Before you start reading this, you might want to pour yourself a nice drink. But wait, that could be a problem if you’re not 21. If not, you might have a fake ID. If so, does it pass the test? To find out more about underage drinking near UCF, I went around to several bars, liquor stores, and grocery stores to get all of the “dirt” on all things alcohol.
Over the past week, I surveyed 100 random UCF students at different locations on campus. These locations include the gym, student union, marketplace, Harris Corporation building, and Nicholson School of Communication. Each student was asked their age, gender, on campus or off campus housing, do they have a fake ID where they get alcohol from, and how many times per week on average do they drink. My results were shocking!
To my surprise, 63 out of 100 students didn’t drink. More than half of these students live off campus, are under 21, are female, don’t have a fake ID and drink at maximum 2 times per week. When I asked several students their views on fake IDs, their responses were all similar.
To protect privacy, lets call one student Kim and one Justin. Kim said, “I see no need to have an ID that isn’t mine. One, it’s illegal. Two, I don’t drink that much to begin with. If I do, my friends that are 21 and older get it for me. I’m not generally the partying type.
Justin said, “Yeah, I’m not 21 nor do I have a fake. It doesn’t matter though. My friends are all older and they always supply the alcohol when we party.”
Justin, unlike Kim said he drinks on average five days a week, sometimes more and sometimes less. These statistics, after thinking about it for a while made more sense to me. The Alcohol Education we all had to complete prior to starting school tried to reinforce the idea that not as many people that we’d assume drink actually do in college.
I went around to nine different locations where alcohol was sold. Getting these places to give a statement was a harder task than I expected it to be. Even though all of their comments are anonymous, some places didn’t want to get involved because of the risk the authorities would get involved.
At the first bar I went to, I spoke to the general manager “Larry”.
“I usually bust more girls than guys. Guys can grow facial hair, tan, gain or lose weight but with girls it’s different. Girls can change their hair color but their facial features stay the same. If I catch you with identification that isn’t yours, you will be thrown out. I won’t call the cops because they have more important things to worry about but I promise you, you will never be allowed back here again,” he said.
Larry showed me a trick he uses to determine if someone is trying to use an ID that doesn’t belong to him or her or is fake. Larry asked for my ID so I gave it to him. He first checked to see that it was a state or federal issued ID. Next, he checked that the birth date matched the license number on top of the ID.
“If your ID says you’re born in 2000 for example, the middle numbers in your DL# should be 00. Most people don’t know this. That’s why it is so easy for us to determine a fake ID from a real one.”
Larry continued to examine my ID then told me some more tricks he uses. “I rub the ID because people try to scratch and chalk the numbers. I’ll always check for holographic, lamination, and thickness. Obviously, if the faces don’t match, it’s not you so don’t even try to use it.”
After this interview, I went to a liquor store. The manager’s responses were almost identical to the bar’s answers. “We are provided an ID book and if an ID looks strange, we’ll whip out the book. In this situation, we ask the customer for a second form of ID. A credit card will work but we prefer something with a picture.
The last place I went to that would release a statement is a college bar and club that is a big hit among UCF students. I spoke to a bartender that wasn’t exactly what I’d call friendly. “Jane” was very quick to say, “If an ID looks fake, we will take it from the customer if they are being rude about it.”
I quickly responded with such shock, “But that’s illegal.” She admitted to that but it didn’t seem to bother her. “We don’t condone underage drinking at all and we are one of the toughest bars with IDs in the UCF area. Don’t come in here and start a problem in my bar.” I thanked her for her time and quickly headed towards the door.
Overall, every place I went to felt the same way. Some however were more pleasant than others.
If you are caught with a fake ID, chances are you will be denied the sale and will be kicked out of the establishment. It’s a risk you as an individual will have to make for yourself but it is something you can get sent to jail for. Identity theft is a serious manner and shouldn’t be taken lightly. If you chose to drink, experts say be safe about it and NEVER get behind the wheel.
