# A generation of adult kids? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2003, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814 "2003-07-25T05:48:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/21 "2003-07-25T22:41:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bugnorton \* > \*\ ***Joel** , funny thing about that, I’m 45 and when I look at **my** parent’s generation, I think _exactly_ the same thing. I recall how they were at this age and I feel like people my age (40 - 50) are [huge, unsupported generalization] heading into their 50’s and 60’s with an entirely different, and much more youthful, mindset and lifestyle[/huge, unsupported generalization]. > > Granted, most of us don’t still live at home, but we probably will when we want to retire because the vast majority of us _ **forgot** _(or couldn’t afford to think) about planning for it …“_Talkin’ 'bout my generation…Hope I die before I get old…_” > > BTW, it’s not cartoons, but there are quite a few fairly avid SciFiers among us. > > That’s just my take on it, though, YMMV. \*\* Yeah, well, looking at **everybody** , each generation seems to be aging better than the previous. I’m talking about people in their 30’s, give or take a few years, because that’s my age range. But I do notice that people in their 40’s and older also seem to be more youthful than the previous generations as well. And yeah, I can perfectly see Sci-fi being popular among you middle agers 😃 Of course there’s all the Star Trek’s, and the X files and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/22 "2003-07-25T22:43:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dctaz \* > \*\*gee, I was jsut thinking on this myself here. her I am aobut to turn 34, and most people think I am in my mid 20’s. I work a rather menial job, even thoguh I have a master’s degree. I feel like my life has no direction, and that I am still a teenager waiting for the “real” world to hit me and wake me up. > > and BTW, love anime, and still have some toys from way back when I lived in japan and was a kid. I look at some of the “imports” and remeber watching them when I was over there. > > only thing I can say is that you have to grow old, but you don’t have to grow up. or do you? 😃 \*\* If I ever do, I’ll let you know 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/23 "2003-07-25T22:50:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marley23 \* > \*\*People are probably a little more youth-obsessed than they used to be, and in general they’re taking better care of themselves (or paying more attention to their appearances). Or so it seems. > > But I wouldn’t characterize it as so new. My dad is past 50 and could be called an adult kid (though he doesn’t fit **fotosbyfrank** ’s description). \*\* You may have a point there. I mean, I hate to admit it, but I’m a tad bit youth-obsessed myself. Shhhhh ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/24 "2003-07-25T23:08:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrazyCatLady \* > **Sure people are “young” longer than they used to be. Lifespans have greatly expanded over the last 50 years, and it’s a hell of a lot better to spend more time being young than more time being old.** That is so true 🙂 > [@](#): > > \*\*As for the cartoons and stuff, the idea that animation is just for kids was really just a blip on the screen. Cartoons used to be for adults too (look at Betty Boop, or some of the WWII-era Warner Brothers stuff). They were even prime-time fare for a while. Remember _The Flintstones_ and _The Jetsons_? Now we’ve got stuff like _The Simpsons_ and _Family Guy_. \*\* True, but the cartoons you just mentioned that are aimed at adults, are all pretty much just animated sitcoms Well, OK, cartoons like Betty Boop or Bugs Bunny weren’t, and those were movies that adults had to pay to see, I’ll grant you that), but I wonder how many 40’s somethings and older would watch animated comic book stories, the way people around my age do. > [@](#): > > \*\*Living at home used to be pretty standard, too. Young women lived at home till they married, and young men often lived at home after marriage, especially in agricultural areas. The idea that an 18-yo could, and indeed _should_, be living independently is a pretty recent innovation. Hell, till pretty recently, you didn’t reach the age of majority till 21. \*\* Actually, a slight hijack on my own thread. I’ve always found it funny, that at 18, you’re no longer considered a minor, unless you want to drink alcohol or gamble. Anyway though, yeah, living at home for a long time, with your extended family seemed to mostly be an agricultural or farming thing which seemed to disappear as the number of agricultural families got smaller and smaller. