So if you'll serve I'll be on my way

[venta]

Yesterday lunchtime, I popped into the local Sainsbury's to buy a bottle of wine. For the evening, you understand, not to get me through an afternoon in the office.

The lady on the till asked to see my ID. Legal drinking age in the UK is 18 (I'm 39). I obligingly hoiked my driving licence out of my wallet. I've not been ID'd in a really long time and, while rather surprised that anyone would ask (even though Sainsbury's has a policy of challenging anyone who looks under 25) was slightly pleased.

I handed over my licence.

The lady looked at me in vague bewilderment and said "I was only joking".

Comments

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Oh, cruel tease! ;-)

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

How does that even make sense as a joke? People are weird.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

That's what I was thinking. Also, shops are loud, so how is somebody meant to spot that you're using a tone of voice that indicates you're joking? What a strange person.

[shermarama]

I'm guessing it was one of those things that made sense inside the cashier's head, but shouldn't really have been shared on account of not everyone living inside her head :/

[venta.livejournal.com]

Thing is, the lady did seem genuinely nice and not trying to be mean. And I can see how maybe someone would think it funny to jokingly ask a grey-haired pensioner for ID. I just didn't think I was that old yet!

[shermarama]

Also, I had to go away and realise what I had stuck in my head first. Party hats? With the coloured tips?

[venta.livejournal.com]

Them's the ones. One kudo to you.

[ringbark.livejournal.com]

So we're in California. I'm in my forties, my wife almost 40. They ask everyone for ID regardless of age. Then we're given wrist bands that actually say "legal drinking age" but feel like they say "alcoholic".

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yes, for American readers I probably should have mentioned that getting ID'd once you're past about 21 is really unusual here! It always throws me when I order drinks in the US.

[waistcoatmark.livejournal.com]

I got IDed at a google do while in MTV. I assumed they meant "prove you're a googler and thus entitled to free drinks". It turned out they meant "prove you're over 21". We got as far as :"Are you really claiming that I might be under 21? I mean look at me", before a native showed their ID and asked if they could vouch for me.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Assuming MTV is not the music channel, do Googlers realise that "mountain" is one word :)

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

I had the experience, which I probably LJed at the time, of putting a bottle of wine through the self-checkout and having a member of staff come over to OK it. To my surprise, instead of just hitting the button, he asked for my ID and looked at it really carefully. It was a couple of years ago now, but I was well into my mid-30s.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

So how did you get through the afternoon in the office?
I only started getting asked for ID in my 30s. It seems to have stopped now...

[venta.livejournal.com]

Actually, I think Thursday was the day I had a lot of mundane, tedious, fiddly, yet easy-to-get-wrong tasks to get through. So loud music and sotto voce swearing, mostly.

[exspelunca.livejournal.com]

At the other end of life, it was flattering to be asked by a disbelieving volunteer at an open garden whether we really did qualify for wrinklies' rate (more politely known as concessionary rate). I told her I went to the VE Day fancy dress party as Little Miss Muffet. It seemed to clinch it.