UK resident here, and I'm pretty sure I've only ever once been asked for ID for alcohol -- and that was at a private work event where everyone was definitely over 18 (and I was 38 and not drinking).
I've never been asked for ID for either OTC or prescription medicine, and while I obviously need to present a passport to travel internationally, the airline doesn't need to see it. And all my recent travel has been domestic, and not needed ID.
(Since I turned 18, the government scheme for when to ask for ID for alcohol has ratcheted up from nothing to "Think 21" and on to "Think 25" so a younger me would probably have needed to show ID at least a bit. But I don't think that's entirely unreasonable)
Nonsense! I bought kitchen scissors from a hardware store in the UK a couple of weeks ago (but I'm 65, with a white beard; perhaps they'd have tried to card me if I might conceivably have been under 18).
No, for two reasons. One, while some retailers might decide that "scissors" are really knives and so they'd best act as though you're buying a knife that is not the law. So, this is not something you "have to" do, it's a store policy, like if they won't sell you more than six rolls of toilet paper at a time.
Two, if you're old (which unfortunately I am) then your apparent age is enough anyway. I do not ordinarily carry ID. Nobody stops me buying alcohol, entering nightclubs, watching movies, or doing other age-restricted activities, because "This person is obviously like, fifty?" is enough.
There are places with a policy of asking everyone for ID -- I know because they're the only places where I've been asked for ID.
Of course, for both the knife and the alcohol regulations, the law is around age. ID is merely the mechanism that everyone uses to validate age, as it's settled practice that doing so will prove the ID card holder's age sufficiently for the purpose of the legislation.
I've never been asked for ID for either OTC or prescription medicine, and while I obviously need to present a passport to travel internationally, the airline doesn't need to see it. And all my recent travel has been domestic, and not needed ID.
(Since I turned 18, the government scheme for when to ask for ID for alcohol has ratcheted up from nothing to "Think 21" and on to "Think 25" so a younger me would probably have needed to show ID at least a bit. But I don't think that's entirely unreasonable)