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/25 "2003-07-25T23:14:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Winnie \* > \*\*Boy, this thread really hit home. I just turned 29, have been a homeowner for 4 1/2 years, married, getting ready to start a family, etc., and I STILL feel like a kid playing house. I certainly don’t feel like a “grown-up” and that I should be acting and doing things that a grown-up would be doing. I’m still waiting to feel like an adult about to turn 30. \*\* Well, I thought I’d change when my 30th birthday was approaching, but then it happened, and nothing changed. Other than I’m now out of my twenties…AND MY YOUTH IS FADING, FADING I TELL YOU…WHAAAA!!!.. Oh, excuse me, pardon the outburst. But what I’m trying to say is that turning 30 probably won’t have the affect on you that you’re looking for. But maybe you’ll feel your age when you hit 40. I mean, at least I hope that I do 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/26 "2003-07-25T23:19:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kunilou \* > \*\*So you all just feel like big kids, ehh? > > Want to feel all grown up REAL fast? > > Just talk to a teen-ager. It doesn’t matter what words you use or how you dress, you are most certainly old school to them. \*\* Hehe, actually, it can even be someone slightly older. There was a job opening where my wife use to work, and I applied. I didn’t get it, and the guy who did was the son of one of the supervisors (gee, imagine that :rolleyes: ) Anyway, he’s about 19 or 20 I think, and just **looking** at him I felt a whole lot older. He looked like just a kid to me. In fact, just thinking that thought makes me feel old. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/27 "2003-07-25T23:30:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BurnMeUp \* > \*\*A guy from my wife’s church stopped by to talk to her about something and brought his 15 year old son. In the process of talking I come to find out the kid is in a band. > I ask him “what kind of music do you play” > He said “well most people don’t know it, it’s like punk but it’s more emotional and stuff” > To which I replied “So like The Atari’s or One Hit Wonder?” > > His Jaw dropped and he said “Yeah!” > > Apparently at 30 I now look too old to know anything about music. > > To my credit I’m still more interested in buying mucis and video games than mowing my lawn 🙂 \*\* The funny thing is, even though most of us still know what kind of music that kids these days are listening to (I can’t believe I just said that :eek: ) there’s lots of stuff we listen, or have listened to, that they know nothing about. And some of it is extremely surprising. Like I heard how at a music awards ceremony (I don’t remember which, I never watch them) Avril Lavene mispronounced David Bowie’s name, because **she never heard of him** :eek: I thought that everybody had at least heard the name, even if they had never listened to his music. I’m just waiting for the day when people will start saying things like, “Stone Temple who?” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/28 "2003-07-25T23:45:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FairyChatMom \* > \*\*Not too long ago, I was in a meeting run by two people who’d never met me. Along the line, I commented that I had nearly 29 years of government service, and he said “What did you do - start working when you were six??” > > I know he wasn’t trying to flirt with me - he was genuinely surprised. I went home and looked in the mirror. I have no gray hair. For all intents and purposes, I have no wrinkles (partly due, I’m sure, to the excess weight I carry). I dress in jeans and t-shirts or polo shirts and sneakers. I’ll never be carded again (until I want my AARP discounts come January) but I don’t think I look like I’ll hit 50 in a few months.\*\* Yeah, my mother’s in her mid 50’s, but she doesn’t look it. And people who try to guess her age are very surpised when they find out what it is. > [@](#): > > \*\*I don’t _feel_ like I’ll be 50 either. I’m a responsible adult - pay my bills and taxes and all that - but in a lot of ways, I feel like I’m still in my 20s. I’m not as timid as I was back then and I no longer worry whether people like me or not - guess I’ve matured that much. But I’m still pretty much the me I was in high school and in college. Just a bit more worldly-wise. \*\* Wow, that almost describes me perfectly too. Up until my mid 20’s, I was a lot different person. I was shy, naive, and, well, a lot of things. I matured a lot in a short amount of time, but other than my personality improving, and acting like an adult on the outside, on the inside I too fee like a more worldly-wise high school kid 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/29 "2003-07-25T23:55:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DeadlyAccurate \* > \*\*Well, my husband is 30 and I’m 29. We have no children. We play D&D, computer games, paint miniatures, play paintball, and build terrain and buildings for D&D. We’re probably “younger” than all of our younger siblings. My siblings have children and his just works all the time. \*\* My wife and I have no children either, and we also like doing things like playing computer games. I don’t have any siblings, but my wife’s younger sister is married to a guy in his 40’s. They don’t have any children either, but he does have an 11 or 12 year old daughter from a previous marriage. But when I think about it, even though he’s in his 40’s, they still seem to be more like my wife and I, than, say, couples where both spouses are in their 40’s. