It's Not A Difficult Concept...

[Lace Neil Singer]

Just remembered; once had a teenage girl hand me her boyf's ID, probably for that very reason. XD I looked at it, saw a boy's photo and a boy's name and told her it wasn't hers, so I wasn't going to serve her. I also have to keep the ID in case of theft. She started shrieking that her boyf would kill her if she didn't get it back. Well tough shit, precious.

[suburbandecay]

Had pretty much the exact same thing happen to me, except for it was an 18 year old guy trying to buy a beer. And his ID showed that he was 18. "I'm sorry, sir, but you're 18, and I can't sell you that beer. You have to be 21." To which he said nothing, out his ID away, and walked out the door. Now that I think about it, that might have been an undercover operative. Either that or he was a blithering idiot, because it was just so blatant. But the more I think about it, other than his somewhat surly nature, that probably WAS an operative, since he definitely looked older than his age. Hmmm....

I had a friend who worked for a 7/11 in college. As long as you showed him an ID and the camera saw that he looked at one, he would sell you beer. He always said he would plead "convincing fake" if anyone ever came after him for it. I'm surprised as hell he was never caught in a sting.

[Jester]

Maybe she thought that if she just handed you the ID without fuss then you wouldn't spend much time looking at it as you would just assume it was legit?

More than one clerk, bartender, or server has been nailed by either a sting or genuinely serving to a (non-sting operative) underaged person after carding them, either because they didn't bother doing the math, felt they were too busy to do the math, or just wanted to put on the "show" of carding someone, not actually caring if the person they were selling to was of age or not.

As I have told more than one customer, their convenience does not outweight my potential legal troubles. No valid ID, no sale, no chance, no way, no how.

One guy recently had a problem with my refusing to serve him since the only ID he had was his cruise ship crew ID, even after I explained to him that under Florida law, the only IDs I can take for alcohol purchases are driver's licenses, state issued ID cards, U.S. Armed Forces ID cards, and passports. So this guy insisted on talking to my manager. As it turned out, the manager on duty was the General Manager, who happens to be a big, burly, bearded, tattooed guy.

Well, the cruise ship guy went on and on to my GM about how he had been served at The Bar before, and our staff really should be more consistent about how they carded. This, of course, did not change the facts that (A) I had carded him, and (B) he did not have valid ID under state law for alcohol purchases. And since carding someone is based on the bartender's/server's perception of whether someone looks 30 or under, naturally different staffers are going to have different perceptions. In any case, my GM politely listened to this guy go on and on for a while, then politely explained to him that he was not in any way going to tell his staff to violate state law, since we could very easily lose our liquor license for such things. And made it real clear that, while he was sorry the guy was upset, there was nothing he COULD or WOULD do to change the situation. It was a polite form of "Sorry you don't like it, but that's the way it is."

I will almost never get arrested for someone I know and love, and I will absolutely never get arrested for someone I've known all of 30 seconds. End of story.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I will almost never get arrested for someone I know and love, and I will absolutely never get arrested for someone I've known all of 30 seconds. End of story.

This. Where I am, you can be whacked with an on the spot fine of £80 for selling to underage kids, as well as the shop getting done and fined, and maybe even losing its licience. Sorry, but I'm not taking that risk for anyone.

[Jester]

Eighty pounds? Oh, if only.

Here in Florida, if you get busted selling alcohol to those underage, you can (and probably will) not only have a court date, but also up to a $1,500 fine, potential jail time (though that is unlikely if no one got hurt), and will almost definitely be fired from your job. And, if convicted, you will be unable to be a bartender or a manager in any establishment that sells alcohol.

And Florida's penalties are not nearly as harsh as those in my home state of Arizona.

So, yeah....I card hard for a REASON!

I am not going to jail, or court, or the unemployment line for some drunkard that I just met. No, nyet, non, nein, not gonna fucking happen.

[Geek King]

I know this was just a typo now, but my first thought was, "Dragon Wings works for Mr. Spacely?"

<\old fart>

Spacely made Sprockets. Cogsworth made cogs.

I...I'm just going to go sit on the porch now. Maybe yell at some kids for molesting my lawn...

[Jay 2K Winger]

<\old fart>

Spacely made Sprockets. Cogsworth made cogs.

I...I'm just going to go sit on the porch now. Maybe yell at some kids for molesting my lawn...

I'll join you there. Because I remembered that Spacely's rival was Cogswell, not Cogsworth. Cogsworth was the majordomo/clock in Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

[Jester]

You people clearly have too much free time on your hands. (Said the man with over a dozen episodes of Top Gear waiting on his DVR for him...)