Are you old?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

I am 35. Old, you say? NO WAY! Not even close. I have always felt young and vibrant! I love the years behind me in that it gives me the wisdom to guide me through the years before me.

My Dad was 72 when he would go cross-country skiing for a day and come home and have a few schnapps and herring. No one ever considered him as being old, and I think that was because he never considered himself as being old, either.

I don’t know when the day will come when I will “feel” old. But it sure isn’t anytime soon :slight_smile:

22

I’ve been old since I turned 22.
That’s when I became older than my best friend ever got to be.
(he committed suicide when he was 21 and I was 17)

I’m 25 now… and I still feel awfully damn old.

-pandora

23

I am only 18 - but I was quite shocked when little kids started addressing me with “miss something” instead of the plain old “you”.

Freaky

dodgy

24

Oh yeah, sometimes I feel old. I’m 40 (ouch) and wake up feeling aches and pains that weren’t there last year.

It hit home for me a year ago last September as I sat in the stands for my son’s graduation from Army basic training. As his training company marched onto the parade field I felt a chill creep along my spine. No, it wasn’t that familiar patriotic shudder that I get whenever I hear “Taps” or the Star Spangled Banner or stand at attention when the flag passes by on parade. Rather it was the sudden realization that a mere 20 years earlier it had been me marching onto the parade field at Fort Dix, New Jersey, after successfully completing basic training. It was at that moment, and never before (but plenty of times since) that I felt old. The lyrics to Bob Seger’s “Like A Rock” ran through my mind (I know, I know, most people think of Chevy trucks when they hear the song, but it’s a great song). “Twenty years now, where’d they go?”

Overall though I feel great. I exercise regularly and have wonderful group of friends with whom I share some great times. Feeling old every now and again just puts everything into perspective for me: I know how quickly the time has passed and I don’t want to make the mistake of turning 50 (or 60 or…) and looking in the mirror and asking myself “why”.

25

I first felt old when I realized that the stuff I had gotten when I first moved out (towels, sheets, etc.) was worn out and ready to be replaced. It had never occurred to me that I would have to buy all this stuff over again, multiple times, in my life. (BTW, this is a kinda timely thread - it’s my 34th birthday today!)

26

well looking at my user name one would think…

27

When I walked into class one day and gave my usual attendance speil: “You only have an excused absence if you have a note from the doctor, from the coach, from God, or from Epstein’s mother.” They didn’t know who Epstein’s mother was. I almost withered into my grave at that moment.

28

What makes me feel old when I get right down and think about it is this - there are very few professional atheletes older than I am (35).

When I see these big hulking football players who are only 23 or so, I still have this image of them being older than me. Weird.

29

A couple of “milestones” for me.

During one summer in college I worked at the place that printed Playboys. It was quite a shock when I encountered the 1st centerfold who was younger than me. (Lisa Welch. Mmmm! But I can’t remember what I had for dinner yeasterday.) Along the same lines, when you realize the 32 year old ballplayer the announcer is calling a “fossil” is how much younger than you? Or when you read bios/interviews with actors/celebrities/etc, and they are born in decades subsequent to you. I was born in 1960. Seeing "adults’ born 2 dacades later, in the 80s, gives me pause.

It occasionally surprises me when I look at old photos of myself, and see that I’m wearing what I consider my “new” shirt, and the damn thing is ten or more years old. BTW, happy birthday, featherlou!

Measuring things in decades is a sure sign of age. How long have we been in this house? At this job? How long ago was …? Etc. Or else, when you have had at least 3 dogs. If each lives 10 years of so, by the time you get your 4th dog (barring unpleasant circumstances), you are old.

Recently I got a shock when I saw a sign saying “You must have been born after this date in 19__ to buy smokes.” And I thought, “Hell, on that day, I was legal to drink.”

More seriously, I felt a major step up the age ladder when my parents died 3 years ago.

And it is hard to feel young when your spawn reaches legitimate adult size. My eldest is 5’5", wears a bra, etc. Man, it’s hard to believe I’m old enough to have a kid that big.

