Stereotyping me / her

Am I really so young at heart? I have now been carded twice at the Uptown Waterloo liquor store, even though not only am I not even close to the age of drinking (19) but I am also not even close to the upper limit age the LCBO sets in terms of who they card (25ish). What I don’t understand is that I got carded by two different women, both of whom were middle aged, and I always assume middle age women know *everything*, including how to perceive your age accurately. This is the one demographic I would never assume I could pull anything past. For instance, in Cuba, the security personnel in museums are…middle aged women. Are you really planning to mess with someone who looks like mom or grandma? I am pretty sure that that was Castro’s angle on staffing decisions.

I asked the second one if this was some elaborate joke on me, and she said no, and still insisted on seeing my ID which showed that I am more than a decade older than someone who is not allowed to drink. She was very surprised and told me that I look 21. And then she said maybe it’s because I’m all bundled up in my winter clothes. Hard to say.

I’ve been wondering if it’s the hoop earrings which have made a come back in my accessories, since I was recently referred to as “cheap labour” when introduced as a student at a conference even though I had just stated that I’d been working as a professional for several years. And then at a book launch I got asked if I was a student, and then how to get cheap labour from students, so I at least referred him to my professor this time so he can hire other students. But I feel like the cheapness was again implied towards me. So, maybe those people think I’m much younger than my age too, but unfortunately 21 is not even a compliment younger–I think it just makes me seem immature.

When I told codejill about the second carding incident, she texted back that “Kool kidz underdress 4 wintaz”. I think that means that they mis-stereotyped me since I was wearing clothes, not taking them off. Sure sign of oldness. And I mis-stereotyped them. I guess not all middle aged women are as perceptive as my mom. Or maybe it simply operates along the lines of genetics.

Anyways, this carding is becoming a nuisance and a serious time waster. Especially since it’s cutting into my time to smoke and drink beer with the other kool kidz at the cemetery by my house before curfew.