# Yes, god damnit, I'm 18 years old **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 12, 2003, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764 "2003-03-12T06:04:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/1 "2003-03-12T06:04:25Z")
So I decide to run on over to a convenience store for some cheap ass convenience store cigars… a vice I occasionally engage in. I hand my ID to the clerk, she scans it through her little age verification machine. Then: “Oh come on, are you REALLY 18?” she asks, incredulously. “Yes, look at the date. I’ve been 18 for nearly 6 months.” So then she proceeds to look at the ID VERY, VERY closely. She asks for my middle name. So I tell it to her. Then she looks on the back and asks about the little small print in the back Restrictions: Corrective Lenses. Yes, I wear contacts. See? Look closely into my eyes. You can see the little outlines of contacts. Don’t make me take them out for you. I was wearing them when they took tha photo, to boot. So after this interragation is over, and with a still incredulous look on her face, I finally get my $2.25 pack of swisher sweets. And now I feel like a fucking criminal when I haven’t violated any law, all because of my babyfaced looks. This isn’t the first time that I’ve gone through this type of crap. But I’m not letting it deter me from buying the tobacco products and porno magazines I so rightfully deserve! Take THAT convenience store clerks! ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/2 "2003-03-12T06:06:12Z")
> [@](#): > > I hand my ID to the clerk, she scans it through her little age verification machine. Oh yeah, I forgot to add the important detail: Age 18 verified by the electronic scanner. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/3 "2003-03-12T06:10:42Z")
Kwitcherbitchin. If you still have your baby-faced looks, you’ll be bragging about getting carded when you’re 30. Interestingly, Michigan dropped its drinking age from 21 to 18 the January after I had turned 21. While I had never had a problem buying between my birthday and the age reduction, as soon as the mimimum age dropped, I began to get hassled at every buy. (The Feds made them bump it back up to 21 many years later, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/4 "2003-03-12T06:10:46Z")
Sounds to me like you should get used to it. I’m 33 and _still_ get carded for alcohol _and_ tobacco… ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/5 "2003-03-12T06:29:03Z")
25 and get carded for R rated movies. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/6 "2003-03-12T06:30:28Z")
Not asking can get a business in **a lot** of trouble. Many of the signs in the stores that sell tobacco here say “If you’re over 30, we’ll ask for ID”. Quit whining. You got what you wanted, so shut the fuck up. ---
**Author:** ![deborak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc348/32.png) [@deborak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deborak)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/7 "2003-03-12T06:44:30Z")
30 and carded for _lottery tickets_. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/8 "2003-03-12T07:04:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blalron \* > \*\*So I decide to run on over to a convenience store for some cheap ass convenience store cigars… a vice I occasionally engage in. > > I hand my ID to the clerk, she scans it through her little age verification machine. Then: “Oh come on, are you REALLY 18?” she asks, incredulously. > > “Yes, look at the date. I’ve been 18 for nearly 6 months.” > > So then she proceeds to look at the ID VERY, VERY closely. She asks for my middle name. So I tell it to her. Then she looks on the back and asks about the little small print in the back Restrictions: Corrective Lenses. Yes, I wear contacts. See? Look closely into my eyes. You can see the little outlines of contacts. Don’t make me take them out for you. I was wearing them when they took tha photo, to boot. > > So after this interragation is over, and with a still incredulous look on her face, I finally get my $2.25 pack of swisher sweets. And now I feel like a fucking criminal when I haven’t violated any law, all because of my babyfaced looks. > > This isn’t the first time that I’ve gone through this type of crap. But I’m not letting it deter me from buying the tobacco products and porno magazines I so rightfully deserve! > > Take THAT convenience store clerks! \*\* Don’t sweat it Blaron, they can get in a LOT of trouble for selling illegally. Oh, and btw, I got carded buying cigs for my then boyfriend when I was 38. At first I thought the clerk was just being funny and nice (as a waitress at the time, I knew that we sometimes jokingly asked older patrons for their ID as a sort of silly “compliment”), so I laughed and said “yeah right, but thanks”! Then she says “no, really, I have to see your ID”. And I was still getting carded in bars (it’s dark, the craters around my eyes apparently weren’t showing up very well) up until just a few years ago. So have several of my young looking (but chronologically ancient friends. It’s really not because they are trying to make you feel bad. They only make minimum wage, getting in trouble for selling to underage people can make their lives suck QUITE badly, and if you are just 18, and look much younger, please don’t get mad at them if they take extra caution, fake ID’s are easy to make. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/9 "2003-03-12T07:43:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CanvasShoes \* > \*\*if you are just 18, and look much younger, please don’t get mad at them if they take extra caution, fake ID’s are easy to make. \*\* What do you need a fake I.D. for? So I can vote! ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/10 "2003-03-12T07:56:23Z")
