But you didn’t fly until they could positively identify who you are. If they couldn’t identify who you are, you wouldn’t have been on those airplanes.
But I didn't need to carry "identification". I just had to answer some questions.
How recently?
Public airport or private?
"Retail" or privately hired pilot?
I'm guessing people only tell the story when they fly a commercial mainline airline out of a commercial airport, simply because "yeah my buddy has a Cessna 172 and we flew to California" just isn't a very good story.
I did this last in 2016 when I forgot my wallet at home on my way out from SJC flying on Delta.