In what part of the country is this universal carding happening? It’s clearly not anywhere I’ve been for the past decade at least—what with not getting carded roughly 498 times out of the past 500, and for that matter never seeing anyone obviously over 30 getting carded even back when I was in my early twenties. Is my experience the unusual one, or do others have similar observations?
While drinking in a bar in Dominica, IIRC, and chatting with the bartender (who looked to be around 16) I asked what legal drinking age was on the island. He didn’t understand the question; anyone could go to a bar. Well, I said, could a little boy be served a drink? “Of course not, kids don’t have money.”
You could sub in Wisconsin in that story…around here we say the drinking age is Wisconsin is “tall enough to look over the bar”
(Obviously, Wisconsin’s drinking age is 21 because they, like the rest of the country, want their federal road funding. But if you go to a bar in a small town in Northern Wisconsin, you might get away with getting a few beers while in your teens.)
I worked door in a bar in DC that had a tavern license–i.e. we did not have to make a percentage of our sales from food, as restaurants do. The owner was very very paranoid, understandably so. I was instructed to card everyone. If Betty White stopped by for a drink, she had to show ID. If she didn’t have it, she couldn’t come in. (It is DC law that if a bartender knows someone doesn’t have valid ID, they can’t be served.) Only people we knew–regulars–were exempted. I got everything from “Ha ha, thanks for the compliment” to “Are you fucking kidding me.” Also I was surprised to learn how many people walk around without ID.
If by “sensibilities of delicate customers” you mean “Wrath of law enforcement, accompanied by fines and possible loss of license” you are correct. Honestly I don’t get what the big deal is. It takes less than ten seconds.
Actually, now that I think of it and being reminded by one of the stories above, I know that there are some grocery stores I’ve been to where they were required to scan the ID. Or maybe I’m thinking of the gas station. This is here in Chicago or the suburbs. Just in general, my ballpark figure is that I get carded maybe 5% of the time at bars, and closer to 15% of the time elsewhere.
Also, every time I’ve had alcohol at O’Hare, I’ve been carded (at least that I can remember.) Even some guy who looked like he was in his 60s at the very least.
There’s a guy at our local bodega who cards me with a smile, because I say “Yes! [Success Kid fist] Thank you!” every time. I’m mid-sixties.
But I’ll back up anyone who claims “kids” can’t tell adults’ ages. My college freshmen are horrible at it… anyone over 30 is “old”, but anyone younger than 90 “isn’t that ancient I mean they’ve got grey hair but they can run, not like my Nana…”
Makes sense. Lighter people tend to have more wrinkles than darker people of the same age, because of the sun damage. Might be difficult to guess ages if you don’t have much exposure to other groups.
New York, for one, and don’t bring your teenagers with you when you try to buy beer, because you’re not getting it, even if you’re 40.
A doctor initially refused to give me information about a relative’s health because he thought I was underage. I was in my mid-thirties at the time. Other than that, all the people who told me I’d enjoy looking young once I got older were right.
When I was 16, I managed to pass for 21 at a liquor store in Minnesota, and one in Maine, by dressing up and articulately arguing my honesty with very skeptical store clerks (in retrospect I feel bad for potentially getting them in trouble). Nowadays I feel like I might look about five years younger than I am, but no more than that.
You would think. But the reason some stores do it is because if they card one person and not the next the next person might feel offended because you’re assuming their old. That’s their problem, right? Except businesses would rather inconvenience everyone than piss off one customer.
During the last 4 years of my first career I was a compliance investigator in the vice division of a large metro Sheriffs Office. I’d occasionally send my underage snitches in to places to try to buy liquor. As the drinking age rose the matrix of compliance actually went up. When the drinking age was 18 it was easy for a 16 year old to get served. When the age rose to first 19 and then 21 it got harder and harder.
I bought cigs for my uncle and my grandpa back in the 60’s when I was just 9 years old. Nobody questioned me when I’d ask for a pack and just took the money. They were a quarter a pack!!!
No I meant what I said. Some stores fear law enforcement depending on the laws and enforcers in their areas. As others have said, others card everyone as someone might take offense for not being carded. Also who said anything along the lines of “big deal”. Somehow you added that to my statement in your head.
Heck, this was still going on here in the mid-80s with the ma & pop convenience stores. The practice must have died out somewhere by the late-80s. But I also remember running down to the store – I was gonna say corner store, but it was actually located in the middle of a block – regularly to get smokes for my ma when I was 9 or 10, which would place me in '84-'85. Of course, the proprietor knew me and my family (you could even run tabs there.) Seems so unthinkable to me now, but wasn’t blinked at even back then.
Eh, it’s a little more than that in Sconnie territory,
*“The drinking age in Wisconsin is 21. Those under the legal drinking age may be served, possess, or consume alcohol if they are with a parent, legal guardian, or spouse who is of legal drinking age.” *
‘Give Little Timmy a Leinie*.’ :eek:
- Leinenkugel
Parts of Massachusetts but it isn’t universal. I don’t drink anymore but I sometimes have to buy wine for hostess presents or other things. The closest store absolutely will not sell you anything without proof of age and I am over twice the minimum age. Their Point of Sale system won’t even allow it.
I also got approached by teenagers asking me to buy them some liquor for extra cash. This is one of the safest and most crime free cities in America. My alarm bells immediately went off and I reported it to the store owners. It turned out that it was an attempted sting because the police didn’t have anything better to do. It is a nice store. My best guess is that one person fooled them once and they won’t let it happen again.
When I was in my 20’s & 30’s, I had all of my hair and would frequently get carded. Now that I’m in my late 40’s, I’ve gone bald (male pattern baldness - hereditary) and shave off my remaining hair. Since I’ve gone bald & started shaving my head, I never get carded - LOL.
I had some punk teens ask me to buy them alcohol outside a liquor store once. I told them to fuck off.
I don’t think I’ve ever been carded, at least not since turning legal age. I turned 21 in Vietnam. When I returned home, the first thing I did was head to the liquor store so I could flash my military ID. I asked for a bottle of Crown Royal and waited expectantly. The guy got it off the shelf and said “That’ll be $xx”. 
I get carded every time despite my gray hair. In MN, most places practice carding everyone rather than risking selling to someone who’s underage.
So you too are wondering where all these places are that card everyone!
I’m 53, and I still get carded, and it really pisses me off. I totally understand not wanting to incur the wrath of law enforcement, but why has common sense totally been abandoned? The cashier is really not sure that I’m old enough to buy wine or cigarettes? Really?
I admit, having to prove I’m old enough to buy something makes me irrationally angry. I know that some cash registers are required to have the customer’s date of birth keyed in in order to make some purchases, and oddly enough, I don’t mind doing that. For some reason, having to take my ID out and physically show it to someone just irks me.
Or a condition of continuing to earn a paycheck is that they not substitute their own judgment for their employer’s requirement that customers show ID.
Common sense is that if your employer wants every customer to show ID, you ask for ID, because you can’t pay the rent with your ex-employer’s customers’ good will.