unlike the netherlands, here you have to go to a liquor store to get your wine. annoying! last friday tim really wanted to get martini. i wondered why, since we had agreed we would make mojitos with the limes and mint we just bought (the rum already waiting in the fridge). but he insisted, and i anyways wanted to go here to take a picture and look inside this enormous store that looks soooo typical american to me! we then ended up with quite a lot of alcohol (gin for gin tonics and the bottle looked so nice!), martini, wine, beer. as if there would be a party... :)but then at the counter we were both asked to prove we were above 21 (yes, we look young!). i gave my passport, but tim only had his dutch driver's license. and that was not allowed. a US license; OK. a dutch passport; OK. but a dutch license?! no! a harvard-id with doctor on it? NO! even the manager came to tell us NO. since we could not both prove we were above 21, buying alcohol was not allowed. even when i suggested i would again go into the store-alone this time- to buy it, they said: NO. because it was obvious we would drink the alcohol together, and tim couldnt prove his age, and thus they could be violating the law by permitting me to buy alcohol for him...
did you get that? i did not...
we thus went to the next Kappy's, a little further down the road. i went in alone, couldnt find the martini (buuuuhhh!), but the gin etc i did find. and.... the girl at the counter did not even look at me.... and surely she did not ask me to prove i was above 21.....
8 comments:
Actually, you can get wine in a grocery store as well; just not every store ;)
Fabulous!!!! We all know this since years, but you have an amazing way of narrating it, Cat
like we dont know that burp!
@berk: thats what i heard... but in fact i never saw wine in any of the supermarkets we have been so far...
@mehul. :) seriously. i did not know it was this ridiculous. this is really very very weird coming from a country with almost opposite rules...! i mean, isnt there something like common sense? surely a dutch license is an official document, which is valid for driving a car. also in the US. it has a picture, and states your date of birth. come on!! isnt that enough? surely, the girl was just afraid of doing something not allowed by her manager. thats why she got him to solve the matter. if he had just used his common sense... he would have kept 2 customers happy, isnt that more important?!! this is simply something i cannot understand. especially when thinking that you are allowed to have a gun in this country. you are allowed to drive a car at 16. you even are allowed to drive one without a license as long as someone with one is next to you. but you cannot buy alcohol while youre obviously above 21 but cannot prove it with a certain document?
ah well... maybe one day i get used to it...
Gevonden op website US Consulate Amsterdam:
Quote
Foreign Driver's Licenses Motorists visiting the United States from countries that have ratified the Convention on Road Traffic (the Convention has been ratified by the Netherlands), may use their own valid driver licenses to drive in the United States. Visitors who intend to rent an automobile in the United States are advised to obtain an International Driving Permit prior to their departure from the Netherlands. These licenses/permits can be useful in connection with renting a car or in emergencies such as traffic violations or auto accidents, particularly when a foreign language is involved.
These licenses/permits must be obtained prior to departure for the United States. In the Netherlands the A.N.W.B. can issue them. For more information.
Motorists from the Netherlands who visit the United States as bona fide tourists, can drive legally using their valid domestic driver license for a period not to exceed one year from date of arrival. Persons entering the United States, other than visitors, must obtain a driving license from the appropriate state authority upon their arrival at their destination. The Embassy does not have any information available concerning the laws of the various States on the requirements for issuance of driving licenses.
UNQUOTE
Vooral in MASS. schijnen ze moeilijk te kunnen doen over foreign driving licenses.
ja... maar op orientatie (en dat is wel iets "officieels") hebben ze verteld dat je rijbewijs gewoon geldig is, en dat t steeds weer een jaar geldig is als je weer opnieuw t land binnenkomt. daarom hoef je niet perse een US rijbewijs te halen. maar t was wel handig, zeiden ze, maar voornamelijk om alcohol te kunnen krijgen... overigens kun je je NL rijbewijs gewoon zonder problemen omzetten in een US rijbewijs als je dat binnen 30 dagen na binnenkomst doet, als je later bent, moet je een test doen (ook debiel). terwijl in californie je binnen 10 dagen een US rijbewijs moet hebben...
allemaal stomme regels...
Ik zou maar eens gaan informeren en denk dan ook aan de gevolgen als je rijdt zonder geldig rijbewijs. Als de info van US Consul juist is.
Nog iets: als je een vergunning hebt voor drie jaar en je gaat ff weg op verlof of zo, dan kom je toch niet opnieuw voor een jaar binnen. Ja stomme regels en amerikanen zijn heeeeeel bureaucratisch en soms hebben de agenten en andere officials geen lef om in de geest van regels te leven i.p.v. de naar de letter. Succes. Leuke verhalen schrijf je.
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