If you're over 18, do you get asked to prove your age when you buy alcohol?

Question

If so, how much does it affect your lifestyle? Does it annoy you?

If it irritates you give your true feelings in your answer. Have you ever lost your temper with a cheeky shop assistant who looks younger than you but won't accept you're 18 and won't believe the ID card is really yours? If yes what did you say and do?

That's a good point andie0910. But the law states that it is 18. Many shops have a adopted a policy whereby if a person looks under 21, they're asked for their age.

The law for drinking in the UK is defined at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/crime/drugs/alcohol.shtml

You all have great answers but I'm 25, I live in the UK and I still get ID'd. I see it as a form of discrimination. Imagine if you go to a club with your mates and you're singled out and you can't go in. It can make your blood boil! This has happened to me several times and has hobbled my chances of getting a date!

I agree that too many young kids get their hands on alcohol but why does the law have to punish those who are at the legal age but who don't look it? What have they done wrong? This is totally unfair.

I've asked this question in another category:
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060929134627AA4OtSO&r=w
However, it is for UK residents only.

Answer 1

Almost every business in America has a "rule of thumb" that they are expected to follow... the most common, I see it written in grocery stores, is "If you look younger than 30, then we card."

I have seen one sign in a liquor store near my house that said, If I cant see gray in your hair then I'll card ya....

clever...

Answer 2

The legal age to consume alcohol is 18 but the law states that you must be a responsible retailer. So most company's ask for i.d. if you look under 21. This is quite good because if you know you look under 21 take id with you and get into clubs and pubs. It is a criminal offence to sell alcohol to under 18s punishable bye a £5,000 and or 6 months in prison for the person selling it. Would you pay £5,000 for a beer i would not sell you one.

Answer 3

Well, I am over 18, but not 21 yet, which is the drinking age where I live. Anyway, I do get annoyed when I am carded for something, such as a rated R movie (you have to be at least 17 where I live to see one without an adult). I get carded every time and it annoys the hell out of me. I haven't had a clerk actually deny me service, but if I did I would be pissed.

Though I haven't had any exceptionally interesting encounters over this issue, my dad has recently at Walmart. They enacted a new policy here that they card everyone, even senior citizens, for tobacco and alcohol. The first time, my dad (who is about 60) went in for cigarettes and they carded him. He got pissed, threw the pack at the cashier and walked out cussing. About a week later he went in for beer and the cashier carded him again. He started yelling and cussing at her until she cried, and then left pissed and beer-less.

For the store that has the sign "If I cant see gray in your hair then I'll card ya...." someone above me mentioned, my family would annoy them, I've had a grey spot in my hair since I was 16 and another family member has had completely white natural hair since he was 18.

In my experience, men hate it and women like it. Women like people thinking they are younger than they are, and men, especially if they look older, tend to hate being carded for one reason or another. It doesn't really affect my lifestyle, but it does piss me off when I get carded.

Answer 4

Ok i have the same problem but i am in the states. I go no where without ID. I am 28 and can get ID'd in the bar every time i have a new bartender and it gets old fast. When i was 18 and tried to buy smokes i had the same thing happen she refused to accept my id she thought it was fake.

Answer 5

No sense in letting them piss you off I get asked all the time and I am 31 I just make sure I have my ID with me that way I can not be denied. I is annoying though. I even got carded at a rated R movie when I was 25 That was ridiculous.

Answer 6

Well it is 21 here and I am 35 and still get carded. It used to annoy me but not so much anymore, except at a convenience store when I have to go to my car get my ID and stand in line again. The worst time I got annoyed was at a liquor store, my husband went in and got us some stuff but forgot to buy the Coke or Sprite, I went back in to get that a FREAKING 2 liter and the a hole wouldn't sell it to me without ID!

Answer 7

I work in the US, where the legal age is 21. We MUST ask each customer for id before serving them liqour. Now obviously if your Aunt Mabel who's 78+ is with you, I'm not going to id her. but our policy is if they are younger then 40ish then card them. My personal experience is that most people dont get annoyed unless they forgot to bring their id with them. In the US. if i serve you alcohol and you're of legal age and you have an accident, it can come back to bite me. so I make sure that each and every patron is of age and is not consuming more alcohol then they should. Sound like a party pooper? i may be, but it's not worth it for me to get fined if you're not of age.. or if you're involved in an accident that's alcohol related and Im the one who served you too much.

Answer 8

I have to ask for ID for computer games and DVDs, I ask it cos i can be fined if I sell it to you and you are underage. I do't care if it irritates you, its part of life nowdays.I get asked for ID for alcohol and I'm 22. I don't mind at all, why should it irritate anyone?

It supposedly to stop little chavs drinking!haha!

By the way for those silly people... the person who asked the question doesn't live in the US...thats why they said 18 not 21

Answer 9

The last time I was asked for ID I was about 25 and had no ID on me. I said here is my 6 year old daughter tho will she do?!

I really wish someone would ask me for ID now I am in my 30s LOL

Answer 10

if your kids in the future were going out before they were 18 u would want them 2 b asked 4 ID. if u still get asked at least when u are 30 u will still look young think about it that way.

Answer 11

I got that one too from a shop assistant (I wasn't buying alcohol but something else that's 18+) And i'm 26 I think the lady needed a pair of glasses