A few days after my 18th birthday, many years ago, I was refused service in a pub where I'd been a regular for at least two years.
Actually, I wasn't refused, but the barman refused to let my mate, who was also 18, buy me a drink. And not because he, the barman, wanted to buy me a birthday drink instead. "I'll serve you," the barman told my friend, "but he (jabbing his finger in my direction) isn't getting a drink. He's underage."
I wasn't flattered, I was shocked. Like I said, we'd been coming to the Princess of W*les in Blackheath, south east London, for ages. On a Friday night, after a hard week at school, we'd sit in the pub's back bar, away from the gaze of any teachers who might walk in. We'd drink pints of Bass, smoke Henri Winterman's slim panatellas and debate the merits of the new fangled music of the day, known as 'punk rock'. We knew how to live in those days.
But this barman was new, and must have seen in my fresh-faced features someone who could not possibly be old enough to be served alcohol legally. So I went home, dug out my passport and headed back to the pub. I showed it to the same barman and he poured me a pint without question. I wasn't pissed off with the bloke; he was only doing his job.
I recall this long-ago event after reading of a recent sting operation in Brighton. There, the local constabulary had arranged for two police cadets aged 16 and 17 to visit 20 shops, to see if they could buy booze without being challenged about their age.
We all know that telling a kid's age these days is a tricky business, so the police gave the shopkeepers a hint; the girl wore a t-shirt which declared she was 'Sweet Sixteen - challenge me', while the young man's attire bore the even less subtle legend: 'Underage - challenge me'. Yet eight shops were still set to hand over alcohol until their dads - sorry - until older officers intervened.
I don't know what these cadets looked like. Maybe they looked like children, in which case they shouldn't have been served booze. If in doubt the shopkeepers involved should obviously have asked to see proof of age. Or perhaps they were out-and-out irresponsible types and didn't care how old they were.
Then again, maybe the retailers thought the pair were old enough to buy alcohol, and didn't give a second thought to what they were wearing. It wouldn't be the first time someone has worn clothing 'inappropriate for their years' - or 'mutton dressed as lamb', as we used to call it.
Still, serving youngsters' alcohol is a huge issue and certainly has to be addressed. More test purchasing in Brighton is promised, apparently. I suggest shops on the south coast watch out for a young-looking, late 40s dude wearing a Deep Purple 'Machine Head' t-shirt. That'll be me…