Tales from the Liquor Store

Last Wednesday was my 21st birthday and despite the fact that it fell smack dab in the middle of finals week and that I'm not much of a drinker at all, I decided I couldn't let the momentous occasion pass without having SOME alcohol, right? It seems like a rite of passage sort of thing.

Anyway, I took (and likely failed) my finance final (which I was having serious difficulty caring about) that evening at like 5 and stopped at the grocery store on my way back to the apartment.

From simply being around heavy drinkers (and living with more than a couple), I knew that you could do one of those mix-and-match six-pack dealies with like Smirnoff Ice and Mike's Hard Lemonade and things like that. So I decide that's what I would do.

I felt awkward in the store because I didn't want to look suspicious like I might be underage or anything and I didn't want it to look like it was my first time buying booze, either.

Luckily, it was a bit crowded. Albeit, the crowd consisted of some fairly shadester folks who breathed heavily through the gaps in their teeth.

I found my little mix-and-match thing fairly quickly and filled it with things I was familiar with (again, Mike's and Smirnoff Ice... though I had never tried Mike's) and headed for the check-out, ID in hand.

Naturally, the cashier dude asked me for my license and I handed it over, not making eye contact because I didn't want this big whole to-do because it was my birthday...

But nothing escaped this guy. He gave my ID back without saying anything and then, rather loudly, said "IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY! YOU NEED MORE THAN THIS! IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!" Which caused the classy people in the liquor store to join in with "OH, WOW! IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!? HEY, IT'S HER BIRTHDAY!"

There had to be a dozen people there. Some of whom began to treat me to their "When I turned 21..." stories. Others tried to push me in the direction of the hard liquor.

I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me, but the best I could do was blush like the cute boy in math class just brushed my arm and get the heck out of there with my wimpy fruity beer.

Thanks for not making a scene, liquor store guy. I appreciate it.