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I was recently reminded of this suck.
I have a baby face, and short curly hair that usually has "fun" barrettes and such in it. I also have a silly, cheerful disposition. These things combine to give people the impression that I am much younger than usual. I cannot get into a rated R movie without an ID, despite being 7 years older than the restricted age. Keeping this in mind, we begin our drama:
Setting- Small Chinese restaurant, Mother's Day. It is very busy and we are grossly understaffed. To make up for my stress, I am being even more chirpy than usual. I get a table of 8, looks like a family: mother, father, grandmother, aunt?, daughter, 2 sons. They don't all show up at once, so I just give them water until everyone has arrived.
Cast-
Me: Twinkle's a nice word. So's viridian.
F: Father at large table.
D: Younger looking daughter at large table.
S: The owner, who has a spine made of adamantium.
Me: Hello, my name is Jam-Puff, I'll be your server. Can I start you off with anything to drink?
F: Yes, we'd like a bottle of the Yellowtail Shiraz, 8 glasses, please.
Me: Certainly. May I see the IDs of the younger people?
I look at the two sons and the daughter. The sons show ID, they are of age.
D: My ID is in the car.
Me: Well, I'd have to see it before I gave you a wine glass.
D: That's fine, I'll drink out of my water glass, ha ha.
Me: Ma'am, I meant that you could not drink any wine without proof of age. If you were seen drinking it, we'd have to take it away from the table.
D: That's silly, I'm of age!
Me: I'm inclined to believe you; I myself am much older than I look. But the law requires proof of age.
D: No one ever cards me! This is ridiculous!
Me: We are carding you because we take the legal consequences of serving underaged persons VERY seriously. If you like, I can get some soup for you, so that when you come back from the car with your ID, both the wine and your food will be waiting for you.
D: I want a manager!
Sometimes S shows up so quickly, I get spooked. True story.
S: How can I help you?
D: This silly girl is demanding I show her ID!
S: We would be more than happy to wait for you to retrieve the ID.
D: It's in the caaaaar.
S: *blink* I'm afraid we must insist.
D: But thats so stupid! Why are you carding everyone when the waitress isn't even of age??!?!?!
S + Me:
Out of my apron, I grab my ID(it's an old one, doesn't show my SS# or current address). I point out my birthdate and inform her I'm 23 and counting. D scowls and goes out to car. Comes back with ID, not even a minute later. She is, of course, BARELY of age(I'm talking days). I serve her and everyone, la dee da.
Afterwards, S talks to me about the evening. She asks me why I had my ID in my apron. I explain that the table next to them had been chatting to me while I was waiting for everyone to arrive. The subject of my age came up, they didn't believe me, so I grabbed my ID from my wallet. They exclaimed and laughed in surprise about my age... while D is sitting maybe 8 feet away.
It's not the confusion about the age thing... I'm beyond used to that. But freaking out about a law? Alcohol iz srs biznuz. If you're old enough to drink it, one would only hope that you'd be mature enough to acquire it POLITELY.
Then of course your hopes would be dashed upon the jagged rocks of the shore of reality.
I have a baby face, and short curly hair that usually has "fun" barrettes and such in it. I also have a silly, cheerful disposition. These things combine to give people the impression that I am much younger than usual. I cannot get into a rated R movie without an ID, despite being 7 years older than the restricted age. Keeping this in mind, we begin our drama:
Setting- Small Chinese restaurant, Mother's Day. It is very busy and we are grossly understaffed. To make up for my stress, I am being even more chirpy than usual. I get a table of 8, looks like a family: mother, father, grandmother, aunt?, daughter, 2 sons. They don't all show up at once, so I just give them water until everyone has arrived.
Cast-
Me: Twinkle's a nice word. So's viridian.
F: Father at large table.
D: Younger looking daughter at large table.
S: The owner, who has a spine made of adamantium.
Me: Hello, my name is Jam-Puff, I'll be your server. Can I start you off with anything to drink?
F: Yes, we'd like a bottle of the Yellowtail Shiraz, 8 glasses, please.
Me: Certainly. May I see the IDs of the younger people?
I look at the two sons and the daughter. The sons show ID, they are of age.
D: My ID is in the car.
Me: Well, I'd have to see it before I gave you a wine glass.
D: That's fine, I'll drink out of my water glass, ha ha.
Me: Ma'am, I meant that you could not drink any wine without proof of age. If you were seen drinking it, we'd have to take it away from the table.
D: That's silly, I'm of age!
Me: I'm inclined to believe you; I myself am much older than I look. But the law requires proof of age.
D: No one ever cards me! This is ridiculous!
Me: We are carding you because we take the legal consequences of serving underaged persons VERY seriously. If you like, I can get some soup for you, so that when you come back from the car with your ID, both the wine and your food will be waiting for you.
D: I want a manager!
Sometimes S shows up so quickly, I get spooked. True story.
S: How can I help you?
D: This silly girl is demanding I show her ID!
S: We would be more than happy to wait for you to retrieve the ID.
D: It's in the caaaaar.
S: *blink* I'm afraid we must insist.
D: But thats so stupid! Why are you carding everyone when the waitress isn't even of age??!?!?!
S + Me:
Out of my apron, I grab my ID(it's an old one, doesn't show my SS# or current address). I point out my birthdate and inform her I'm 23 and counting. D scowls and goes out to car. Comes back with ID, not even a minute later. She is, of course, BARELY of age(I'm talking days). I serve her and everyone, la dee da.
Afterwards, S talks to me about the evening. She asks me why I had my ID in my apron. I explain that the table next to them had been chatting to me while I was waiting for everyone to arrive. The subject of my age came up, they didn't believe me, so I grabbed my ID from my wallet. They exclaimed and laughed in surprise about my age... while D is sitting maybe 8 feet away.
It's not the confusion about the age thing... I'm beyond used to that. But freaking out about a law? Alcohol iz srs biznuz. If you're old enough to drink it, one would only hope that you'd be mature enough to acquire it POLITELY.
Then of course your hopes would be dashed upon the jagged rocks of the shore of reality.
Maybe it doesn't translate well in print, but he was so nice about the way he handled it.
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