Legal Drinking Age?

Question

If the legal age to imbibe in California (Los Angeles County specifically) is 21, could someone please give me a logical reason why Target asks for ID for anyone "appearing" to be 40- years or older, when buying booze? Yes, it's flattering but it's also an insult. We send young men to war yet card someone who is 40 to check they are old enough to drink! That's illogical.

Answer 1

It is called, "cover your own a*s"

"We card everyone", is just a policy inacted by stores to cover their rears. If they card EVERYONE, the theory is that they will never sell alcohol to minors.

Further, it makes paranoid moms and dads feel better about the business in question, in this case Target. Because Target is protecting thier kids.

Finally, it is a legal position taken by the store. If they sell to a minor, it is because that minor used a fake ID, and they are covered. They will have video surveillance showing their clerk seeing the ID of the kid in question.

There is come logic to it, but it is corporate logic...not human logic. It is called CYOA, as described above.

Personally, I think if you have military ID (non-dependant), you should be able to drink anywhere, anytime.

Answer 2

In California, selling alcohol to a minor is a crime no matter how old the person looks. The only defense is that the sales clerk asked for and received what appeared to be a valid ID showing the person to be of legal age. If alcohol is sold to a minor, the owner's liquor license can be suspended or revoked. So Target, which holds the liquor license, and does not want to lose it, makes it VERY certain that their clerks do not sell to underage people without checking for ID by requiring the check even when it is very obvious that the person is of legal age.

Answer 3

21. I was "grandfathered in" in my state when the drinking age went from 18 to 19, then 20 and finally 21. I was very irresponsible at that age and felt (as most teens do) indestructible. Many kids at 18 feel like they know how to handle alchohol. They really don't. Drinking, fighting, voting, and having babies should all be put off until you're 21.

Answer 4

21

Answer 5

21

Answer 6

They just want to be careful, erring on the side of caution, considering the consequences for selling alcohol to underage people. I've known several people in their forties and fifties who didn't look a day over 21. This one woman in particular, I was chatting with her on an airline flight. I figured she was my age, early twenties at the time. Turned out she was a grandmother of twelve in her late fifties. And yes, she gets carded and yes, the clerks don't believe her!

Answer 7

So that people won't feel like they are being singled out for looking young or old. Also a wide range like that might make kids think twice about trying to purchase. I'm 47 and feel discriminated against since I don't get carded anymore.

Answer 8

When you're in the army you get to drink. Ask anyone who's in the army and you'll be told that they can drink like fish if they really want to!

Why does Target and most stores ask for ID if you're under 40? EASY! To protect their butts from lawsuits from angry parents.

Answer 9

Target does that because:
a) their employees could be REALLY bad at telling peoples age
b) a lot of people look older than they are or could make themselves look older.
But besides that, 40 is unreasonable. In a lot of places it is 30.

Answer 10

The only reason is because they pay so much for a liquor license, and don't want to lose it. Big sales are generated for sale of liquor so the last thing they want is to have the license revoked and to have to pay fines.

It's all about money, and absolutely NOTHING else.