I think you know why but you're just trying to get people riled up.
Now to the argument that it is no longer "valid." I ask valid for what? For driving? Yes, an expired license is no longer valid for driving, but that is not the purpose that the license is being used for in the bar or airport. The purpose of renewing a driver's license goes far beyond mere identification and may inquire into the person's fitness to operate a vehicle. States have people renew a driver's license to verify that the person is still at the same address, has adequate vision to safely operate a vehicle, and perhaps to verify that the vehicle operator still looks like his picture. But the purpose we're using it for in the airport and bar is different. What is my name? What do I look like? When was I born? With the exception of my picture, those other items aren't likely to change. The picture isn't likely to change for a while. Therefore I have no problem with Joe Smith getting on a plane with an expired license so long as it has an accurate picture and the name matches the one on his ticket.
Now, if I don't look like my license, please feel free to deny me boarding or refuse to serve me at the bar, but not on the basis of an arbitrary rule.
This is interesting, at least to me, can we continue?
I went through this exact same thing a while back. I have a valid license in a different state from where I am now. It does not expire for 20+ years, when I turn 65. Kind of ridiculous for the purposes you just mentioned. I certainly will not look like the pic on my card by then and there is quite a possibility that my motor skills & my eyesight could be dangerously gone long before I renew. BUT, that is their state problem (or not.) Maybe people are just more diligent there in spite of not having to renew for such a long time.
I have since moved back to New York City. I don't really drive here. An occasional car rental now & then. So I haven't changed my driver's license over to a NYS one yet.
I still have my old (expired & invalid) license from NY. It has my parents address on it, so I tend to carry it around with me on my body, in case there is a terrorist attack here in NYC - which unfortunately is a likelihood. This way my parents can be notified if I am found unconscious or dead, in case of an emergency, rather than the police trying to track next of kin down via the address on the valid license first and taking much longer.
I DO carry both the valid license & NY license with me usually but my valid license is tucked away in my purse. So if I get separated from my bag, my parents can still be notified by the ID on my body.
Of course I show the valid license for times like at the bank when they need valid ID. Most times, like at the supermarket, or entering a secure building, I show the NY license. It's more familiar to them. They aren't looking at the expiration date, just making sure it's "Me."
Well, one time I was scheduled to get into one of the secure buildings here. My cousin's catering company had booked a job there. When I got to the door, even though I had worked there several times before with the same company, they had a new guard there. Without thinking, I showed him my expired NY ID. He needlessly threw quite a snit right away, saying it was expired.
I threw quite a snit back. I said I wasn't
driving. The license needs to be valid for the purposes of
driving. The
Identity on the driver's license is still accurate. It's still me. In fact it was me long before I got the license. I didn't stop being me, the day that license expired.
Yes, I could have & would have whipped out my valid license if necessary. But that wasn't the point. Other co-workers jumped in to verify my identity, "Yes, she's who she say she is," - rude, belligerent NYer and all.
The guard finally accepted all that. That only further proved my point. The guard never really needed a valid
driver's license. Verifiable ID, yes. But not necessarily a the driver's license to do that.
Oh, by the way, I DO have Secret Service & FBI clearance. At some of these parties, there is such high profile guests, we need to have clearance to work the events. They have questioned some employees & have barred a couple from working certain events. After questioning where some of them have lived, have they ever been to such & such states, some have even alerted & warned that they have an identity theft situation going on & to fix it. Info uncovered from for Patriot Act & all that.
Not me. They never once hauled me in. The FBI knows quite well where I am,
that I've kept the same apartment during, before & after the moves, who signs my checks, where they get cashed, what state my driver's license is issued in; that it's not the one I'm living in & all that. They don't have a problem with me.
). He's flown numerous times, including last June on our WDW trip, and was fine with an expired license. It expired in 2000, I believe. He just had to go through extra security.
Well, now I'm depressed.
