When it comes to non-alcoholic beverages, names like Shirley Temple and Roy Rodgers might come to mind. But what about an Arnold Palmer?
A server on TikTok says she ID’d a 13-year-old for ordering the drink because she assumed it had alcohol in it.
“Me when a 13 yr old ordered an Arnold palmer and I asked for their ID and their parents yelled ‘FOR AN ARNOLD PALMER,’” TikToker Kylee (@kyleehoffman) writes in her viral video, which by Thursday had amassed over 3.8 million views. The Daily Dot reached out to her via TikTok comment.
@kyleehoffmann sounds like a mixed drink to me🤷♀️ #fyp #serving #foryou ♬ original sound – TheologicalClips
She admits to her mistake by mouthing along to a voiceover. “Um, I don’t know what I’m talking about,” she begins as she raises her arms in defeat. “And I never have. I never really have.”
Since it sounded like a mixed drink, Kylee assumed that it had alcohol. In actuality, it’s a famous non-alcohol beverage named after the professional golfer Arnold Palmer.
According to the Arnold Palmer website, the drink was born in the 1960s. Arnold had been out to lunch when he asked a waitress for a drink made of a mixture of lemonade and iced tea. Back then, fans wanted to golf like Arnold—and evidently drink like him, too.
So a woman sitting nearby overheard and asked the waitress for the “Arnold Palmer” drink.
“Arnold had been drinking the combination for years,” the website states. “After a hot day on the course at Latrobe Country Club, he would ask his wife Winnie to make him an iced tea with lemonade.”
While spiked versions of the Arnold Palmer exist, it’s typically served without alcohol.
Reactions in the comments of Kylee’s video were mixed, with some people saying that they also thought it was an alcoholic drink.
“Ok but the only Arnold palmer I’ve ever actually seen was a alcoholic version,” one person wrote.
“Also confused I thought it was alcohol,” seconded another.
“This happened to me once and i tried to pass it off as a joke lmao,” a third commented.
But then there were those—much like the child’s parents—who couldn’t believe that people didn’t know what goes into an Arnold Palmer.
“HOW DO YOU GUYS NOT KNOW!?” this woman questioned.
“My man did NOT golf and die for people to not know his drink,” this shocked viewer wrote.
The comments section was also filled with stories from service workers sharing their own embarrassing mistakes.
“As a cashier i used to id for packs of kombucha bc it looks like craft beer from a glance,” said this user.
“I IDd someone for an Arizona once when I was exhausted on a busy day, what can I say it looked beer shaped (felt terrible lmao),” another wrote.
“I did this for a passionfruit NOJITO like it was right in the name,” a third shared.
On the flip side, viewers have been on the receiving end of odd treatment from bartenders.
“Once I got IDd for water at a bar because it was past 10 pm,” this woman shared.
Another user got chewed out for no good reason: “I asked for a root beer and someone else came over with him to ask for my ID and I was like um.. he must’ve misunderstood but I was so embarrassed,” they wrote.
But one person had a much different experience: “On my 13th birthday i ordered a lemonade and the waitress said do u want tito’s in that and didn’t even ask to id me,” they wrote.
