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Post from Cara Boekeloo's Blog:
Tennessee Cards Seniors
By Cara Boekeloo - Jul 5th, 2007 at 9:22 am EDT
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Tags: Alcohol, identification, legal age, tennessee
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I've grown to be annoyed as of late with bouncers accusing me of having a fake. (I'm 22) In fact, I've never carried a fake, but for some reason the raised strip for organ donation on the back of my Michigan license raises suspicion here in DC. Which is weird because according to a recent British study, bartenders tend to overestimate the age of young women. Hey it could be worse. I could be a senior citizen in Tennessee.

This morning I found this article on Slate. In an effort to cut down on misidentification of age, as of July 1, anyone who wants to buy beer in Tennessee must present identification, even if they're a senior citizen. If I was 60 and wanted a beer, I'd probably be even more annoyed than I was that night in Georgetown.


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put yourself in the bouncer's place
By halperindavid Jul 5th 2007 at 10:35 am EDT
I still get carded sometimes, even though I'm, uh, well past the legal drinking age, and I like to believe the bouncer is exercising superb judgment. So when people have said, "Oh, they card everyone," my response is "I bet they don't card Rumsfeld." But they should card everyone. Otherwise the doorkeeper is an awkward position -- who to card, who to challenge, who to flatter, who to annoy. A uniform policy, once people get used to it, makes it simple and avoids mistakes.
Re: put yourself in the bouncer's place
By Cara Boekeloo Jul 5th 2007 at 1:25 pm EDT (Updated Jul 5th 2007 at 1:34 pm EDT)
Point well taken David. I definately agree with the importance of carding. I just get annoyed when I am accused of having a fake when I never carried one.

This law does create an objective standard, but people have to be willing to put up with it. One of the jobs I've had through the years was being a cashier at night to make some extra cash, and I had to card people up till they looked 30, and had to deal with some pretty annoyed customers. However, maybe this law, once everyone grows accustomed to it, will eliminate such encounters.
Re: put yourself in the bouncer's place
By JR Jul 5th 2007 at 5:29 pm EDT
Not to mention that the average gas station clerk in Jelico, TN probably isn't going to bother following the ID law to the letter, and most police departments probably won't do too much to enforce the law.

There's something to be said for a little subjective judgement in adherence to objective laws (Genarlow Wilson would probably agree).
  
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