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/30 "2003-07-25T23:57:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gr8Kat \* > \*\*Joel just started this thread because I spent 5 hours last night trying to beat Bubble Bobble. I totally stink at video games. Does anyone have any advice for beating screen 100? > > Seriously, though, what did people do in the old days for entertainment? What was “grown-up” fun? Listening to Bing Crosby on the radio? Smoking pipes? Reading the paper? Wife swapping? Playing bridge? Boring! No wonder they curled up and died by their 55th birthday! \*\* Hehehe, does this mean that when I hit 40, I’ll have to teach our dog to fetch my slippers, so that I relax in the easy chair, smoke my pipe, and read the paper? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/31 "2003-07-25T23:59:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by auntie em \* > \*\ ***fotosbyfrank** , I think there’s a difference between “Youth” and “Immaturity”. Granted, the latter is far more annoying in a 30-year-old than in a 15-year-old, but overall I think maybe what you’ve encountered is different than what the OP is talking about. > > And I think the key to what the OP is talking about has to do with that phenomenon whereby we look at our parents (or other figures older than us) and compare what _they_ were doing at our age to what _we’re_ doing at our age. > > When my mother was 33, she already had 3 kids, the oldest of which was already an adolescent. I myself don’t plan to have kids, but even if I did, I’d _just now_ be starting to think about it! Hell, I just got married for the first time (and hopefully the _only_ time, but it all depends upon how my husband’s arteries hold up under tonight’s Fried Corn dinner!) last month! And _none_ of my friends with kids have even kindergarteners yet! > > Now, I do own my home (though I’ll be selling it soon to go shack up with **Skip** ), pay my bills, and hold down a job as well as the care and feeding of two dogs, but yeah. Apparently I project a rather, er . . . youthful persona? > > (A little _too_ youthful, if you ask my sister, who keeps telling me that I dress too young. But hey, I say if you can find clothes in the Junior Department that actually cover up your entire ass crack, you can get off a whole lot cheaper! ;)) \*\* You buy kids cloths and then wonder why you’re projecting a “youthful persona”? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/32 "2003-07-26T00:06:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DeadlyAccurate \* > \*\*Hey, **auntie** , are you sure we don’t have the same mom? My parents were 32 the year I turned 13. Both of my siblings are younger than me. We were also poor, which tends to curtail those weekend trips to Aspen. > > I grew up thinking adults did certain things, and none of those were fun. When I became an adult, all I wanted to do were the fun things. So I did (Well, okay, I own a house and pay my bills on time and go to work every day, but mostly I just do fun stuff). > > Our D&D group has two men who have children. Both men are in their early thirties (with wives of similar age), and the oldest kid between them is under three. > > I suspect staying younger at older ages is a combination of things. 1) Entertainments made to appeal to adults and children, such as computer and video games; 2) Waiting longer to have children and having fewer of them; 3) Living longer and generally healthier; 4) Advertising that places an emphasis on how much fun you should be having at any given moment. 5) Age-centric view of how people of the previous generation are so “adult-like” compared to us.\*\* It’s like the reverse of how we look at grade school kids and think to ourselves, “They look so young, we seemed to be so much older when we were their age.” > [@](#): > > \*\*I probably do have more fun than my parents did at my age. After all, they were raising three grade school children in a single-wide trailer. I have two cats that don’t need babysitters when I decide to see a movie at the drop of a hat. \*\* A great advantage of not having any children :). ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/33 "2003-07-26T00:10:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by auntie em \* > \*\ ***Deadly Accurate** , I think you make an interesting point about seeing your parents bogged down with financial/childrearing issues as a child, and not wanting to follow in those footsteps yourself. > > My mother has always said that if she had it to do all over again, NO WAY would she get married and, given her beliefs, that leaves out kids, too. Don’t get me wrong; she was a good, caring mother (if a little overprotective), she and my dad were together for almost 45 years Until he died in 1996) and I never felt unloved or unwanted, but that did get me thinking about this “Marriage and Kids” business. > > NOW, however, my mother is singing a different tune, because she wants me to have children. When I remind her that she herself wouldn’t have kids if she were able to go back in time, she rebuts by saying, “I did what I was _supposed to do_–now it’s your turn!” > > Why, I ask her, if the whole marriage/kids thing is a choice she wouldn’t make twice, is it a choice I should make at all? (Well, OK, I’m married now, but this conversation started about 10 years ago.) Why, I wonder, is it more important for me to have kids than it (apparently) is for me to have a life that makes me happy? > > “Life is not about _being happy_,” she snaps. > > I’m sorry, but I find that attitude kind of sad. Should you seek happiness at all costs, without regard to others, even if it means kicking puppies and stealing from old ladies? No. However, I hardly think that choosing not to have kids (or even choosing not to get married) is such a crime. > > Anyway, my point is that I think maybe people like us have kind of a “split personality” going on. On the one hand, we are experiencing an aversion, if you will, to our perceived definitions of Adulthood (i.e., stress about money, kids, no more playing, etc.), but on the other, such notions are so ingrained in us that we think of our own behavior as “child-like”. > > Does that make sense? \*\* That’s an excellent point, and yes, It makes perfect sense. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/34 "2003-07-26T00:15:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Isabelle \* > \*\*Well Joel you said “Also, people seem to be living at home longer too” I hope this is not true! I can’t wait for my kidlets to turn 18 so I can turn them lose on their own!!! \*\* Ohhh, so you’re one of those, “When you’re 18, you’re out the door!” kind of parents huh? 😃 Actually, I’m the reverse of most people. I never moved out from my mom, she moved out from me. She moved to Alaska for a few years, and I kept the house. Untill she sold it, then I lived in something I swore I never would, and appartment :eek: But that lasted only about a year (sorry appartment dwellers, but living in a house is SO much better) \ ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/35 "2003-07-26T00:18:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AvhHines \* > \*\*It’s funny that I, too, was thinking this exact thing just after having a peer-to-peer conversation with a 24 year old today (I’m 47). And I think you’re right to some extent - we have postponed or avoided some or many of the responsibilities our parents had at our ages. > > BUT, I also wonder if anyone ever gets older than 18 in his/her own mind. I suspect that our parents, even as they shouldered the burdens of earlier parenthood, mortgage, etc, felt like they were teenagers masquerading as adults: faking it maybe well enough to deceive other people, but inside they knew that’s what they were doing - faking it. > > We’re luckier - because of the youth idolatry that has overcome our society in the past 40 years or so, we view being young as a _good_ thing, and we’re less frightened by our own lack of a sense of adulthood than our parents, or so I suspect. But I still think that people of all ages never really think of themselves as fully mature. > > YMMV. \*\* Well, if they don’t, they do an excellent job of faking it. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/36 "2003-07-26T00:19:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mama Tiger \* > \*\*A few years ago, my grandmother, who was probably at least 90 by that time (she’s 102 now and going strong), told me that every time she looks in the mirror, for a moment she wonders who that old lady is who’s looking back out at her because on the inside she still feels 16. > > I compare myself to my parents’ generation, however, and I remember things like when women started wearing “mature” fashions in their 20s and it just seemed like people got older younger. I’m turning 50 this year, and like Grandmother, I still feel 16, too. I think the difference is that society has changed enough that I can get away with acting 16 if I want to! \*\* Or at least people are polite enough not to say anything to you in front of your face 😃 Just kidding. ---
**Author:** ![furthur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@furthur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furthur)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/37 "2003-07-26T01:41:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by auntie em \* > [When my mother was 33, she already had 3 kids, the oldest of which was