A couple of weeks ago we went to a baby shower for some friends of ours. They are about 30, are expecting their 1st, and just bought their 1st house. The shower was held in the house of some other similarly aged recent home buyers. We were the only folks there with any kids. We lived in one house for 10 years and have been in our current very comfortable home for 4. The house where the shower was had little furniture, little on the walls, etc. Man, did we feel old!

But the kicker is, ya know, it didn’t feel bad. Sure it was fun and exciting to be young, but things don’t exactly suck right now where we are “fine tuning”.

The final punchline was when our friends whho are expecting came over and volunteered that several of their friends commented on “How cool” the Dinsdale’s were. My lovely bride and I both responded, “Them kids have to get out more!”

30

Odieman wrote:

Your bicycle and my Olympus OM-10 camera could attend classes together.

My my. I am so old. But I don’t feel that way, physically. And I don’t think I look old (people rarely guess my age correctly, usually have it off by 5-10 years) but - well, time catches up with all of us eventually.

31

The first time I felt old was New Year’s Day of 1990, when I realized that the decade that I was born in was completely gone. I was 9 years old.

I’m feeling a little old at the moment, because I’m nineteen and approaching the end of my teen years much to quickly for my liking. I still have so much angst! :slight_smile: My 17 year old sister reminded me that I’m getting up when I was home for Thanksgiving, saying, “Jess, you’re almost twenty! TWENTY! That’s freaking ancient! Hey… in another year, you can buy alcohol!”

Oh, and to prove my relative youth (or ignorance)… stofsky, who is Epstein’s mother?

32

I’m 42. I don’t usually feel too old. I have been told I look much younger and my SO is 31; those things help. BUT . . . just the other day, whilst watching the Macy’s Parade, I was stunned when they introduced Andrea McArdle * and her ** teenage daughter ** * on one of the floats. For crying out loud, Andrea was the original Annie on Broadway, and I remember when that opened (because the original Sandy was a mutt from the animal shelter in my hometown). I dunno, it’s just random unexpected stuff like that that freaks me out. And using phrases like “freaks me out” – I’m sure that doesn’t help.

33

As I said earlier I’m only 17 but it was definitely an odd feeling when I realized I’m older than some of the people competing in the Sydney Olympics. It used to always be that “when I grew up I could that” but now there is no way in heck I could get in shape to do that.

34

I don’t often get that feeling but when I do it’s just weird… I’m just 18 (Finally!) but one of the things that got me was K’nex… One day (about a few months ago) I was playing with my cousins who are 5 and 8 I think… and we were building with their k’nex… and it hit me that in their k’nex thay had different pieces (as well as the same ones I had had in my kit) and they had gears and stuff which I had never had. You can even buy them now with motors.

Another one that hit me was when I found out girls were chasing my brother… I mean he’s 14 y/o he’s my little brother, the ‘brat boy’, the one who scared me so I lost a tooth and the one I fought with over the tv and stuff. How can a girl actually like him. But then I stood back and took a good look at him from a girl’s pov and decided he’s actually not that bad looking and kinda a cool guy shakes her head That was a shocking revelation for me.

When my cousins start getting married will probably freak me out as well. (They’re all younger then me so that would really freak me out)

35

I’m 25 and I plan on playing in basketball leagues at least until I am 60, just so I can last 1 year longer than my grandfather. Short of a few aches and pains from 19 ankle sprains, my body feels great. Mentally, I am a kid at heart and always will be, regardless of age.

Now, where’s that Playdough? I am hungry.

36

If memory serves me correctly: :wink:
A non-appearing character frequently referred to on the show “Welcome Back, Kotter”. (Have they started showing that on TVLand yet? Remember when we thought Gabe Kaplan was funny? And a REALLY young hearthrob John Travolta?) Anyway, IIRC, Juan Epstein would always bring in excuses signed “Epstein’s mother”.

Mullinator, you were a PlayDoh eater too?! What was your favorite color? Mine was blue; it had that piquant taste and such a pungent yet alluring aroma. Had to be real PlayDoh, not the knock-off store brands.

37

I turned 61 on the 22nd of this month. That makes me a slow-moving 19-year-old who doesn’t need an ID at the liquior store. :smiley: