Brian Zimmerman, writing for the Palladium-Item, has an article on the new liquor sale ID law which prohibits sale of alcohol to anyone who can’t show you a valid ID. (I’m presuming that’s the gist – the article doesn’t give a code cite or law number, and I’m too lazy to go hunting at the moment.)
This makes sense when you’re carding folks who are under, say, forty. But when you have to card the 70 year old lady who has been coming in to buy ripple from you for the past 15 years, it’s kind of stupid. The problem is that, to make the law flexible enough to eliminate these absurdities, you probably have to trust people with some discretion. And, I think we can all agree that discretion is too dangerous to contemplate when the consequence could be a nineteen year old with beer. The mind recoils at the horror.
The funny thing is you can’t tell age on Black people so we will always get carded.
… or nuns being bused in from Michigan to vote !
Don –
It could be even worse – if some menaces to society have their way, it could be COLD beer.
The horror… the horror…
Even more moronic is that you can sit inside at the bar or outside in their patio, drink all you want and not have to worry about being carded.
But then you tell that same bartender that you want carryout of a 12 pack (admittedly very expensive), you get carded.
I had previously commented on this, unable to determine what problem is being solved. I knew that we didn’t have a problem with 19 year old kids looking like they were 40.
However, after seeing all of the retailer groups gushing with support, I get it. The retailers don’t want the customers upset because they *don’t* card someone. A 38 year old woman gets her beer, and isn’t carded. The cashier just said that she looked 40, what an insult!
Now, they can bitch about the law to the customer, saying “Sorry, state law. What a bunch of morons, eh?”, while thanking the state for taking away their ability to make a decision.
A stupid law written by stupid people.