already an adolescent. I myself don’t plan to have kids, but even if I did, I’d _just now_ be starting to think about it! Hell, I just got married for the first time (and hopefully the _only_ time, but it all depends upon how my husband’s arteries hold up under tonight’s Fried Corn dinner!) last month! And _none_ of my friends with kids have even kindergarteners yet! > \*\* Yep, Auntie Em, I think having kids is the key. I’m 31 and have been married for almost 10 years. Got two kids, almost 8 and 4. Honestly, I haven’t felt young for years and years, and I mean that sincerely. Since at least before my four-year-old was born. The kids really, really put the miles on you, partly because you’re always having to act grown-up and responsible & take care of them, partly because you no longer have the time or money to have any fun of your own any more. All that responsibility just evaporates your youth. Mrs. Furthur ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/38 "2003-07-26T04:12:26Z")
Remember that our _perception_ of a 40YO is much different when we’re 30-something that it was when we were 20. The simple fact that a 40YO _isn’t_ much older than me means that the 40YO doesn’t _seem_ to be “old”. Go back and open up your high school yearbook from your sophomore year and look at the photos of the Seniors. Funny thing - they still look older than you, even though you may now be 15 years older than they are in those pictures. It’s because back when you knew those people, they were indeed older than you, and so the perception remains. ---
**Author:** ![fotosbyfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/54ee81/32.png) [@fotosbyfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fotosbyfrank)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/39 "2003-07-26T10:44:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Brad the Impaler \* > \*\ ***fotosbyfrank** , not to put down your area, but _your in the freakin’ valley!!!_ Most of the guys are either uneducated, and will never leave the area, probably stay in the same town for ever, or the frat boys you mentioned living in the newer McMansions, whose kids will never leave the area. \*\* Brad - Yeah, it’s The Valley (like, y’know), but more and more of the people moving in are well-educated, white-collar professionals (affordable housing is one of the reasons). I grew up in Stratford, which isn’t exactly one of the centers of civilization as we know it, and saw much of the same behaviour from my peers and my brother’s peers (who is 5 years younger). The priorities are going out to party, getting drunk, going to sporting events, getting drunk, going to the casinos, getting drunk and just going out to get drunk. These are guys who are married, have kids and hold pretty responsible jobs. I won’t comment on their home lives, or how much they’re going to have to pay for therapy for their kids. Maybe it’s just me. \ Thanks for the kudos on the pics. I’ve been to Pleasure Beach when it actually had the rides open (which gives you an idea of how old I am). Hard to get there now. I heard they’re having a bridge party next week. They should have the new bridge built in no time. \ ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814/40 "2003-07-26T17:13:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Phase42 \* > \*\*Remember that our _perception_ of a 40YO is much different when we’re 30-something that it was when we were 20. The simple fact that a 40YO _isn’t_ much older than me means that the 40YO doesn’t _seem_ to be “old”. Go back and open up your high school yearbook from your sophomore year and look at the photos of the Seniors. Funny thing - they still look older than you, even though you may now be 15 years older than they are in those pictures. It’s because back when you knew those people, they were indeed older than you, and so the perception remains. \*\* I don’t think it’s all mental or perception, I mean, I can look at TV shows or old pictures, and the people in their 30’s and 40’s look, and usually act a lot older than they do today. For example, I know actors can afford to do things to make them appear younger, but look at Charlie Sheen. Does he seem like he’s 40 or so to you? Even the elderly look a lot better than they have in the past. As mentioned before, as time goes on, we take better care of ourselves, as medicine advances we live longer, healthier lives, and people are doing more “youthful” things than the previous generations have done. For example, when my wife made that joke about me writing this because she was playing Bubble Bobble it got me thinking. A lot of 30 something’s I know have X-Box’s or Playstation’s, I don’t remember my parents generation owning video game consoles when they were in their 30’s. When I was a kid I had an Atari 2600, but even if my mother played a game or two, it was primarily for me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-generation-of-adult-kids/190814.md?page=3)