Everything you know if you don’t look like your ID

There’s a vast majority of students out there, like me, that dread waiting in that long line for the bar.

No, it’s not because it’s freezing out and we have a fifteen minute wait to pay ten dollars to enter the bar. It’s because we are about to be questioned about our ID the minute we hand it to the carder. I relate to you, the nineteen year olds who don’t look a day over seventeen, trust me.

Honestly, it isn’t easy to remain confident as the carder questions the realness of your ID. It isn’t any easier when the carder questions your actual ID, the one you were so excited to be able to start using at the bars.

Having your ID looked at ten times harder than the last person is a little intimidating. The number of times I get the basic, “Address?” question as all my friends enter the bar, no questions ask. Although I can spit the address back just as fast as it was asked to me, it’s somewhat embarrassing to have it even asked.

It’s not our fault we sometimes look young in my picture and I show up to the bar with my makeup done and in an outfit I wouldn’t have worn at sixteen years old. Yes, I look different now.

And trust me, we all know the drill:

You get excited when you have a date event at the bar this weekend or you’re planning a night out on Saturday at Red Lion, but there’s a slight fear when you remember that you have to make it past the carder.

So, the party night comes and you’re excited as ever. You make sure your makeup isn’t too over the top, I mean, your actual ID ACTUALLY has to look like you, right?

You walk up to the bar only to spend the ten minutes you wait in line making sure you know exactly what is on your ID. Your zip code, your hair color, every single number. Lets be real, it isn’t hard to recite the address you grew up on for almost twenty years of your life, right?

As you approach the carder, your nerves continue to grow. You try to hand him your ID as confidently as you can, knowing he’s about to question your legit existence. It happens every time, so why not this time?

After glancing at the ID harder than you would have thought and after receiving a few double tacks, he gives you the head nod of relief.

The head nod we all wait for.

Congratulations, another night of successfully using your real ID.

Keep it up, maybe one day we’ll actually look our age.