The Amazingly Odd Things Americans Do

Verifying One’s Drinking Age

We make a big deal in the U.S. about making sure a person is 21 and older before buying alcohol. Elsewhere in the world, folks can start drinking at age 16, and most places don’t bother asking for ID. If a person has enough backbone to come up to the pub or bar and ask for beer or similar with the money, they are served. Part of our age-related focus steps from our Euro-Christian background and fixation on liquor, but part of it is also a compromise between allowing drinking and many elements in the U.S. who would like to go back to Prohibition.