A few weeks ago, I visited a friendly neighborhood restaurant in the Portland area with my family. My wine-savvy Italian grandfather decided to order some vino for the table, and immediately following his request, the nosy waiter glared over at me and burst out, “I’m gonna need to see some ID!”
I was taken aback by this rude outburst. When his nose popped in my face, I was busy searching for my perfect entrée on the menu and not even aware that alcohol was being considered at dinner. After the interrogating fellow headed to the kitchen, my French grandmother commented, “I can’t get used to the idea that the drinking age is 21 here. I think it’s stupid. You can go off to war and kill at age 18, but you can’t have a drink.”
At that moment, I longed to be sitting in a Parisian restaurant. After spending last summer tasting the flavors of wine culture in France, where waiters were delighted to share with me their country’s love for the beverage, I get a little disgusted when I remember things aren’t the same here. I feel that wine is a special complement to a delicious meal, and having one glass doesn’t make me an alcoholic. Many minors aren’t looking to get drunk — they may simply want to experience a refined glass of Merlot.
In France and other European countries, wine is considered part of a meal for most people, starting in young adulthood. Around age 14, kids are introduced to wine with a drop in their glass of water to give it some color. In a few years, they graduate to a full glass of wine. Most importantly, there are no pushy waiters who imply to teens and 20-year-olds that having a nice glass of rosé is a crime.
It isn’t just the ban on wine that bugs me. By prohibiting all alcoholic drinks to minors in this country, the beverages become a forbidden fruit, making them all the more desirable. And when curious minors get their hands on it, they go wild. In a country like France or Italy, where alcohol is readily available to all, it doesn’t seem that exciting anymore. Fewer young people partake in binge-drinking fiascoes over there, because what’s the fun in downing a legal substance?
Minors may also be less inclined to abuse alcohol in Europe because they associate drinking with Mom and Pop. Wine is introduced in the safe environment of the home, while in the United States, alcohol is normally first experienced in a rowdy residence hall — a place much more conducive to misbehaving. And at 12 a.m. on most Americans’ 21st birthdays, it’s off to the bar to get sloshed and finally be welcomed into the merchant’s world of alcohol. It creates a perfect ritualistic opportunity to go buck wild, whereas across the Atlantic, one night of drinking wouldn’t matter from the next.
I’m smart enough to know this law won’t change anytime soon, but it would be a miracle if this country realized someday that suppression leads to desire — that wine tasting does no more damage at age 20 than it does at 21. It would be nice even if waiters would show a little more respect. Like the server at The Olive Garden who demonstrated to a friend and me two years ago when he allowed us, as minors, to have a complimentary drop of wine with our desserts. I sure became an Olive Garden fan after that!
I’ve got 12 weeks until my 21st, but in the meantime I’m going to visit Canada, where I can have my last dose of enjoying the respect that I lack at home. And I plan to hit the bar on my 21st for an unhealthy night of drunkenness that, had I been living in France, I would do without. But why not? It’s a ritual.