Teens are undoubtedly a more resourceful group of people nowadays than they were back in my younger years.
There was a time, in my heady days of youthful escapades, that getting one's hands on some booze was a challenge so seemingly insurmountable that we would spend long evenings in the attempt without any real prospect of success.
Yes, the options were basically to use one of those laughable fake IDs, McLovin style, or convince an of-age person to buy you some cheap, awful liquor.
Check out this classic clip of McLovin showing off his fake ID:Though it would seem that in our brave new world, teens are much more adept at using circumstances to their advantage. What leads me to that assumption?
Well this, the news that teenagers are allegedly disguising themselves as mask-wearing grandmas in order to buy booze. It was first reported by the New York Post, who wrote that the new TikTok prank has taken social media by storm after several videos emerged of apparently successful attempts.
“PSA: use ur fakes as much as possible bc if you wear a mask they can’t see ur whole face lol," wrote one TikTok user.
Meanwhile, comedian Jason Lawhead wrote on Twitter, "Now that we have to wear masks, this is the best time to buy alcohol with a fake ID since the early 80's..."
In a video that has since been made private, one girl can be seen getting wrinkles drawn onto her face with makeup before using a walker to make her way through a parking lot while clutching a bottle of pink liquid. Per the Post, the video has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.
Another video, which has been viewed more than two million times, shows a girl don a gray wig and full on mask to head into a store.
A third video that has also now been made private reportedly shows a blonde girl accompanying her 'grandmother' - a friend wearing a mask and gloves - round a store.
They later emerge carrying vodka. “Oh, my God, it worked!” said the poster. “It’s too good, guys.”
As The Cut notes, due to the prevalence of incredibly elaborate pranks and clever misdirection in TikTok, it's not 100% clear if these videos are actually genuine. The fact that several of the clips have since been made private, though, could suggest that they are authentic.
