And yes, I know you meant "minor"...

No, I meant "miner", because it's only funny that way. Not guaranteed funny, but it's the one chance that post has.

Except for the drinking thing, Americans are legally adult at 18--that's when you can vote, marry without parental consent, join the military/get drafted, etc.

And yes, I know you meant "minor"...but I think that in the US you're a minor until you reach 21, then you can start drinking and voting and stuff...care to clarify this, Americans?

18 is the age of majority in the U.S. - adulthood, etc.

Drinking is a special case - and was raised to 21, just because of the number of drunk driving incidents among teens. Voting (and being drafted into the armed forces) comes at age 18. At age 18, your parents are no longer responsible for you. You are legally free to marry without consent (and in some states, that age is lower).

...

She's still a miner, at least in some people's eyes.

What a lode. If you're going to continue in that vein, all I can say is I can dig it.

Drinking is a special case - and was raised to 21, just because of the number of drunk driving incidents among teens.

Completely off topic, but I wonder what the stats for drunk driving incidents for drivers between the ages of 21-24 were in Louisiana after the law changed. Also, I've read articles that say one of the reasons for a higher 18-21 rate is that they weren't allowed to buy the alcohol and could only drink when out.

Also, I've read articles that say one of the reasons for a higher 18-21 rate is that they weren't allowed to buy the alcohol and could only drink when out.

I've read that one of the things that fed the raising of it from 18-21 was to raise the illegal drinking age. You know, when you're 18, you have 17 year old friends, who have 16 year old friends, yada yada. I don't know. I had to wait 'til 21. I think dh got to drink at 20. They raised the age in increments here, and some people were grandfathered in.

was to raise the illegal drinking age

Makes sense. It was 18 when I was growing up, and you could pass for 18 when you were 16.

Of course, the reason the drinking age ever got lowered to 18 was because folks were getting drafted and sent to war and couldn't get a frickin' beer.

Of course, none of that actually stops kids from alcohol. I had my first glass of wine (though, granted, in the sight of my parents) when I was fifteen and my first beer at a college party when I was seventeen. And now, of course, there's the half-bottle of vodka and three-fourths bottle of rum accomanying the two half-empty wine bottles in my mini-fridge. Screw the illegal drinking age.

Right. The illegal drinking age is going to stay the same, because it's not about the 18 yr olds who can do it legally, it's about being at an age with a certain amount of autonomy. You can pass for 18 at 16, but it doesn't make much of a difference if the door's got a good bouncer. And, no one was legally allowed to buy packaged until 21.

Of course, the reason the drinking age ever got lowered to 18 was because folks were getting drafted and sent to war and couldn't get a frickin' beer.

Yes. What they should have done, was raise the driving age.

And, no one was legally allowed to buy packaged until 21.

When? This might have been a regional thing. When the drinking age here was 18, it was 18 at package stores, bars, restaurants, the whole shebang. However, it's been 21 for a very long time - for probably about 20 years - for the whole shebang.

Is a package store just, like, a 7-11 selling beer?