If you look that young...

[SecurityWench]

....you're gonna need your I.D. when you come to the store.

This happened a while ago, I just forgot to post about it. Basically a girl who looked to be 15 or so (and her little sister) came through my express line with an 18-pack of Bud Light. I being the good little cashier I am, ask her for I.D.

The girl actually looks kinda shocked, and she looks to her little sister, then back at me. "Uh...I don't have it." And I shrug and say, "Well, I'm afraid I can't sell it to you then."

"Are you sure I need an I.D. for this?" I can't help it, I've got that 'WTF, seriously?' look on my face. But she won't listen to me obviously, so I call for Manager A. (He's cool, I like him a lot.)

Manager A comes up and I explain to him what's going on. He says again that he can't sell to her without an I.D. And she goes, 'Well, yeah, but it's for a party, I just have to pick it up.'

'I'm sorry, but I cannot sell it to you without I.D.' She looks to her sister again, shrugs, and they walk out. Manager A looks at me, cancels out the order, and as he's walking away mutters, 'She looked like she was twelve years old...'

Moral of the story: Guys? If you look a lot younger than you are, carry your I.D. with you. It'll be better for all of us.

BONUS RANT!

Okay, while we're on the topic of IDs, I gotta touch on this. I know it says that you're of age to buy the alcohol, but I cannot take your permanent residence card as I.D.

No, I don't know why I can't. I just know that I can't, and thus have to follow the rules.

No, I will not share my beliefs on immigration, that has nothing to do with this.

The only things I can take for I.D. are state-issued licenses, military IDs, or passports. (With manager approval.)

Yelling at me will do no good, and will only make you look like an ass.

And the people who use these I.D.'s always seem to show up right around closing time, and by then we can't serve them anyway. Whatever, I can't make heads or tails of what anybody does around my store.

[bainsidhe]

Also not considered proper ID:

-Work badge (I get this one a lot. Seriously, WTF )
-Student ID for a university/high school/etc
-Benefit Card
-Library card
-County ID card (Look at the back. It says it cannot be used to purchase alcohol )
-Your pregnancy (Yes, I had someone yell because I carded them when they were very pregnant. No, I don't know it isn't for you and I don't care. You're buying it, I'm carding you)
-Temporary license without accompanying photo ID (Um, how am I gonna know it's you?)
-Social security card
-Credit card
-Expired license. It's true, an expired license is not considered valid ID by my state. Sucks to be you if you just turned 21 (Had that one happen last fall)

[RetailSlave]

Must differ either accord to state or store policy, because we can take Green Cards as ID to purchase alcohol or tobacco. We also take passports, Military ID, and state issued driver's license or ID card. We have to refresh our alcohol and tobacco training every 3 months, so I just went thru the online course and test this week.

[bhskittykatt]

don't forget your DoC ID. Yeah, it's government issued and has a photo, but we're not allowed to take it. No, it doesn't have to do with the fact that you just got out of jail. Corporate says no, we can't take it, so tough s***, you're gonna have to come up with something better.

[Mnemjian]

Also not considered proper ID:

Don't forget bus pass

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Also not considered proper ID:

-Work badge (I get this one a lot. Seriously, WTF )
-Student ID for a university/high school/etc
-Benefit Card
-Library card
-County ID card (Look at the back. It says it cannot be used to purchase alcohol )
-Your pregnancy (Yes, I had someone yell because I carded them when they were very pregnant. No, I don't know it isn't for you and I don't care. You're buying it, I'm carding you)
-Temporary license without accompanying photo ID (Um, how am I gonna know it's you?)
-Social security card
-Credit card
-Expired license. It's true, an expired license is not considered valid ID by my state. Sucks to be you if you just turned 21 (Had that one happen last fall)

Also "If you need proof of my identity, I wrote my name on my underwear. Oh wait, these aren't mine!"

[Jester]

It's true, an expired license is not considered valid ID by my state.

I believe just about all States consider an expired license--or any other expired but otherwise normally acceptable ID--to not be a form of valid ID for the purchase of age-restricted products.

