My first year in college, I was super into music. I played guitar and joined a campus band and went to see other bands every chance I got.

But I was too young to go to bars, so I often had to sneak into shows or find other ways to watch and learn from other guitarists. I desperately needed a fake ID.

In Portland, we have the recent phenomenon of people not having license plates on their cars. Shouldn’t everyone have license plates on their cars?

When I returned home that summer, I went to great lengths to get an official Oregon state ID with a birth year on it that would make me 21. Not a cheap fake one. A real ID. I possibly committed a felony in the process.

So for the next two years, I saw a lot of bands and musicians. In my mind, access to live music was definitely worth the risk.

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