be) a transient.
Hopefully the good kind— maybe the army brat or young man exploring the world in search of himself kind— rather than the shady drifter with a checked past who moves frequently to stay one step ahead of Johnny Law (or Jill Billcollector or Becky Sue I-sure-owe-you-a-shitload-of-back-child-support) kind.
When I was 17, an adult bookstore set up shop in the next town over - the first of it’s kind anywhere in the region, and the subject of much debate and controversy. Of course my friend and I were curious to see what the fuss was about so we went in. They prohibited the entry of anyone under 18 and I was asked for ID. I handed it over and the lady checked it and said “What’s your sign?”. I didn’t even think about it, I just blurted “Virgo”. She smiled as she handed it back and said “You wouldn’t believe how many people I’ve caught out with that one”.
I would’ve believed it. I was just fortunate that the friend the ID belonged to was a Virgo too. 
Eh, I moved about 6 times in 5 years during college, and I couldn’t tell you most of the street names anymore either. Does that make me a vagrant too?
What kind of fine is there for not changing your Driver’s License address? Mine still says I live at my parent’s house a few hours away. If they back me up, can I still get a fine?
Where did you get a fucking license, and where the hell can I get one?!?
You, and they, are fucking morons.
A driver’s license AND a passport and you wouldn’t let the guy buy a beer?
Just what, exactly, do you think is the likelihood of someone procuring a fake passport in order to get an alcoholic drink? Is it greater than one one-millionth of one percent?
If someone is hooked up enough with the international criminal fraternity to be passing fake passports, especially given how technologically sophisticated they are now, then serving that person a beer is probably the least of your worries. Hell, i think that if you suspect that someone is passing you a fake passport, then probably the least responsible thing you can do in this era of heightened terrorist concerns is to send him on his way.
If you think the passport is fake, let him in and call the cops. And if there’s nothing about the passport itself to suggest that it’s not kosher, then just let the guy buy a fucking beer.
Anyone who won’t take a passport as proof-of-age for the purposes of buying a drink is a self-important asshole, or a moron, or both.
You gave them your $$ after they treated you like that? :eek: :dubious:
I dunno, I’m more of the exploring the world kind, but I would have difficulties naming addresses of where I’ve lived. Funnily enough, though is when you use Amazon, they keep track of all of your addresses. I suppose that I’ve had books delivered to nearly every place I’ve lived. It’s quite funny though, because I had forgotten many of them.
When you move in Colorado, you report it to the DMV, but you don’t get a new license. Instead you write your new address on the back of your license. Colorado licenses are good for 10 years, so there could be a lot of moves in there.
Nice. I can tell you’ve never worked in a bar.
If you can’t keep your license up-to-date and/or remember the names of the streets you’ve lived on in the last few years, you deserve to go thirsty. It’s the lone exception to the rule “never ascribe to malice that which can adequately be explained by stupidity.”
What about not recognising a passport as ‘government issued’, though? That’s fairly moronic you have to admit.
Oh, much greater, and I am not a moron, fucking or any other kind.
If he stole the license (and that’s what I’d think if he couldn’t remember the street name he lived on) then he could have stolen the passport.
If the ID was stolen, then it wasn’t his, so he could be underage. If he’s underage, big trouble for me. If he doesn’t get a drink, no trouble for me whatsoever.
But you would not believe the things people used to bring to bars and expect it would pass for ID.
I agree it’s moronic, but it’s true that most Americans seem to have no experience with them. I knew a guy back in Texas who used it as an ID for writing a check in a convenience store one time after his license had expired. They accepted it, but their jaws dropped, and they called all the other staff to take a look at it, because no one had ever seen one before. For all THEY knew – just a bunch of hick rednecks – he could have fashioned this thing himself.
You need to way chill.
If the state, county, city, whatever says you need to show a STATE ID to prove age then that’s what you need to show. Providing eight-hundred other forms of legal ID is meaningless to the authorities who enforce the drinking laws. Therefore, meaningless to the bar owners and workers.