Sneaking into a bar at 23

By Stephanie De Pasquale | Sunday, July 20, 2008

I was on vacation last week and spent most of the week doing nothing at a lake in Wisconsin. But I was at home in the Chicago suburbs Friday night and met a few friends from high school for dinner.

My friend Tina had just finished school that day, so we wanted to go to a bar and get her a drink to celebrate, but there was one slight problem: My other friend, Dana, had forgotten her wallet and ID at home.

We’re all 23 but still look young enough to be carded. So, our strategy, after pleading our case to an unsympathetic bartender, was to go to a bar and grill so they wouldn’t card at the door, have Dana head straight to the restroom and I, having my ID with me, would order two drinks for Dana and Tina. (I’m training for the Quad-City Times Bix 7 and haven’t been drinking.) Then, once Dana came out of the restroom, I would pass off the drink.

Our strategy worked, but we felt really dumb “sneaking in” Dana when we were all of age. We decided not to press our luck and headed to IHOP once Dana and Tina finished their one and only celebration round of drink.

Does anyone else have any funny stories about forgetting an ID? For example, I once had to use my passport to get into bars in Iowa City because I had a speeding ticket and didn’t have my driver’s license back yet.

Stephanie De Pasquale can be contacted at (563) 333-2639 or sdepasquale@qctimes.com.