Chameleons

Two girls hail me in Mascot shopping centre, ‘How long will it take to get to Double Bay ?’. ‘I dunno, ten, fifteen minutes...’

I’m writing up these notes in a Turkish joint on Oxford St., waiting for a cheese, lamb and spinach pide. At the back of the shop, SBS’s 9.30 pm News filters from an antique television, and I’m distracted by talk of a hostage situation in Saudi Arabia. Walking back to check it out, it shows a blindfolded American stating his name and job. The hostage is a civilian Apache helicopter technician. Chilling. The vision cuts to an Islamofascist spewing forth in Arabic, with his identity concealed. Hero.

As the item finishes I shake my head sadly, catching the eye of the proprietor. He raises one finger and warns, ‘I tell you this, America in big trouble - you kill Iraqis, they kill you !!’. In this one sentence his impassioned voice has risen three octaves. I stop and look at him impassively - he’s a nice, older gentleman, who I often chat to - his wagging finger hovering in mid-air. I look at his other bare hand massaging the pide mix out of a large tupperware bowl. He is about to feed me dinner, and I suddenly feel vulnerable, ‘Let’s not talk about it’, I reply curtly, and return to my field notes...

‘How much will it cost ?’, she demands impatiently, leaning in the front door. ‘I dunno, ten, fifteen bucks...,’ I say, thinking you either have to go to Double Bay or you don’t. ‘We’ve got to be there by 8 o’clock....’. ‘No worries lady - jump in’, I reply. Except she’s only a girl, 16 years old. Her and her older girlfriend are off to The Golden Sheaf Hotel, to watch the State of Origin football match. Or rather to watch some boys, watching the State of Origin match.

Inquiring where they’re from, I’m shocked when they respond with obvious bemusement, ‘Mascot’. ‘Born and bred’, responds the 16 year old in the front seat. Flabbergasted, I state incredulously, ‘You live in Mascot, and don’t know where Double Bay is..?!’. I can’t believe it.

So I interview her. She has been working since 14, having left school in Year 9. ‘So how you going to get into the Golden Sheaf ?’, I ask. ‘Fake I.D’, she says, matter of factly. Then goes on to tell me, ‘I have a full-time job, rent a flat, pay my own bills, support a boyfriend...’ ‘Why..?’, I interrupt, ‘Because I’m an idiot !’, she fires back, without missing a beat, and we both laugh at this, ‘...but I can’t legally party in a pub or club. I’m an adult in a girls’ body’.

‘Just don’t get pregnant...’, I advise, but she cuts in dismissively, ‘Let’s not even go there...’ Immediately I judge she’s really likeable, with a maturity and frankness beyond her years. And without a hint of pretension. I chide her for wearing stiletto boots (costing her $80), to watch a football match on television, but that’s Double Bay. She’s concerned about the uppity local chicks, but I reassure her that she has personality, unlike them.

On arrival outside the Sheaf - they have never seen the exclusive fashion shops of Double Bay (!) - she opens the door to alight, then as an afterthought turns back to me, ‘How old do you think I look ?’, she asks demurely. I carefully consider her fair hair, pulled directly back off a high intelligent forehead, popstar Pink style, coupled with plucked and eye lined eyebrows, plus glistening cheekbones. She is one pretty girl and I tell her honestly, ‘Aww, ‘bout 20'. ‘Thank you’, she replies sweetly with a warm smile, nods and jumps out. No wonder older men get into trouble..

A big boofy bloke who has been waiting, jumps straight in, ‘Royal Hotel, Five Ways Paddington’, he orders. ‘How old do you reckon that girl was ?’, I ask as we pull away. ‘Mate, the same age as other girls in there - they look 20, but they’re 16 !’, he barks. He is a Golden Sheaf regular, so I grill him on how they gain entry. ‘Mate, they fake I.D. to get past the door. Then at the bar, the manager challenges them. They present fake passports - you can get them in Thailand for $5 ! I know the Sheaf manager, and he’s pulling his hair out, but what can he do...?’.

Now I understand hoteliers dilema when confronting these obvious chameleons.

