Booze Carding Really Is Just About Your Age

ANOTHER ROUND ON WHY SERVERS ASK FOR ID: A recent column on why alcohol servers ask even the elderly for a driver’s license prompted a lot of response.

Michael asks via email “why should someone who is obviously old enough and not drunk be required to show an ID to a server? Is it a law that everyone must show proof of age to get a drink?”

No, but it is a good CYA – cover your assets – move.

According to the Regulation and Licensing Department, which enforces the law, carding IS all about age.

State statute 60-7B-5 refers to asking for proof of identification only to verify a purchaser is over the age of 21. “Any person licensed pursuant to the provisions of the Liquor Control Act or any employee, agent or lessee of that person shall refuse to sell or serve alcoholic beverages to any person who is unable to produce an identity card as evidence that he is 21 years of age or over.”

No shot of common sense required.

The state Regulation and Licensing Department’s own website goes into detail on “what are acceptable forms of identification?” and lists various federal and state ID cards with “a picture of the person and a birth date showing that they are over 21 years of age.”

Nothing about valid ID for the sake of valid ID, just valid ID to prove the purchaser is over the age of 21 and won’t cost a server a criminal citation or a business its liquor license.

Wendell Jones says via email “it still revolves around the ‘age-21′ issue. I first encountered ‘card-everyone’ practices while working in Atlanta a few years ago. I saw more than one unhappy customer having to show ID who was in his/her 50s who was very ANGRY. The bartenders told me that was … policy, and I soon discovered that other restaurants/bars in the area were following the same practice. … I say ‘card everyone.’ ”

And that’s exactly what servers are doing.

HUGS FOR CARDING: Donese emails she “chuckled when I read your column this morning about the old folks who get carded and get annoyed. I’m 64 and my husband is 69. And we get carded routinely.”

“The ‘carders’ are just doing their work. So I just smile really big when I get carded – I mean it’s a joke at my age – and turn it into a compliment. I even frequently say to the ‘carder’ that I’m so pleased to be carded that I’m going to give them a hug, and proceed to do so! When I said that to a cashier at Costco recently, she got a big smile on her face and opened up her arms. … It’s such a great way to turn lemons into lemonade. And it makes their unpleasant task easier for them and more fun for me!”

THOSE EXIT RAMPS STILL NEED MERGE HELP: Bruce emails total agreement with the reader who is having trouble moving from her dedicated exit-ramp through lane into frontage-road traffic at Interstate 25′s San Antonio and Paseo del Norte exits.

“Drivers on the frontage road are totally oblivious to folks exiting from I-25,” he says. “And I mean totally oblivious! I don’t know what the accident history is along that stretch but I have come close a couple of times to getting hit. Perhaps another letter or two might convince (NMDOT) that some kind of additional signage would be helpful.”

NMDOT has said the exit lanes don’t have to merge – they continue through – so it’s unclear what the signs should say beyond Be Courteous/Let Drivers Change Lanes.

JUST EXIT ONE RAMP EARLY: In the meantime, Kay Smith has a suggestion. “Get off at the San Antonio exit,” Kay emails, “and you’ve got plenty of time to get into the far right frontage lane to turn right onto eastbound Paseo. Likewise, if you want to get onto eastbound San Antonio, get off I-25 at San Mateo. Maybe in a perfect world we shouldn’t have to do this, but it isn’t a perfect world, and getting off one exit earlier solves the problem for me.”

IT’S WARM AND THE BIKE TRAIL IS BETTER THAN EVER: And Nob Hill Cyclist emails “how about some kudos for the beautiful job the city and Star Paving did on the Bosque bike trail? What an improvement!”

The city had $1.5 million left over from the $5 million multi-use bridge over the Rio Grande at Interstate 40 and used it to repave the trail from Alameda to Bridge.

Just in time for summer.

Assistant editorial page editor D’Val Westphal tackles commuter issues for the Metro area on Mondays and West Siders and Rio Ranchoans on Thursdays. Reach her at 823-3858; road@abqjournal.com; P.O. Drawer J, Albuquerque, N.M. 87103; or go to abqjournal.com/traffic to read previous columns and join in the conversation.

— This article appeared on page D1 of the Albuquerque Journal