# At what age did you stop sucking as a person? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 18, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543 "2013-10-18T01:59:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Came_in_like_a_Wrecking_Ball)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/1 "2013-10-18T01:59:50Z")
I’m 28. I’m still young enough that I can’t help but act like a jackass. It’s just part of the human brain development, I guess, because at 28 a guy is still supposed to be a wild reckless devil may care jackass, good for hunting and fighting other tribes. In 5 years will I not be like this anymore? When did you stop sucking as a person? ---
**Author:** ![stoplight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@stoplight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stoplight)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/2 "2013-10-18T02:01:50Z")
frontal lobe fully developed around age 34, life made sense all of a sudden ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/3 "2013-10-18T02:03:48Z")
If you want to change, you have to work at it. It’s not true that you “can’t help it.” It is probably true that it’s easier to act like a jackass sometimes than it is to not act like a jackass. That’s true of everyone. You can change. You are more than physically mature enough: you probably hit sufficient physical maturity more than a decade ago, still developping brain or not. It’s just that it’s hard work. Sorry: I know that’s not what you want to hear. ---
**Author:** ![Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Came_in_like_a_Wrecking_Ball)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/4 "2013-10-18T02:04:10Z")
> [@stoplight](#): > > frontal lobe fully developed around age 34, life made sense all of a sudden So my 5 year prediction was almost on the money? Tight. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/5 "2013-10-18T02:05:32Z")
1. I’m currently 37. ---
**Author:** ![stoplight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@stoplight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stoplight)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/6 "2013-10-18T02:12:33Z")
> [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](#): > > So my 5 year prediction was almost on the money? > > Tight. 🙂 but that is not an excuse to act like a wrecking ball until then. You chose certain adjectives to describe your behavior that implies a certain awareness. Since you know/are aware of how you behave from this moment forward your behavior is a choice. Damn that frontal lobe ---
**Author:** ![turtlescanfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@turtlescanfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turtlescanfly)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/7 "2013-10-18T02:13:37Z")
Currently 42. I’ll have to let you know. FWIW, I don’t think there is a minimum or maximum age for jack-assery, I think that’s more of a straight personality trait than a function of age. But I know a lot of people who have said, in one way or another “Geez, I really thought I’d have this ‘Life’ thing figured out by now.” ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/8 "2013-10-18T02:20:51Z")
I’m sorry to break it to you, but 28 isn’t that young. It’s young enough to get away with some stuff (like wearing clothes meant for teenagers and pigging out at Denny’s at 3:30AM.) But your average 28-year-old typically “knows better”. This is why a 28-year-old jackass is treated the same way as a 35-year-old jackass in the court of law. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/9 "2013-10-18T02:27:14Z")
There was no age at which I would have thought I was a jackass. It seems like it takes me about ten years of perspective before I realize what a gigantic jerk I was at any given point in my life. I feel like I’ve been improving all along, but ask me again in about ten years. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/10 "2013-10-18T02:30:39Z")
> [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](#): > > I’m 28. I’m still young enough that I can’t help but act like a jackass. It’s just part of the human brain development, I guess, because at 28 a guy is still supposed to be a wild reckless devil may care jackass, good for hunting and fighting other tribes. > > In 5 years will I not be like this anymore? When did you stop sucking as a person? You really think 28 is that young? It’s not. I don’t know where you get these ideas that you can act like a jackass or be irresponsible just because you are a certain age. Grow up or don’t. It’s up to you. It doesn’t happen at a certain magic age. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/11 "2013-10-18T02:33:56Z")
I’m pretty sure I was more mature at the age of say, 14 than the OP is now at 28. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/12 "2013-10-18T02:35:33Z")
23 and I am still a loser ---
**Author:** ![Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Came_in_like_a_Wrecking_Ball)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/13 "2013-10-18T02:36:03Z")
I’ll be better when I’m older. Just like Edwin McCain. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/14 "2013-10-18T03:04:19Z")
I stopped sucking as a person in 2001. So, I was 30. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/15 "2013-10-18T03:06:47Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > 1. . . . I’m currently 37. > [@PSXer](#): > > 23 and I am still a loser Grin! I’m less of a stinker than I was in the past. Every year, I get a little better. I think that’s true of most people. No one ever actually attains wisdom, or even sanity. We just keep working to improve. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/16 "2013-10-18T03:10:44Z")
1. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/17 "2013-10-18T03:12:13Z")
Younger than I realized at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/18 "2013-10-18T03:18:34Z")
Constantly embarrassed by what I did a few years ago. And I’ll probably be embarrassed about what I’m doing now. 31. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/19 "2013-10-18T03:22:52Z")
Probably somewhere around 27. Graduated college just a bit past my 24th birthday, and after about 2.5-3 years of real-world job, bills and life, things just kind of clicked and I went from being a knuckleheaded self-absorbed kid to something more mature and “adult” with a lot more empathy for others. That’s not to say that my friends and I didn’t go out and tie one on often, or that I stopped trying to get laid / meet women constantly, but rather that I had a sort of framework for these things; they weren’t my primary goal and/or avocation anymore. Most of that shit shut down about 34 or so when I met my wife, and a lot of my friends also paired off, got more job responsibility, or had kids (for the already married ones). Once you have kids, things tend to change drastically. You’re now not only mature, but you have to be responsible. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543/20 "2013-10-18T03:28:58Z")
It’s not that people automatically stop sucking at a certain age. It’s that it takes some people years or even decades of work to stop sucking. So if you think your personality is a problem, don’t kick back and assume the passage of time will fix it. Get to work instead. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-stop-sucking-as-a-person/671543.md?page=2)