Corporate says no, we can't take it...

Chances are good that it is not corporate rules, but the LAW that says you can't take it. Trust me, most corporations would be more than happy to take more forms of ID to sell more alcohol, rather than less. It is the fear of the legal repercussions that make corporations so anal about following age-restricted purchase laws, but it is the laws themselves that determine what are and what are not acceptable forms of ID for such purchases.

With all that said, do I need to break out the ID Song yet again?

[Anthony K. S.]

-Social security card

I remember seeing a letter on Planet Feedback some years ago, from a person who just couldn't seem to understand that Social Security cards can't be used as identification.

He kept saying things like, "I showed them my FEDERALLY ISSUED Social Security Card" and "I was like, WTF? This is FEDERALLY ISSUED" . . .

The letter writer seemed to believe that because Social Security cards are issued by the federal government, they should be better than driver's licenses (which are issued by states) for identification.

Of course, he somehow managed to completely miss the fact that a card is rather less useful as an I.D. when it doesn't have your picture on it.

-Expired license.

That actually reminded me of one of the biggest headaches I used to have . . .

The bookstore I work for offers a discount to teachers (on books that are to be used in their classrooms, with certain restrictions), but requires them to provide proof that they are currently teachers in order to get the discount.

We used to accept union membership cards as proof (which the company has since stopped doing), but they had to be current.

And it was such a pain dealing with teachers who couldn't understand why an expired union card wasn't acceptable as proof . . .

"Um, do you have anything else besides this?"
[Looks at me like I have two heads] ". . . Isn't that enough?"
"Ma'am, this is expired."
"Well, I didn't expire! I'm still a teacher!"

. . . And how do I know that?

The reason we asked for a current union card was so we would have proof that somebody is currently a teacher.

A card that expired two years ago only proves that you were a teacher up until two years ago. It doesn't tell us diddly-squat about what you're doing now.

<Sigh>


Finally, this thread also reminded me of yet another classic Gord story. From The Book of Annoyances . . . Somebody wanted to sign up for a rental account in the Gord's store, and . . .

"Very well. Driver's licence and credit card please."

<dramatic pause>

"I have a school book with my name on it."

"Your parents must be so proud."

[fireheart]

I know that in Australia, the rules are for ID:

-Full Drivers Licence.
-Passport.
-Proof of Age card (basically it has your name, birthdate and address on it, as well as your picture but cannot be used to drive)
-International Driver's Licence (at person's own discretion)
-Learners or Provisional Driver's Licences (although for some reason, my learners permit says something to the effect of "use this as ID at your own risk")

ETA: Oh and a slightly funny story.

At a wedding for some obscure relative a few years back, I was barely 15. Of course, by then I was just about fully grown (5'7-5'8") and got asked if I wanted some wine by the waitress at the reception. My cousin, who was 19 at the time, had her ID on her and everything, didn't even get asked if she wanted some wine at all!

On the other hand, two of my younger cousins on my dad's side are 2 years older than me, look 2 years younger than me and still get carded whenever they go out. (they're 21, I'm 19)

[infinitemonkies]

My position is well established that people have no excuse for not carrying ID.
On the other hand, I do believe that any govt-issued ID with your photo and birthdate should be accepted. I also think everyone should be given, free of charge, a federally issued ID card, which would have the advantage of being appearing the same for the entire country.

I personally disagree with the policy that an expired DL or passport cannot be used for the purpose of ID. I mean, if the bearer is clearly the same person in the photograph, then ID is established whether or not they paid their renewal fee.

[Jester]

-International Driver's Licence (at person's own discretion)

Amusingly, I am pretty sure that in the U.S., we do not accept the IDL as proof for age-restricted purchases.

On the other hand, two of my younger cousins on my dad's side are 2 years older than me, look 2 years younger than me and still get carded whenever they go out. (they're 21, I'm 19)

I see that a lot. And I have experienced it myself with some friends. A while back, I was out with three of my female friends: Wylie, Bubbles, and D-Rod. At the time, Wylie was about my age (late thirties), Bubbles was 22 or 24ish, and D-Rod was 19.

