One of the times a friend of mine was not allowed in an establishment because of an expired ID was my 21st birthday. And I walked the fuck out and went somewhere else with him. It was my first intended place to hang out for the night, but I wasn't going to hang out there while one of my friends had to sit outside and wait on us. No fucking way. Even on my birthday.
Also, whenever somebody makes a big deal out of a slightly expired ID I assume that they do not want me in that establishment, and I never return. On the night of my 21st birthday, I went to about 6 other places to drink and none of them made a big deal about it. Young people at a vineyard hmm...... I wonder why they might profile you and give you shit about something as trivial as a 10 day expired ID. Even if they were required by law, the inspectors aren't up a vineyards ass. They just didn't want the young people there, and they were hoping that Lysis' group would act like a normal close group of friends and show a little bit of solidarity. Hey, it's those guys who are losing money, let them lose money by refusing customers.
It's almost offensive how little respect people in general seem to have for restaurant industry jobs. People have NO FUCKING CLUE the ramifications of how you, the customer's actions, end up on us (industry folk.) There are things called DRAM SHOP laws. These laws suck. They are put in enforcement to basically defend drunks. Although I know this is not totally true, sometimes it is, and it's crap, but unfortunately, we (restaurant industry) have to abide by these laws or else we face serious consequences. Here's a few lovely examples:
A few years ago, I was bartending. A woman came in who showed little to no signs of intoxication, and she sat at the bar and ordered a beer. She was old looking, but I carded her anyways (our bouncer was absent that evening, and a little flattery for an older lady is generally well accepted.) She handed me her ID, and she was in her early 40's. Anyway, I serve her a 16 oz. beer and a shot of whiskey. She finishes, and is showing serious signs of intoxication. She got up to use the restroom and she was stumbling like a madman, and she came back and slurred out, "anotherrrrrr brrrrr and bummmmp..." and I said exactly by the book what I am supposed to say: "Ma'am, I don't feel comfortable serving you any more alcohol, would you like to have a soda or coffe and look at our food menu?" She got semi-irritated and had a water, and stumbled out.
Well, she proceeded to hop in her car, attempt to go to another bar but instead, she ran into a car of 16 year olds, head on - going the wrong way down the street. Turns out, before she came to me, she had popped multiple prescription drugs, some crack, some weed, and a shitload of beers and vodka. I found myself in a fucking shitstorm, because somehow she mumbled out the name of the restaurant she was at before she crashed - I had to go to court, miss multiple days of work, I almost got fired, paid fines - and the whole "innocent until proven guilty" well, that's a gigantic crock of dog shit. Even when nobody was convicted of anything, the local news drags the restaurant's name through the mud. Thank buddah, I had multiple witnesses who testified for me, or else I would have been up shit's creek without a paddle.
When I first started working in a restaurant, one day, we were insanely busy for lunch. Two guys came in and sat at the bar, asked for bloody marys, and the bartender was crazy busy, asked for their ID's, and served them their drinks. They informed my friend the bartender that he had failed a sting and needed to see the manager. The ID's were of legal drinking age, but the ID's were expired by 2 days each. The restaurant lost their liquor license for 2 days, my friend was fired, and had to pay a $3,000 fine, and fuck if he ever got hired anywhere in the cities, ha. Granted that was his fault, and super shitty really because we were so fucking busy, I could have easily done the same thing, but it shows how seriously it is taken by the law.
If somebody makes a "big deal" (haha, a big deal - funny - I don't make a big deal out of your expired ID, I just tell you that you can't drink alcohol. However, you're more than welcome to stay and have a soda...is that a big deal??) Anyway, they are being SMART. They are COVERING THEIR OWN ASS, because one night of drinking for you is not worth our JOB.
As for "inspectors" (what are inspectors? cops? food inspectors? I assume cops...) "aren't up a vineyard's ass..." well, that surely isn't true. My dad owns a vineyard in bumfuck northern usa, and you're damn right they're up his ass. They'll camp out a couple miles down the road and pop people leaving the winery just to be dickheads who obviously have nothing better to do. If you serve alcohol, you have to be avidly aware of the consequences of serving it to people. When a bar or establishment cards you and refuses you service for a TOTALLY VALID REASON (your expired ID, not old enough, etc) the customer is not being "PROFILED and TRIVIAL and not wanting young people there" as you call it (totally and completely laughable - I don't give a rat's fat ass how old you are, if you're 21 or 88, if you have 30 friends or you're by yourself, and nobody else does, as long as you're a decent tipping, not-a-total-jackass customer). And losing money???? HA - do you think I would have rather had that $2.00 that lady I mentioned above tipped me, or would I rather spend days in court and ridiculed and scrutinized....over her 2 drinks? I think not. Put us in place of your job. Let's say you work at a convenience store. Do you think I'm going to walk in and ask to buy $20 in lottery tickets, and they card me, because I look young, and I don't have my ID, or it's expired - do I have any right to be mad at them when they refuse to sell me the lottery tickets? FUCKING ABSOLUTELY NOT. IT'S THE LAW. Have a little more respect and sympathy for people who serve you.
