Can I see some ID?

It was one of those days I just throw on some sweats and a t-shirt and do a fast run into Target to grab a few items. The type of shopping trip where you hope you don’t see anyone you know because you have no makeup on and your hair is messed up.

The young lady, still a teenager, was ringing up my order. Her efficient scanning came to an abrupt halt with the game I was purchasing.

She looked at me and said, “Can I see your ID?”

“What did you say?” I replied. I thought I heard her wrong.

“I need to see your driver’s license please.”

I excitedly dug in my purse and handed her my ID with a giant grin on my face. I can’t remember the last time I was carded. It was like I had won the lottery! This calls for a celebration with a stop by Starbucks on the way out!

The thoughts that ran through my head

Wow! She is questioning that I am old enough to purchase this game? I quickly looked at the box and saw “17+” in the corner. I’m more than twice that! I’m so flattered. I looked around to see if everyone noticed that I had been carded.

My mind wandered to the endless supply of desperate “stay-young” products that line my bathroom counter like a department store display case. Which one had I used? Did it really work? Darn it! I can’t remember which one it was. If I can just remember…I’ll go get more right now and bath in it.

I wanted to shout out to the people around me, “Did you hear that!?! She is carding me!”

Reality hit

The cashier read my thoughts, or maybe it was the “thank you…you just made my whole year” look I gave her.

My brief few seconds of elation came crashing down when she added, “We can’t finish the transaction until an actual driver’s license is scanned into the register.” She scanned it and uneventfully handed it back to me.

Crushed…

I grabbed my bags and moped out of the store Starbucks-less. Would it have killed her to let me go on believing that the $50 bottle of miracle cream had actually taken a wrinkle away..even for just a brief moment standing in the glare of the florescent lighting?

I suddenly felt older as I climbed into my SUV to head back home. I felt the pain as my ego fell out of the car onto the pavement.

I ran over it…who needs it?