ID

[DrFaroohk]

Me: Can I check your ID please?"

SC: I left it at home.

Me: Sorry man, I need to see ID.

SC: What? that's bs man...

Me: Sorry, store policy, state law, need to see ID. Can I get you anything else?

SC: Screw you man! I was just here yesterday, you know me, you saw my ID then!

Me: Listen here, Jamal. I see over a thousand people every day and you all look alike to me, so either you cough up some ID or no booze. Sorry. NEXT.

<I have this conversation about three times a day...it gets old...bring your friggin ID!>


Or even better, I love the people who don't have their ID for booze because they lost it to an OUI. that just sounds....funny.

[draftermatt]

How often are these people buying booze that they think you'll recognize them? I hit a liquor store maybe 3-4 times a year.

[Shabo]

How often are these people buying booze that they think you'll recognize them? I hit a liquor store maybe 3-4 times a year.

Two words for you: College Student. In the packy every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Oh, and any night of the week where there is a birthday.

Although, I went in once every 2-4 weeks, and the cashier remembered me after like the 3rd time because we had the same bday. He still carded me though, lol.

[Becks]

I hit a liquor store maybe 3-4 times a year.

Since one of my older sisters no longer owns and operates a liquor store, I step foot in one...let me think...every few years or so.

[Plaidman]

When people buy the same 12 pack every few hours, along with cigs, I start to remember them and don't card them.

[Jester]

Okay, hope I am not coming off as an attention whore here, but thought this would be a good time to once again revive one of my older creations......

THE ID SONG

[to the tune of "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands]

"If you order alcohol, show ID.
If you want me to serve you booze, let me see.
If you want to get a drink
Then folks you have to think
That if you look that young you'll need your damn ID!

If you're legal and you're thirsty, show some proof.
If you left your home without it you're a goof.
If you're legal and you know it
and you want a drink, then show it.
Cause the only way you're drinking is with proof!"

[DrFaroohk]

I'm gonna make a recording of that and play it at work every time someone makes a scene.

Seriously, is it so hard? I get carded at other stores by people who damn well know me and I don't care.

Plus people don't get how the law can work on that. While it may vary in other states, its something like around here:

State Law: You MUST show ID if you are under 27.

1)If my best friend since kindergarten comes in, who is 25, and I don't ID him, if the cops want to be dicks they can still bust me. The law says I must check the ID of anyone under 27. Granted, this RARELY happens, but it CAN.

2) If you come in every day for a year and buy booze and show me ID every time, and then one day I don't check your ID, and the cops bust you, and it turns out you have a fake ID, guess what, my ass goes to jail. I did not check your ID that time and that's the offense the law is concerned with.

3) I don't friggin know you. Even if I felt like making exceptions for people (and I frequently do), I don't know you well enough to warrant those types of favors.

[Plaidman]

True story. During Christmas about a year ago, I went in Fred Meyer's to do some Christmas shopping. I just turned 21 by 2 months.

I decided to get a game for a friend that was rated M. (I think it was GTA or something). They carded me. You know what I did? Showed my ID. Got my game.

I then went around the other store, picking stuff. I remember my mom saying that a friend of her's from work was coming to our house for Christmas, since his family lives in Iran, he's 25ish, and loves beer. So I decided to get some special Christmas type of beer.

I get in line, different area, different cashier. Went along like this.

Cashier: "Want your beer in a bag?"
Me: "Yeah"
Cashier: "54 something"
Me: *pays, and leaves*

I decided wow. This guy could get the store in trouble for not carding. He didn't even bat an eye at me. So I go to customer service, inform the manager who was there. She shrugged and said "So? Your over 21, I don't see the problem".


Whatever.

[ColonelInTheKitchen]

What I think is weird, I get carded all the time.... I'm 23. I know I'm old enough, and I have a valid PA state ID, a driver's license, but the guys at the booze store still make me sign the little slip stating I'm old enough and the lady at the Sheetz (our one-stop gas station) ran my card through the computer the other day.

Why do they worry about that? Is there something big in the false ID undergroud mafia going on? I wonder why I have to sign the paper too. I know the guys are jsut covering their own asses, but it's still odd. And I know I look really young (a blessing except for when this happens).

I'm not saying that I'm disapproving the idea of carding people. I alwyas have my ID ready, I jsut wondered why the clerks around here (Southwestern Pa [I think]) are on a bent about checking out IDs.

[Jester]

Why do they worry about that? Is there something big in the false ID undergroud mafia going on? I wonder why I have to sign the paper too. I know the guys are jsut covering their own asses, but it's still odd. And I know I look really young (a blessing except for when this happens).

Honestly, it is very much about them covering their own asses. And the asses of the business.

But let's forget about the business ass for just a moment, and focus on the personal ass.

Let's say you were those clerks. Let's also say that, if you were found to have sold something to someone underaged for buying whatever product you sold them, and that you had not gone through the state's/county's/city's prescribe method for dealing with such product when said purchaser could potentially be underaged for said product...

...and as such you were faced with losing your job, being arrested, having a court date, facing jail time, paying a four figure fine, AND having a record that made it close to impossible for you to find employment in that same field again, don't you think you might make people who look 30 or under sign that damn book? I know I would.

By the way, for those of you thinking I am going overboard, in my home state of Arizona, those are (or were when I lived there) real potential consequences for violating alcohol sales laws. I actually knew at least one person who got busted for that and had to deal with all of it.

Some laws concerning age-restricted items are very strict, and many people would rather bend over backwards to comply than risk getting bent over themselves, if you know what I mean.

Me? I have a simple philosophy as a customer:
1. If they ask for my ID, I am getting my drink (or whatever.)
2. If they don't ask for my ID, I am getting my drink (or whatever.)
3. Either way, I am getting my drink (or whatever), and the ID thing has no bearing on that.