Comments

[Yobbo]

" She has been working since 14, having left school in Year 9. ‘So how you going to get into the Golden Sheaf ?’, I ask. ‘Fake I.D’, she says, matter of factly. Then goes on to tell me, ‘I have a full-time job, rent a flat, pay my own bills, support a boyfriend...’"

I agree 100% with the poor girl. She's obviously responsible, working, got a decent head on her shoulders. Because of her birthdate, though, she's denied access to a venue that a lot of her friends and workmates are allowed into.

This is a good example of why arbitrary age restrictions are unfair. That girl is a lot more capable and responsible than many school leaver who have turned 18, yet they can go to a pub and she can't.

[Dirk Thruster]

Arbitrary restrictions of any sort are always going to be unfair to somebody - Mark Skaife is probably a safer driver at 120k's than I am at 100 - but what is the alternative? Anything else is too vague and leaves the way open for long and involved legal proceedings when somebodies evening goes pear-shaped.

[Yobbo]

Well, the alternative is obviously some sort of test. Just like we have a driving test. You can drive once you a:) turn 17 and b:) pass the test. My assertion is that simply passing the test should be enough. Especially for those who can show a good reason for needing a licence. (Working or possibly helping in family business? I myself drove many times for age 17, as a pilot for heavy machinery on my parents farm. Luckily, police in country areas tend to look the other way on such things)

What the test for alcohol would be, I don't know. The fact is though, it's grossly unfair, especially to those who leave school at 15, to be subjected to age-based freedom restrictions when they are frequently just as capable of handling it as 18 year olds.

Mark Skaife was probably a very capable driver at 16. My younger sister, who is 21, can't drive to save her life. The law should recognise this obvious fact.

[Dirk Thruster]

Unless things are very different in WA than the rest of the country, licence tests have very little to do with driving a vehicle safely; I have taken ( and passed) driving tests in Vic, NSW, QLD and the NT and I don't remember ever having to do an emergency stop or take evasive action. Driving tests are about parking and road signs, not car control. If they can't organise something as simple as that, how are they going to organise an 'alcohol maturity' test? More impotantly, how is the publican going to administer it?

[adrian]

An interesting situation arises when a mature girl/woman is deemed illegal, in a place where alcohol is served, surrounded by drinking men.

As a stand alone issue, it would appear this 16 year olds' situation has merit. However in the broader context, the law pertaining to underage drinking is being broken.

What must be considered, is why this law is in place. Because the majority of society demands it of our lawmakers, due to the majority of 16 year olds being dependant on their parents.

And believe me, you will get a robust arguement from any responsible parent of a 16 year old, on why this law must be policed. Indeed there is no need to spell it out.

Currently you can bet there are more parents who will champion this law than would object. Yes, it's unfortunate for this particluar 16 year old, but in a democracy she is in the minority. End of story.

If she can't understand it now, she will better appreciate it when her daughter is 16.

[Yobbo]

I understand the concept of young people being a minority, believe me. However, just because the majority says so doesn't make it right. Blacks were a minority in the US when the majority believed owning them as property was fair enough.

There is a name for this: the "tyranny of the majority".

I thought we were past the stage where people were judged on factors that they could not control, like sex, race, height or age. Just because two people share the same age doesn't mean everything else about them is the same.

[Dirk Thruster]

There is another name for "the tyranny of the majority", it's called "democracy". However, that's another topic. As a supporter of the Libertarians (I think) I don't know how you are going to reconcile 'individual freedoms' with 'small government' because, unless you completely deregulate the hospitality industry, anything but a blanket law is a recipe for a bureaucratic nightmare. Besides which, aren't ALL laws arbitrary? A case could be made for discrimination, no matter what the eligibilty criteria were, for anybody who fell just outside the square.
On another front, I'm fairly certain that alcohol is more harmful physically to younger people than it is to adults and while it would be easy to say that the girl could make an informed decision to risk the harm, I'd rather my tax dollars didn't have to go to repairing the damage (small government).

[adrian]

Yobbo, this girl is atypical of 16 year olds. It's not so much she is in a minority, but simply outnumbered by a greater number of parents who want all 16 year olds out of pubs.

Short of advocating anarchy, what sort of test or regulation, do you suggest would keep those responsible for the protection of minors, happy ?

