Identity Crisis

[Solo_LTSurvivor]

Imagine this: You're in line to get in to your favorite bar. You're stopped by the bouncer at the door who asks to see your ID... and your Facebook account? In the U.K., the practice is becoming increasingly common.

Story

[tednlou2]

As the article points out, people could just create a fake Facebook profile.  So, this just seems like a way to hold up the line to me.  Our biggest gay bar here, which is actually one of the biggest I've been to, allows people 18 to get in.  You have to be sponsored by someone 21 or older, wear a wristband, and not drink.  I first began sneaking into bars at age 16.  I looked older than I was, but probably not 21.  Back in the mid-90's here, they just didn't care.  But, the city began cracking down more after that. 

What is the drinking age in the UK?  I saw a news story a while back about drinking in the UK, where they said kids as young as 8 could have a drink at home with dinner.  The story claimed at 16, you could have a beer with food at a restaurant.  And, drink legally anywhere at 18.  What's the truth? 

[Ann]

That's just nuts. They're not doing it on the Rock (yet), but I'll have to remember to ask my daughter if they're doing it over in the Norfolk area where she lives. She's going out with the girls tomorrow night in Norwich so I'll ask her to be on the lookout and report back. She's 25 now but still gets carded, partly cuz she's small (only 5'3") and she doesn't wear tons of make-up.

Ted, the drinking age is 18 in the UK (and the Rock). I know over here (on the Rock) it's not all that uncommon for 16 year olds to frequent the pubs, but the nightclubs are more difficult for them to get into and some of the nightclubs here are 21 and over. It's not law, it's just to keep younger kids out who don't yet know how to handle their alcohol and end up acting like fools and puking everywhere.

My daughter used to go out to the pubs occasionally on a Friday or Saturday night when she was 16/17, but she always behaved and never came home drunk, only slightly merry. She's always been good at self-restraint - and she never got caught. When she attended MU in Florida for a year, it drove her nuts that she couldn't go into bars when she had been at home for years. She turned 21 just before the end of the spring semester.

16 and 17 year old girls have an easier time going undetected in the pubs because of all the make up they wear and lets face it, girls that age tend to be a little more mature than the lads. If they're smart, they go easy on the alcohol so they don't do stupid shit and call attention to themselves.

Once they get caught underage in one of the pubs they're quickly banned from the rest in town - the pubs and police have something called the "Western Watch" for banned folks and their photos and details are circulated amongst the pubs. Every pub has a loose-leaf notebook containing these pages on people. It's not just underage bans, it's anyone who has acted the fool enough to get banned. A landlord has the option whether or not to ban a person only from their pub or take it before the Watch Committee - unless the police get involved and charges are made (public affray, public drunkenness or whatever). They normally take underage bans before the committee but use their discretion otherwise.

There's also a Northern, Southern and Douglas (east) Watch, as well as an All-Island Watch. People end up on the All-Island Watch when they've been banned out of one area and go cause trouble in a pub elsewhere, or if they do something really nasty like bottle someone.

You have to write a letter of apology when your ban is up (usually six months to a year, or longer if you're caught at sixteen) and it has to be accepted by a majority of landlords in your Watch area. I have a friend who has been on the Western Watch for years because she refuses to write a letter of apology. She's living in Wales now, but she drinks in Douglas or Ramsey (north) when she visits home. It's a pain in the ass because all her family and friends live in the West, but she stubbornly refuses to write an apology. And of course she always wants to go out for a few drinks when she's home - drinking in the house doesn't suit her.

No, I've never been put on the Watch, but I know plenty of people who have.

Ted, a 16/17 year old can have what's called a shandy if they're in a pub having dinner, but they have to be with their parents or an older family member like an aunt, uncle or grandparents. Most pubs will limit the kid to one or two - it would be an offense to permit them to become intoxicated and the fines are pretty hefty.

A shandy is a pint of beer that is half beer, half lemonade. What we call lemonade is what Yanks call Sprite or 7-Up. It's not a bad mix - and rather refreshing on a hot summer's day. I know plenty of adults who will have a shandy now and then, so it's not just kids.

As far as I know, you have to be at least 16 to legally drink at home and there has to be an adult in the house at the time - but that may be different on the Rock to the UK. It's the same deal with not permitting intoxication. Parents can be prosecuted if they allow their underage children to get shit-faced.

Now, aintcha glad you asked, Ted?