Originally Posted by
lost_in_endicot
Exactly!
I grew up in New York when the drinking age was still 18, and nobody really cared all that much. If you sort of looked like you might be 18, that was good enough in most places.
It was a shock for me the first time I was in California, and was asked to prove I was 21. I had no ID that made the cut, and wouldn't have been served except, that the more senior bartender recognized my accent, and explained to his junior that New York was different from California, and not everybody has a driver's license.
BTW - I was last carded only a few years ago, so I've apparently aged 45 years or so very quickly.