[Yobbo]

Adrian: Leave it up to the pub owners. They are in the best position to determine who can or can not handle their alcohol. They are still responsible in the event of someone drinking theirself to excess and doing something stupid (under negligence laws).

Remember that in other western countries (like France, Germany) the drinking age is as low or 14 or 16. There's no proof at all that people that age can't handle alcohol. In the US it's 21. It's a completely arbitrary point with no basis in either scientific or social research.

I personally believe that if you're old enough to work then you're old enough to have a beer after work. My parents let me go to the pub from age 16 onwards (in the country it's not unusual for most of the town to be at the pub, it's one of the only places that exist for a social gathering.

The publican asked my dad what he was allowed to serve me..(his answer: beer or soft drinks only; no spirits and no cigarettes), and so under those limitations I've been drinking regularly at licenced venues since age 16. (although since dad doesn't have a say in it anymore, I do indulge in the odd whiskey and cigarette)

When I was 20 I went backpacking around the US, and discovered to my chagrin that I couldn't legally drink in a pub until I turned 21 (luckily for me, only a month after I arrived). I asked a few other punters the reason for such a high drinking age, and the response I got from them was the same as the reasons you guys have put forward for keeping the drinking age at 18 in Australia.

The fact is that no matter what age you begin drinking at, there is a certain period of experimentation involved where you establish your own limitations. Whether you have your first drink at 15 or 25 makes no difference, there are still going to be a couple of nights spent over the porcelain while you work it out.

The only difference allowing 16 year olds into pubs would make is that many of them would drink there instead of buying alcohol from a bottle shop and consuming it at parties with no adult supervision. What's more dangerous?

[adrian]

Yobbo, that's not a comment - that's a post ! Indeed why don't you make it one ? Underage drinking as an issue, deserves a wider audience, like yours, which Cablogs' small numbers can't do justice to. I'm sure it would generate a vigorous debate...

Once again, I don't fundamentally disagree with you. Who hasn't got on the piss, with relish, at an early age. One of the great, and often first, rites of passage. As such I make no moral judgement of it, per se.

In addressing your arguement, I hold underage drinking in the bush, is a different experience altogether than Double Bay or Coogee Bay, Sydney. In the bush, it's an infinitely more acceptable exercise for all concerned.

However, I'm constantly receiving negative comment from adult patrons regarding these drunken, spoiled, little shits in City bars.

Indeed, recently I picked up a 28 year old fella from the Palace in Coogee who jumped in the cab and said, Mate, take me somewhere I can drink and not feel like I'm in Kindergarden !

Bush kids are a lot more mature and respectful in their drinking environment. If a local is forced to pull them into line, they generally respond. Everyone knows everyone. Indeed, bush people in my cab stand out for their inate decency.

Drunken, spoiled City kids would just tell an adult here to, 'fuck off..!' - no respect at all. Maybe it is this factor, more so than the underage factor, which rankles with other drinking patrons here.

In a small town, they'd cop a clip over the ear. Here, they'll sue you !

[Brolga]

I know this kind of story way to well.
I am 16,
I am paying rent and living with my partner,
I pay the same tax rate as everyone else,
I work fulltime,
I believe I have a good job working for a large law firm,
I am not a dumb person,
I have lived in the city my hole life.

I find laws relating to liquor liscencing very sketchy and do not take into account people with a situation similar to my own or this girl.

I came about this website as while trying to find an updated version of the Responsible Service of Alcohol (which i have completed by the way) to check something in order to write a letter of complaint to a pub in the inner city area where i live as i was rejected from even having a meal in there bistro area as i was not with my 'legal guardian.'

The law just doesnt make sense at all. I know without sounding blasey or cocky that i would have a more mature approach to drinking then alot of people over the age of 18 (please dont check photos from the inthemix website) and while I do tend to party hard I dont necessarily end up in the same state the morning after then most of the people I will come into contact during the night.

Thats why it is so frustrating to know that you are on a different level to everyone and yet you are still restricted.

Special conditions should be applied to let certain people under the age of 18 have the rights of a person over the age of 18, even the responsibility to the law of a person over 18, because for alot of people who arent 18, they are already living with responsibilities far greater then the average 18 year old.

[Fake ID Girl]

Say what?