At more than one bar, Bubbles would get carded hard....but D-Rod, who was not only underage but at the time didn't even have a fake ID, never once got carded. Irritated the shit out of Bubbles.

On the other hand, I do believe that any govt-issued ID with your photo and birthdate should be accepted. I also think everyone should be given, free of charge, a federally issued ID card, which would have the advantage of being appearing the same for the entire country.

I believe that if you can reach the bar, you should be able to drink....but what we believe and what the law is are two different things. Because we don't have uniform federal IDs, and not all federal ID cards are acceptable for age-restricted purchases. It may be a bit screwy, but that is the way it is.

I personally disagree with the policy that an expired DL or passport cannot be used for the purpose of ID. I mean, if the bearer is clearly the same person in the photograph, then ID is established whether or not they paid their renewal fee.

There are many problems with this. One, technically by law, once an ID expires, it is no longer valid for anything. Two, many people use expired IDs of friends as their own, if the friend is of age and the person using it looks sufficiently like them and is not of age. This is a classic technique, which is circumvented by the restriction against accepting expired IDs. After all, when I was 18, I looked sufficiently like my 21-year-old cousin where I could have easily used an expired ID of his that he no longer needed. (Well, unless they checked the height on the ID, as I am 5'8" and Cuz is 6'2"! But facially, yeah, I could have easily gotten away with it.)

The important thing to remember here is that we do not work under what we believe--we work under the laws as they are right now. And as much as I would love to serve various people for various reasons, under the law as it is, I can't. And I won't violate that law just because I personally believe the law is a whole bunch of hooey.

[Magpie]

I understand the logic about not being allowed to use expired ID, I have friends who used that trick rather than scratching their card. What I'm confused about is does this mean that if I only get my new DL right when my old one expires that I'm not able to buy alcohol until I get the new card? I tend to regard my license as expired as soon as they stick that "photo ID only" sticker on it.

What's fun here is that, even if you have a photo health card (date of birth, photo, provincially issued, in some provinces you get it at the same place as you get your driver's license), it isn't considered "valid government-issued photo ID". I'm not quite sure why...

[Jester]

What I'm confused about is does this mean that if I only get my new DL right when my old one expires that I'm not able to buy alcohol until I get the new card?

I don't know about Canada, but here in the U.S., in most places you can order your new DL before your old one expires.

Some States are a bit weird about the whole 21 thing, as they don't want underaged people to have their 21 ID before they are actually 21. I know in Arizona, when I was that age, when you were within a month of your 21st birthday, you could order the new one.

I don't see it as a huge problem, as your birthdate is still on the ID, even if it looks different. Anybody doing their job with age-restricted items will still be checking the date, not just seeing if it is an under 21 ID or not.

I tend to regard my license as expired as soon as they stick that "photo ID only" sticker on it.

Any ID is expired once that expiration date on it has passed. For example, my current Florida DL expires on June 8th, 2012. Which means on that day or any day thereafter, my DL is considered to be effectively expired, and if I don't have a new one by then, I do not have a valid DL or ID. (In Florida, your DL and license plate tags always expire on your birthday, but that is not true in every State.)

What's fun here is that, even if you have a photo health card it isn't considered "valid government-issued photo ID". I'm not quite sure why...

For various reasons, the laws regarding age-restricted items only allow certain ID's to be used. Part of it is that sellers can't be aware of all ID's. Part of is that some ID's are easier or harder to forge. There are, I am sure, many other reasons. Remember, a fishing license is issued by the government, but that doesn't make it valid for alcohol purchases.

[RavenStarr]

I had a guy trying to buy beer. I asked for his ID. He handed it over. It would have been fine except for one thing. The ID was in spanish, so um no.

Had another guy that said he had his father's ID.

[Jester]

I have been told by a guy who runs the alcohol training seminars we have periodically that if it is a foreign driver's license, but you can read it, you can accept it. Since I understand enough Spanish to read a license from, say, Mexico or Spain, I can accept those. Key thing is it has to be a driver's license.