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The Legal Drinking Age Of America

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It was a typical Saturday night working as a waiter. The dinner rush had just ended and I was catching up on some side work. As I am refilling the salad dressings, the hostess informs me that she had just sat a table in my section. After arriving at the table and introducing myself, I proceed to ask for their drink orders. The first words articulated out the woman’s mouth are spoken with a deep, thick, Irish accent. I could not help but acknowledge it and after chatting for a few minutes, I come to learn that they had just arrived from the airport and are vacationing in Florida for two weeks. After taking both parents drink orders, I ask their son what he would like to drink. Like the true Irish man he is, he asks me for a Guinness. He looked a little young to be drinking so I asked him for some id. He hands me the id and it reads that he is only nineteen years old. I had to explain to them that the legal drinking age in the United States was twenty one years old and I could see the look of confusion in their face. The father tried quarreling with me that the law was stupid and since they are allowed to drink their country, they should be allowed to drink here. Little did they know that this issue is very personal to me. One of my good friends in high school was riding his bike one night and was hit and killed by an underage drunk driver. The look of confusion was wiped from their face forthwith after telling them my story. The topic of changing the minimum legal drinking

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