In the justice system, an action or statute that is determined to be promulgated in an “arbitrary or capricious manner” is deemed unlawful. Such a standard should be applied to admission to bars and clubs to underage party goers. I am 20, a few months shy of 21. Where I live at home, outside of New York City, I don’t need an ID to drink. Generally, in NYC, nobody cares because everyone takes the subway home, and I have only been carded twice in NYC in my life.

Now, welcome to Binghamton. Getting into Sports Bar requires a most sensational rack, a fake ID or a “hook up” at the door. I do not own a fake ID, as I deemed it a useless purchase, considering in NYC, arguably (ha) a better city with better bars than Binghamton, it is not required. So I manage to get into these places when I have a “hook up,” or trickery is involved. I do so with enough regularity to keep me satisfied but it is still an annoyance to have to strategize as if I were about to execute sophisticated military plans to get into a basement that serves liquor.

Here is where I have a problem with the current fake ID admissions regime. It just so happens, by no making of my own, that I do not have an older brother. I have an older sister. My eighteen-year-old girlfriend has a 22-year-old-sister, and thus an ID that allows her to get in. I am two years older than her (I look 10 years older), and I’ve been going to bars for three times as long. And yet she effortlessly glides into a bar in Binghamton because, by act of God, her parents birthed a girl 22 years ago.

This is bullshit. I am bitter because it is completely nonsensical and completely arbitrary. Some sort of ID-honor code based on seniority needs to be established. If you have a fake or older sibling’s ID, you should let your oldest friend under 21 use it until he/she is 21 and then it gets passed to the next oldest in succession, much like monarchical power. I guess I should be grateful I don’t look like my 22-year-old sister, who is 5-foot-3 … and a girl.

But I digress. Weekend nights, usually by choice but often for lack of a door “hook up,” I am in my room listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn, drinking a diet Pepsi, writing articles for the paper or doing my homework. This suits me, mostly because I am a recluse, but also because I’m broke.

But in all seriousness, for most people, and for good reason, going out to a bar or lounge or club on weekends is essential to developing an ability to socialize and network, which is a life skill that is absolutely critical to develop at this age. Who is given the chance to develop these skills and who isn’t, unfortunately, is decided in a tremendously arbitrary and unfair manner. Unfortunately, “Halo” tournaments on a projection TV in the Old University Union on Saturday nights don’t do much to level the playing field.

Joe Galante- Eisenberg is a junior economics major.