It may not seem like such a big deal to someone who has a fake ID, or who graduated into the 21+ club and no longer needs to use one; but, there are good and bad sides to having a fake. I’m not here to bombard you with numbers, statistics, or to reprimand. However, there are some positive and negative affects that having a fake can have on your relationships.
Let’s say you’re now in college and you have friends who are mostly at least 21. You constantly get invites to go out to places with them, but you’re underage. What are you to do? You want to be involved! You want to remain part of the group! You want to have fun with everyone else too! So here you find yourself with a fake, and sometimes the process of obtaining that is sketchy and very expensive.
Granted, if you have friends who know your ID isn’t real, they will more than likely try to hang out with you in places they know you’ll get in. Some bars do let underage people slide in, but lots of places don’t. You may run into some trouble like McLovin from Superbad, or you may get away with it like Sam and Dean Winchester from Supernatural. Whether or not you plan on using your fake to get into bars/clubs or to get alcohol, remember your relationships with your friends who are over 21.
It may not be a good idea to lie to a group of people who are 21+ because they may very well believe you. For example, this past weekend my friends and I went to the bars with a girl I never met, she was my roommate’s friend from high school. Apparently she had been lying to my roommate claiming that she was 21. She proceeded to also tell the rest of us that she was legal. So as usual, we headed to one of our favorite bars. There we were in line getting carded, and the bouncer wouldn’t accept her ID. So we left that bar and headed to another, assuming the bouncer was simply being a jerk since he had never seen this girl before. At the next bar everyone went in, but my roommate stayed behind to ensure that her friend did too. The bouncer couldn’t tell if the card is indeed real or not, so he handed it over to the officer who is always there to double check. The officer confirmed that the ID is fake, and my roommate ended up being reprimanded along with her old friend.
This is the perfect example of someone’s integrity being tainted by someone who was not 21. The bouncer at this bar knows my roommates and I as regulars. Now to them, my roommate will always be that girl who knows someone who brought along an underage. The entire group was enraged, just at the sheer fact that this girl lied to all of us. We could have gone to a house party had we known she wasn’t of age yet.
If you are not 21, but you’ve resorted to having a fake for whatever situation(s), there are many other things that you can do as well to be safe. As far as around Pitt’s campus, there is always Frat row, or other basement parties to go to. There are even a few events held on campus, or you can simply go to the pre-game before the bars and get to bed early.
If you’re here at Pitt and underage you can still have a great time, even with people who are older. Here is a list of places that allow mixed age groups that you should check out:
- Club Zoo
- Altar Bar
- Whim
- Diesel Club Lounge
- Static
- Eclipse
- Mexico City
These are the places that I have heard good things about, and I have personally been to Diesel. Also, they usually require a cover charge; so keep that in mind. Having fun and doing it well is what the college experience is truly about. Go out and have fun with your friends, and make a flawless track record for yourself!