The same state that won’t let you pump your own gas has electronic devices to read the age off your driver’s license. Do they have no respect at all for the ability of citizens to do things themselves? ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/11 "2003-03-12T08:06:35Z")
I feel your pain. I liked Swisher Sweets (as well as a few other brands) and got carded rather inconveniently more than a few times. But, I was on the other side too, and everyone else is right on as far as your life being made quite bad upon being caught selling to a minor. How’re the ID’s there? If it was electronically verified, this _does_ seem a bit extreme on the part of the cashier. Where I live, the ID’s utilize 1960’s (if not before) technology, and such scrutinity would be understandable. ---
**Author:** ![Xixox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/13edae/32.png) [@Xixox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xixox)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/12 "2003-03-12T08:08:19Z")
I am 27 and I get carded buying milk. After 25, I’ve learned to take it as a compliment, but honestly, that cashier was taking incredulity to an unnecessary level. If the scanner verifies it, even if it is a fake, her job is done and responsibility lies with the holder of the ID. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/13 "2003-03-12T08:18:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > Not asking can get a business in **a lot** of trouble. His age was verified visually and electronically. > [@](#): > > Many of the signs in the stores that sell tobacco here say “If you’re over 30, we’ll ask for ID”. Yes, but that is not the issue. He likely wouldn’t have started a pit thread if two verifications of his age were sufficient. However, the clerk hassled him further. [Cite](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3118795#post3118795). > [@](#): > > Quit whining. You got what you wanted, so shut the fuck up. He seems to have left out the part about going to the store for cigars _and being treated like a suspect based on looks_. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/14 "2003-03-12T13:18:55Z")
I didn’t learn to drive until I was 24, so from age 18-23, I had a state ID. I had it almost refused more than once, for check verification and for alcohol puchases. WTF? It was my photo, my signature, it stated that I was of age, and it hadn’t been tampered with! And it was issued by the (PA) state office. If you’re over 21, you can drink, right? Since when do you also have to know how to drive? And what about elderly people who can’t drive any more, but still need to write checks? Once, at a liquor store, when I finally did get served, I said, “Hey, at least you know I won’t be drinking and driving!” And once, here in LA, while I was still waiting on my CA license, I was trying to buy wine (along with ingredients for Easter dinner) at Ralphs. The cashier blanched at the sight of my PA ID, and called the manager, who flat refused. No way, no how. It’s like what **Troy McClure** just said: treated like a suspect based on out-of-state ID. So I got my money back for the other stuff and went to Lucky (they still existed at the time). That cashier accepted the ID without batting an eyelash. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/15 "2003-03-12T13:23:48Z")
Huh. The only time I ever get asked is when some cheeky little shop attendant wants to play at being a smart-arse. Not fair. Mind you, I AM 40 something, so I play along with the game, if only for the shallow ego-trip…hey, what else is there to do when you are as old as me??? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/16 "2003-03-12T13:29:47Z")
> [@](#): > > I am 27 and I get carded buying milk. Well, with all the hormones and whatnot they put into milk these days… ---
**Author:** ![mallocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f4b2a3/32.png) [@mallocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mallocks)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/17 "2003-03-12T13:38:36Z")
I’m 17, and. erm. I get other people to buy me drink if I want them, so I’ve never suffered any of that. ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/18 "2003-03-12T14:00:55Z")
I’m 23 but people usually mistake me for 17 or 18 in most instances. I’ve had people seem like they were looking over my ID with a microscope buying drinks before, but I’ve never been outright refused. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/19 "2003-03-12T14:05:39Z")
I’m 21 and I got carded to buy a cheap package of Bic lighters. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764/20 "2003-03-12T14:27:27Z")
As I shuffle thru the last year of my 40s, the only time I get carded is to verify my identity. But way back in the old days, I didn’t get carded until after I turned 21. I think it’s because before then, I dressed nicely when I went out, but afterwards, I reverted to jeans and grubbies. I guess in Calif at the time, neat=mature=old enough to drink. Not that I drank much. I guess soon I’ll be carded to verify I’m eligible for the Senior Citizen Discount. It’d be easier if I had some gray hair, but having apparently inherited my Dad’s hair genes, it’ll be a while before that happens (Mom turned gray about 10 minutes after she turned 40…) So hush up, you whippersnappers, and gimme my damned discount!! [sub]just practicing…[/sub] 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-god-damnit-im-18-years-old/160764.md?page=2)