A man and his wife sit in my section with their two high school age daughters. He orders a $30 bottle of Italian white and I bring over two glasses and serve the wine. Before I’m finished pouring, he asks for two more glasses for his daughters. “It’s her birthday,“ he says gesturing toward the older daughter. “I hope it’s her 21st, “ I add wryly. I walk away from the table and send my manager to ID them. When of course they have none, he breaks the news that it’s against the law to serve minors. When I return to take the order, the man looks miffed. “So, you didn’t want to serve the wine, huh?“ he asks without looking me in the eyes. I said, “I’m sorry, sir, are you upset by that?“ He replies, “No, but it just doesn’t seem like a very big deal. They’re not very big drinkers.“ (Oh, that’s reassuring) A long moment passes while I decide if it’s worth defending myself. “Well, with all due respect,“ I said, “I can be arrested for serving minors. And the restaurant can be shut down or lose its liquor license. That is kind of a big deal.“ You could tell he didn’t like being told by a waiter. “It just seems that a restaurant like yours that prides itself on the European tradition—-It just doesn’t seem to be in the spirit.“ “Well, I’m sorry you’re upset, but the law is pretty clear about serving underage drinkers.“ I should have said that maybe things would’ve been different if he spent more than 30 bucks on a bottle of wine. Kidding. But, seriously, it pisses me off to no end that people make light of the necessity of asking for ID when as a waiter or bartender you are legally on the hook if you break the law. I’m not going to jail for these chumps. I don’t get paid enough. And any asshole that would make an issue of it isn’t a good enough tipper to make it worth a trip to Rikers.