Too bad more customers don't subscribe to my philosophy on carding.

[CancelMyService]

What I think is weird, I get carded all the time.... I'm 23. I know I'm old enough, and I have a valid PA state ID, a driver's license, but the guys at the booze store still make me sign the little slip stating I'm old enough and the lady at the Sheetz (our one-stop gas station) ran my card through the computer the other day.

Why do they worry about that? Is there something big in the false ID undergroud mafia going on? I wonder why I have to sign the paper too. I know the guys are jsut covering their own asses, but it's still odd. And I know I look really young (a blessing except for when this happens).

I'm not saying that I'm disapproving the idea of carding people. I alwyas have my ID ready, I jsut wondered why the clerks around here (Southwestern Pa [I think]) are on a bent about checking out IDs.

Because PA is in the midst of a massive ID checking campaign. There's commercials on the radio and TV every 5 minutes it seems. Plus it just came out that bars in downtown Pittsburgh only card like 50% of the time so SW PA is major focus point.

What's funny is my wife is going to be 28 in October and every time she goes to the state store she gets carded. I, only one year older, have only been carded once in my life......when I bought cigs for my mom. So I seem to look old enough to buy a product you need to be 21 for, but not old enough for one you need to be 18 for.

Kinda makes me feel old since they're supposed to card everyone who looks 30 or less when they buy booze. Am I that ancient looking already?

[UK Worker]

In America do you need to ask everybody for ID. In the UK your allowed to buy Alcohol and Cigs at 18 but most stores have a under 21 policy.. anyone you think looks less then 21 need to produce ID. I know one large superstore asks anybody under 25.

Also is the 21yr age limit in America applies to BUYING Alcohol or does it apply to drinking Alcohol as well.

I know over here if your over 14yrs and your having a meal in a pub or restaurant with your parents then you are allowed to have a glass of wine with your meal. Anybody got caught by the police drinking on the streets underage will get their drinks poured down a drain and asked where they bought them from. What you do in your own home is up to you.

[JustADude]

In America do you need to ask everybody for ID[?]

<snip>

Also is the 21yr age limit in America applies to BUYING Alcohol[,] or does it apply to drinking Alcohol as well[?]

1st Part:
Remember, America is bloody huge compared to England, with most of our states being big enough to compare to a whole country by European standards. Because of this, each state has their own set of laws that make regional alterations to the overall Federal code.

Federal law doesn't say we have to check every ID, just that it's our arse in a sling if we sell to the wrong person. Some states, though, have passed their own laws, making it a stand-alone crime not to check ID, even if you KNOW the person is legal.


2nd Part:
In theory, yes, in practice, no.

What I mean is that under-age people cannot be sold to in a restaurant, bar, liquor store, etc, even with their parents presence and permission, and that they will get in trouble if an authority figure catches them drinking in public. However, if a parent decides to allow their child access to alcohol in the privacy of their own home, then nobody is going to raise a stink about it unless said child is really abusing the bottle.

[Jester]

In America do you need to ask everybody for ID. In the UK your allowed to buy Alcohol and Cigs at 18 but most stores have a under 21 policy.. anyone you think looks less then 21 need to produce ID. I know one large superstore asks anybody under 25.

Also is the 21yr age limit in America applies to BUYING Alcohol or does it apply to drinking Alcohol as well.

As Dude said, it varies from state to state. That being said, most of the places I have worked, the deal is that anyone who looks 30 or under must be asked for ID. Unlike some of the other posts, though, if you know the person, it is not required for you to ask for ID. Of course, my experience is in restaurants and bars, not retail, so individual mileage may vary.

In MOST States the age limit applies to buying, possessing, or consuming alcohol. In SOME States (like Texas and Wisconsin, apparently), if someone under 21 is with their parents and have their parents' permission, they can drink in a restaurant/bar. The individual bars and restaurants can, however, choose to have a policy that only 21+ can drink.

This policy has caused some amusing situations, as some of the people from those States apparently think that that policy applies across the board in all States. It doesn't. Each State has its own laws, regulations, policies, rules, etc., some stricter than others (see below).

What I mean is that under-age people cannot be sold to in a restaurant, bar, liquor store, etc, even with their parents presence and permission, and that they will get in trouble if an authority figure catches them drinking in public. However, if a parent decides to allow their child access to alcohol in the privacy of their own home, then nobody is going to raise a stink about it unless said child is really abusing the bottle.

And again, that varies.

For example, here in Florida it is ILLEGAL for ANYONE to give ANY PERSON UNDER 21 ANY ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES PERIOD. In other words, if you are 20, and you are hanging at your parents' house, and they hand you a beer? The law is being broken.

Does this prevent such situations from happening? No, of course not. But technically, you could get in trouble for such a thing.

And such strictness is why, here and elsewhere, carding is done so ruthlessly.

[Librarybabe]

Happened last week...

I'm 44. I shop at the same supermarket every week. Most of the staff and all of the managers know me by face, if not by name. I see Redbarn (gluten-free) beer in the beer/junkfood aisle. Since celiac-encumbered sibling-in-law is expected to visit from out of town, I decide to get some for his enjoyment.
Proceed to check out:
<Librarybabe has made out check for payment for groceries, secures store rewards card AND driver's license because signs at all registers say that EVERYONE purchasing alcoholic beverages or tobacco products must provide proof of age>
My favorite cashier begins scanning my otherwise health-conscious (yeah right) purchases, gets to the 6-pack and looks up at me, "May I see...oh you already have it out? Wow! Most people give me a hard time!"
"Most people don't believe the words on signs apply to them, either."

Honestly, why the hissy fits over showing identification for proof of age? What's the alternative...cutting you in half and counting the growth rings?