Four Glasses, One Bottle, One Vertical ID
Four guests at table 12 in a college-town restaurant order a bottle of cabernet and four glasses. It is 10:15 p.m. and the server is 19. Guest A hands over an out-of-state driver's license that is printed vertically, expires in 2027, and shows a date of birth making her 20 years and 10 months old. Guest B presents a passport showing 23. Guest C offers a state ID with a clipped corner and an expiration date of last month. Guest D, 24, presents a valid license and says, 'I'm her mother - I'll vouch for all of them,' and pushes her own ID across the table. Guest A has already picked up a glass. The restaurant's policy says to card anyone who appears under 30, and the manager is on the floor but three tables away.
1. Decide for each of the four guests, and explain why the table as a whole is not the unit of decision.
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Go guest by guest.
- Guest A: no service. The date of birth controls, not the look of the card. At 20 years and 10 months she is under 21. A vertical layout is a reason to read the date carefully, not automatic proof either way.
- Guest B: serve. A valid passport showing 23 is acceptable identification.
- Guest C: no service on that ID. A clipped corner means the issuing agency canceled it, and it expired last month. An expired or defaced document proves nothing; ask for another form of ID or refuse.
- Guest D: serve her. She is 24 with a valid license. Her offer to vouch for the others has no legal effect - a friend, spouse, or parent cannot transfer age.
- The 19-year-old server may legally serve and legally refuse. She is not too young to make the call, but she should not be the only person deciding a disputed table.
Deciding by table is how a 20-year-old ends up with a glass in her hand while the server believes the group was checked.
2. The table still wants the bottle. Compare the realistic options and recommend one.
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A bottle and four glasses at a table with a 20-year-old is a setup for shared pours and 'I didn't know.'
- Cleanest: decline the bottle, offer wine by the glass to B and D only. Say it plainly to the whole table so nobody is singled out: 'I can serve you two; I can't serve your friend or leave a bottle at the table.'
- Workable only with manager approval: the bottle is served on the group's assurance that A is not drinking. Realistically, once the server walks away from a four-top, glass-sharing cannot be policed.
- Never: serving the bottle and hoping, pouring A 'just a taste' to avoid awkwardness, or letting D order four glasses and handing one to A.
Recommendation: option 1, delivered by the manager if the table pushes back. The server should bring the manager in early rather than argue alone, and should note the refusal and the reason in the shift log.
3. Guest D argues that as the mother she can give her own child a drink. Answer the claim and give the refusal script, including what the server should not say.
Read the worked answer
The claim. In a licensed on-premises establishment, no. Maine's narrow parent or guardian provision concerns furnishing alcohol to one's own minor child in a private setting such as the home. It does not authorize a restaurant or bar to serve a 20-year-old because a parent is seated at the table. The licensee's duty runs to the licensed premises, and the server is the licensee's agent for that duty.
The script. Short, blameless, final: 'I understand. State law doesn't let me serve anyone under 21 here, even with a parent's permission. I can bring her one of the house-made sodas on me, and I'm happy to take care of you.'
Do not say: 'I'm only 19, they'd fire me' - it invites bargaining and makes the rule sound like house preference rather than law. Do not offer to look away, and do not keep re-explaining after the second refusal. If it escalates, hand it to the manager and log the refusal. A table that leaves annoyed is a review problem; a table that is served is a license problem.