I have written before about how annoying it is when underage kids come in to a restaurant and try to order drinks. Most of the time they order stupid ass shit that is a dead giveaway that they are novices at the drinking game. However, the other night I had the pleasure of meeting an underager who was the antithesis of that loser kid who orders a Jamaica Me Crazy with extra rum.It was my typical Monday night where I head over to the neighborhood Mexican place for some five dollar margaritas. I love it there because I'm a regular and they all know my name. It's like my own personal Cheers up in the there. The usual lushes were all there but one had brought his niece who was in town visiting. She was cool and smart and pretty. Here she was hanging out with all of us and fitting right in and when it came time to order drinks, she was cool as a cucumber. Everyone else had ordered before her and when it was her turn she just casually threw out "Oh, I'll have the same." Moments later she was sucking down a strawberry frozen margarita like she thought she was 21 or something. No big deal. Her Uncle beamed with pride. At this point, I did not realize that I was drinking with a child, but she mentioned to me that she had just gotten out of school. "Oh, where did you go?" I asked, expecting some university or college. "No, high school. I'm only 17." Wow. This girl was good. A few minutes later the waitress asked if she wanted another drink, but maybe something else since they were out of strawberry. "Oh that's fine," replied Coolest Under Age Drinker in the World. "I'll just have a mango." A mango margarita? And she ordered it like it was a glass of water. The waitress never batted an eye and whisked off to get some tequila for this girl is younger than some of my aprons. It just goes to show that not all under age drinkers are lame. Some of them are really cool like this niece. And like I was when I was drinking Bartles and Jaymes wine coolers and riding around in a 1982 blue Honda Civic.
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18 comments:
Casual & cool. She seems to be wise beyond her years.
Possibly the all the alcohol she consumes?
Surely the point is that they're not old enough to drink it in the first place, whether they know the names to order it or not.
Seems to me, the wait staff needs to be re educated... I wouldn't point fingers at the underage.. Seems as tho she got away with it too many times... It takes 2, right? wonder if the girl is on her way to being an 'alky'? just wondering....I hope at one point a server will question her ID...for the girl's sake..
Hey!
I too, was "drinking Bartles and Jaymes wine coolers and riding around in a 1982 blue Honda Civic."
Spooky!
ummmmmm. . . not to get judgy on my fellow posters, but a few margaritas does not an alky make. Ususally.
Didn't you drink when you were 17? I did.
a parent can order a drink for their kids... since the girl was with a group of people older than her, I am sure that is how she was allowed to drink. if she had been with a group of 17 year olds, then it would have been different. We on the other hand do not order beers or rita's for our 16 year old. he is our designated driver...
There is no problem with having a few drinks here and there when you are underage as long as your smart about it. I drank occasionaly thru highschool with and without my parents knowledge of it all the time.
I stopped drinking before I turned 21- married had kids... Now at 26 I have found the joy in hitting up the local garcias mexican place and ordering mucho sized drinks for cheap. By nights end the waiters and cooks there are fantastic especially when they join you for drinks and ya'll close the place down learning mexican drinking songs...
That girl reminds me of myself. Now granted in 5 months my drinking will actually be legal. But I have partaken in many an underage drink. My boyfriend is 9 years older than me, so they hardley ever question me, its all in the attitude, as you said. Great story today. Love your blog!
amanda
Oh to be an underage drinker again, so rebellious, the wind in my hair, a fake id in hand of some 37 year old chick that I did not look like at all except she was blonde, oh to be 17 again... I did more drinking in bars underage then I did when I finally was 'the age'
I used to love underage drinking...it was kind of easy since I've had a beard since I was 16, but oh, the thrill of the chase! The excitement of uncertainty! The unabated rush of chugging down Wild Irish Rose behind a baseball field! It faded so much when I turned 21, I became depressed and turned to drinking...
P.S.- Drinking age should be 18 anyway...
@ terrraacy:
No, a parent can not order a drink for their kids. If you're not 21, you can't drink outside your own house. I have people try that all the time. I'll card someone and they miraculously don't have their ID but point at their mother and go, "That's my mom." I don't care. You're not 21, I'm not allowed to serve you. I mean, yeah, there are people like the servers in this post who don't bother to card or who would go along with the whole parent thing, but they're not supposed to.
Smart girl. :) I included this as part of "My Friday Five" at Kate's Library.
I just don't find a 17 year old drinker that shocking, simply because in the UK the legal age is 18.
She still ordered fruity kid drinks - at 17, I walked in and sat at the bar alone (to watch a friend at karaoke contest). Ordered a tequilla sunrise, and the bartender didn't even bat an eye.
Just happened to randomely stumble across your blog ... cool. I am grateful when I was 18 years' old (early 1970's) it was legal in most state's to drink (my home is Dallas) .... actually I feel the drinking age should go back to 18 (I am a father with 3 daughter's), Why? Your old enough to vote, heh? and supposedly use what the masses call "good judgement" ... your old enough to be given a rifle and some grenade's, sent to some ratshit desert halfway around the world, and told to fight to the death .... and said that your old enough to use good judgement .... putting your life on the line, and sometime's just to get a college education in return .... but your not mature enough to drink? That's pure pop culture BS as far as I'm concerned. Nonetheless, enjoyed the posting .... Thanx!
I was like that when I was seventeen. The attitude goes a loooonnnng way. I often card people who I am sure ( and are ) well into their late twenties to mid-thirties because I knew how to play that game so well when I was nearly a decade younger.
@The Bartender
In Texas, a parent or legal guardian CAN order a drink for his minor child, to be consumed in public. Also, a spouse of legal age can order a drink for his or her underage spouse.
Sec.106.04.b CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL BY A MINOR- (b) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the alcoholic beverage was consumed in the visible presence of the minor's adult parent, guardian, or spouse.
Source- http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/laws/alcoholic_beverage_Code_referencing_minors.asp
There are several states that allow parents to order drinks for their minor children to be consumed in public. Ohio is one, I think parts of Indiana also.
It isn't legal in PA where I live though. I didn't order drinks underage, and I STILL get carded at 25.
As a waitress, I find it annoying when people tell me they left their ID in their room, in their car, etc. LAME!!! Let's see, there are 4 of you- 1 of you turned 21 last week and the rest of you don't have IDs...but you came to a sportsbar and ordered alcohol?
Don't get me wrong- friends and I will go out after work and I don't bring an ID to work. I usually just don't order anything unless we went several times that week and the bartender remembers that they have in fact carded me before and yes I am 25. If they ask for my ID, I just say "I don't have it- it's not a big deal, I'll take a Sprite instead" I don't act like I expect to be served when I can't present ID. The rule is anyone under 30, but I usually card the whole table just because it annoys me that I am consistently carded and my husband (1 week older than I am) isn't. Plus the 40-50 year old ladies are tickled pink to present their IDs...
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