# What's the oldest age you've been carded at? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 20, 2004, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784 "2004-11-20T02:07:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/21 "2004-11-20T08:15:58Z")
I got carded just last week when I went to a comedy club. I’m 30, turning 31 in less than 2 months. And I definitely look like I’m over 21–no doubts about it. ---
**Author:** ![partlycloudy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/partlycloudy/32/3114_2.png) [@partlycloudy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partlycloudy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/22 "2004-11-20T08:30:28Z")
Just got carded tonight for an R rated movie! I’m 23! ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/23 "2004-11-20T08:31:37Z")
I’m 18, and get carded every time. (We’re talking tobacco and tobacco products and “tobacco” products here. I’m nowhere near stupid enough to try to buy alcohol myself or get a fake ID or anything.) I remember _not_ being carded, once, recently. It makes me feel better to get carded because I think something along the lines of “Aha, fiendish store-keeper, I’ve got your silly card this time!” Feels good to pull out the ID after a year or so of “Uh, um, I don’t have an ID, but I was born in…er…uh…” ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/24 "2004-11-20T09:37:20Z")
I’m carding the OP for ending a sentence with a preposition. [Pedant] What is the greatest age at which you’ve been carded? [/pedant] 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/25 "2004-11-20T09:52:02Z")
> [@masonite](#): > > I’m 37 and probably look older. I get carded here in Tacoma every time I buy a pack of cigarettes; I think it must be the law or something to card everybody, no exceptions. Once I said to the cashier how flattered I was to be carded, and she said “Oh, honey, I have to card everybody; I know how old you are.” :eek: I used to work in a convenience store and the rule there was that anyone that looked thirty or younger was carded for cigarettes and anyone that looked forty or younger was carded for beer. Not that I actually followed that. I’m sure I sold to minors before on accident but it was too much of a hassle to ask everyone for their ID. Unless, of course, I was in one of my moods. Then I’d card everyone and then watch the drama unfold. A lot didn’t care, some were elated, and the rest were indignantly furious that I asked. It was fun to watch the last group have aneurysms right in front of me. Um. And to get back on topic: 22, which is how old I am. I usually don’t get asked despite not looking 21. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/26 "2004-11-20T10:00:50Z")
I’m 47, and now that I’ve dyed my hair to cover the grey and give it more life, I get carded regularly. Some people mistake me for my daughter’s sister. I went to a new podiatrist yesterday morning, and he thought I was in my early 20s. ---
**Author:** ![Jillyvn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Jillyvn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jillyvn)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/27 "2004-11-20T10:34:46Z")
I’m 25. I’m never carded for bars, liquor stores or buying smokes. But I WAS carded when I tried to go to an R Rated movie a few weeks ago. Huh? - Rebekkah ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/28 "2004-11-20T10:45:10Z")
I’m 36, and was carded for buying beer at the supermarket recently. Legal drinking age in NZ is 18, and store policy is to card anyone who looks under 25: I’ve been told I can pass for 20. Clean living, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/29 "2004-11-20T11:08:36Z")
I’m 35 and I get carded almost everywhere. It is the whole paranoia thing with stores. I have a friend who is 59 and they even card him. This really starts to get annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/30 "2004-11-20T15:25:33Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > I’m carding the OP for ending a sentence with a preposition. > > [Pedant] What is the greatest age at which you’ve been carded? [/pedant] 😉 I don’t talk like that, (most people don’t), so why should I post like that? Luckily, several people were able to decipher my bad grammar. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/31 "2004-11-20T16:41:03Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > I’m carding the OP for ending a sentence with a preposition. > > [Pedant] What is the greatest age at which you’ve been carded? [/pedant] 😉 What are you doing that for? ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/32 "2004-11-20T17:20:36Z")
32, at a bar in NYC. I was the only one carded (so sorry NY Dopers nyah nyah ;)) ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/33 "2004-11-20T19:21:47Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > What are you doing that for? _This is the sort of English up with which I will not put. - Sir Winston Churchill_ ---
**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:** [November 20, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/34 "2004-11-20T19:29:09Z")
I’ve always looked older than I am; I was carded a total of twice in my life between the ages of fifteen and nineteen, despite many instances of irresponsible behavior. Since then, I have only been carded two or three times (in 21 years) aside from this one rather odd Spring Break trip where every establishment on the Texas gulf coast was suddenly carding everyone, no matter HOW old they looked… ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/35 "2004-11-20T20:12:13Z")
I got carded the last time I bought beer. I’m 34. _Yes!_ ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/36 "2004-11-20T20:58:11Z")
There was a street fair in Chicago that had one area roped off for the beer garden. I walked up and a kid that must have just turned 21 a few months ago carded me, I was pushing 40 at the time with some grey streaks in my beard. I was kind of puzzled for a moment, then I just turned and walked away. I figure if they were that senseless, I really didn’t belong there. But I have seen bars that card EVERYONE. Most of them are in high traffic tourist areas, I think their logic is, if you don’t have a valid identification, we don’t want you in here. ---
**Author:** ![katie1341](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/91b2a8/32.png) [@katie1341](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katie1341)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/37 "2004-11-20T21:24:29Z")
I got carded at the liquor store yesterday, and I’m 44. I go to that store a couple of times a month, but it was a new guy. I live in a college town, so if I go to a place where a lot of students go, like the mexican joint up the street, I’ll get carded every time. My husband, who’s 50, never gets carded, and it makes him feel bad when they card me and not him, but I tell him that they must figure that an old broad like me wouldn’t be robbing the cradle. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/38 "2004-11-20T21:28:06Z")
41? I can’t beat that. YET 😃 . But I’m 36 (well in two week…just trying to get used to writing that) and I get carded pretty regularly. I think the funniest one was when me and my SO were buying beer at the supermarket. And he was paying and showed them his ID and all…but they still refused to sell it to us because I was in line with him and I didn’t have ID on me. And he was clearly there buying alcohol for his “underaged” girlfriend 😛 . ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/39 "2004-11-20T21:54:23Z")
In my area, the alcohol beverage control troopers often test the clerks with underage buyers so they can arrest the ones that serve/sell to them. This usually happens after some teenagers get killed in auto crashes involving drinking drivers. They may card everyone for that reason and because some states/cities/ establishments require their personnel to do it. A relative of mine got carded last week at 65, when he applied for social security benefits. It never ends. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784/40 "2004-11-21T01:38:30Z")
Bought beer at the local discount drugstore, where every cashier is 16 and they have had problems before. I was 56. Carded. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-age-youve-been-carded-at/275784.md?page=3)