The Student Room Group

Pubs and feeling stupid

This sounds like a stupid problem but its really bothering me. I'm at uni and me and my friends often go out to pubs in town. I'm 18 (19 in May) and female but I look quite young. I ALWAYS get id'd and it didnt used to bother me coz I'm used to it.

Thing is, the other night we went to our local Wetherspoons and I got id'd (for hot chocolate, for some odd reason). The girl who served me was giving me a really smug, smirking look coz she obviously thought she'd caught me out. I gave her my id and she swiped it over something (maybe to check if it was fake, i dont know?) but I just felt so uncomfortable for the rest of the night because she didnt look at anyone elses ID and i noticed she kept smirking!

I know this shouldnt be a problem as I'm not underage but I always feel so unwelcome in pubs, like I shouldnt be there. I feel like everyone is staring at me and thinking 'oh shes blatantly underage' even though i'm not.

What can i do to get over this? Please help

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Reply 1
I have the same problem! I'm 18 years old and i'm also 19 in May. I look quite young and i'm constantly being ID'd for 18's in the cinema, when we go to the pub or a club. It's really annoying! A few weeks ago, they actually refused to take my driving licence because they thought I was using someone elses. It was my picture and my name on the card but they thought I looked much younger and weren't going to let me in. I kicked up a fuss and eventually the guy let me in but I felt awful for the rest of the night.

I feel the exact same way at times but the truth is, we have every right to be there. We ourselves know that we are old enough to go into pubs and clubs and drink legally so sod what everyone else thinks! Instead of walking in there looking guilty and like you don't belong there, walk in there confident and if you do get ID'd, so what? It happens to everyone at some point!

I know that sometimes it feels terrible when you get ID'd and your friends don't but you have nothing to hide, you are old enough to do those things so don't feel so guilty about it and don't let it ruin your night.
Reply 2
I've always hung around with people older than me, and when I was 16 I think, I went out with a group of friends, all of whom were at uni. We went to a few pubs, and I got into every single one, no problem. One of my friends, who was 19, got id'd in every one. It happens. Now, I get id'd everywhere. Don't worry about it.
Heck, I got ID'd for bowling the other week. Places are really tight on ID now-you probably got ID'd cos its a pub (not because of the drink). It happens to lots of people... something you just have to get used to.
Reply 4
Yep, most places have rules against underaged people being in the bar/pub after certain times (usually about 7/8ish?). It wouldn't be uncommon to get ID'd if you're buying something from the bar, as if they don't have people on the doors then they can't stop underage people coming in.
Act confident, but not over confident.. don't feel too paranoid! Smile and be chatty and walk in with a smaller group (I find they tend to pull out more people to ID in a bigger group), and it'd help if you walked in with a boy (just walk in as though you're together... I've got in to so many places by doing that). So what if you get ID's though, they do it randomly quite often, just to check some of the group have it, it's not the end of the world, just show them it, laugh and get on with having fun!
Reply 6
In Manchester i find i get ID'd pretty much everywhere and it really doesnt bother me :s-smilie: I dont really see why its an issue if you know you're 18?

When they ask, just show them and forget about it. You've proved youre 18 if they're going to stare at you for the rest of the evening thats their problem. If someone decided they wanted to try and ruin my evening by staring at me i'd ask them what their problem was :s-smilie:
Reply 7
If you walk in the door of a place and a member of the bar staff decides to pick you out, there's not much you can do. You should be the one smirking though - you're out having fun while they're stuck pouring pints. I know whose position I'd rather be in :wink:
Reply 8
i personally always thought it was quite fun to be IDed. i turned 18 in january and look really young esp being quite short. i love being IDed because it's like Hah! you lose.

maybe thats just me...

you really should just ignore it. youre never going to see those people again and she probably didnt mean to be smirking. like someone said you have a right to be there, you are over 18 and youre not breaking any rules. plus they are very tight on ID as well due to the "challenge 21" rule. if you look under 21 you have to prove you are over 18... really dont worry and get stressed about it...
The powerleague I go to has a pub, you get 8 years old running around and no one says a thing to them lol. Tbh most pub don't really care how old you are unless you're buying a beer.
Reply 10
I got id'd for bowling last year at 22. I went for a pub lunch at O'Neills and ordered pop the same as my friends and was asked for id, so I left got some id went to Wetherspoons and wasn't asked! Seriously a hot chocolate sounds a joke, get served by a bloke next time. I understand about id but females are probably more likely to bitchy.
Reply 11
The reason why people get Id'd more often these days is because theres been a crack down on selling booze to people under age. If you work in a bar and are found to have served someone underage without iding them you can end up with a massive fine and if you can't pay it a jail sentence. The whole iding unless you look over 21 thing is pretty silly because it definitely leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth of the people you id, but the punishments are too big to ignore.
OP: I doubt she was smirking at you, she was probably just smiling. Most bar staff don't like iding people, but they do need the money from their job and can't afford fines.
Don't worry it about. You've got your ID there to prove you're 18 or over so just take it in your stride and don't let anyone see it gets to you.

I'm 22 and sometimes I get ID'ed in certain places. It really doesn't bother me anymore - I find it quite funny.
Reply 13
Yeah, it annoys me this whole '21' thing even though the legal age is 18! So they are basically saying you don't even look 18 :rolleyes: Its nice to prove them wrong when you get the id out, ashame they couldn't id the underage ones at my local nightclubs :rolleyes:
I got ID'd the other day for buying a bottle of Malibu in Sainsbury's (am 21) and foolishly had no ID on my at all :redface: I didn't even consider that they were going to ask me for ID, but I realised afterwards I was wearing my work uniform, which does look kind of like a school uniform! I'm a waitress so its black and whites. I just smiled and said I would come back with ID later to buy it. Felt stupid though. And of course when I went back they didn't even look twice at me. Must've just been an over-enthusiastic cashier.

One of my friends is very petite and always gets ID'd. One night when we were 18 we went out and they asked her for ID (to be fair they asked me as well) then when she showed them they kept laughing and making jokes at her. What gentlemen! :rolleyes: Luckily we were only there waiting for the function room upstairs to open to see a battle of the bands, so we didn't stay in there too long.
you can end up with a massive fine and if you can't pay it a jail sentence


They shouldn't do that... Shouldn't be penalised for your inability to pay a fine. Your financial circumstances have no affect on the seriousness of the offence. :s-smilie:
Reply 16
The staff do face big penalties... In one pub they had their CCTV screen up behind the bar and the staff noticed a pollice car pulling up - they asked if any of my group was underage and I quickly got everyone out the back door. I do my best to be fair to the bar staff. I gave one guy a £10 tip not to ID me at new year (went to buy a drink for a girl and would look pretty stupid if I came back without one :p:)
Reply 17
hellohello12


Being IDed is hardly the most welcoming start to a night out but I always provide an array of ID types just to get one over on them. My mate was able to produce three different types to a bowling alley to buy a drink when they turned down 2 of his ID cards!


thats just ridiculous. what were the first 2 type of ID ?
Reply 18
I don't think their friend was asked for 3 types of ID, but was able to give it. I got by on a novelty ID for a while, but had it confiscated at our sixth form dinner dance. They gave it to the police and the police guy met me outside after, and just said 'wow, mine never looked that good when I was young - enjoy you're night' and cut up the card. Ah, North Wales police :biggrin:
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I gave one guy a £10 tip not to ID me at new year (went to buy a drink for a girl and would look pretty stupid if I came back without one :p:)


:rofl: