Dons his Boy Scout uniform and dashes to help Eve cross the street.
Yes, in the big picture 21 isn’t very old, but at the same time it’s knocking on the door of the years which sit patiently in line behind it.
“Sit patiently in line” my ass—they knock each other out of the way to be first to pull your face down your skull, rip your hair out and inflate you like a Graf Zeppelin.
I’m definitely feeling your pain. I turn 24 on Sunday, and it boggles my mind. Of course my age boggles my mind every year but I can’t help thinking, how the hell did I get here? Wasn’t I JUST 21?
I figure the next milestone is 30. The quarter-century mark seems unimpressive. Oh but I can rent cars then! (When the hell will I ever need to rent a car?..)
You know, it’s funny. I recently received a notice of my upcoming 15 year reunion (class o’ 89) and something hit me like a steel-toed boot to the groin.
During my senior year, some members of the class of '74 came through my high school one fine spring afternoon. Apparently, they were in town for their 15 year reunion. We all wondered “who are the old geezers touring the school”. Then we found out and a good laugh was had by all.
“74?? Bet they all wore bell-bottoms and leisure suits”
“Yeah, and had afros or hippie hair”
“Ha ha. Dorks”
“They probably never were as cool as we are and will always be”
Ok, we didn’t say that last one out loud, but we all were thinking it.
Now, I get this notice and it occurs to me -
I am to this year’s graduating class what the class of '74 was to me
Good Lord.
Oh well, you’re only as old as you feel, right? Life begins at 30, right?
I still maintain that I am cooler than anyone in the class of '74 ever was though.
Man, now those guys are old!
And I have hats and dresses older than you.
I was trying to avoid saying that, since he’s way bigger than me, but the truth will out: I was thinking, “ronincyberpunk is going to be 21? Holy smokes, I changed his diapers!”
Sorry, little bro, but I had to say it.
Now someone hand me my cane so I can run from little brother’s wrath…
I have a kid who will be turning 21 in July. He’s a good kid, but led us on a wild and woolly journey in high school.
Just yesterday I found the perfect birthday card for him, I hope I don’t misplace it before the big day. The card reads: “Congratulations, you turn 21 today.” Inside it says, “Now you may legally do all the things you have been doing since the age of 14!”
The thing with your 20’s is that before you know it, they are gone. That decade seemed to go faster than any of my other ones (am pushing 50 now.)
I feel your pain bro…21 this year.
Turning 21 in the UK aint such a big deal; you’ve been drinking since the age of 18 (legally anyway!), doin the nasty since the age of 16 and in my dear Isle of Man, driving since 16 too. There’s maybe a coupla nightclubs with a 21 and over policy but that’s it. Woo.
Nevertheless, its horribly significant, especially seeing as I turn 21 a week or so after I graduate from University and start out on my career. Pretty much all the big milestones in one week…
I’m not as overwhelmed by it as I would have imagined a few years ago. Most of my friends are a good few years older than me and they’re all pretty cool, so no worries.
I know that feeling too. Insaney’s bigger than me, and has a tendancy, when I go home, to simply pick me up and run around the room with me to get his own way. 
I’m right with jesleigh – I’ll be 20 this coming December. :eek: Am not looking forward to it. At all. I liked being 18 too much, and being 19 is still a shock.
pout
And, why must they play songs I love in the Flashback lunch hour? Songs by Ace of Base, Goo Goo Dolls, and any other songs that came out since my awareness of music started, is NOT a “flashback”.
Turning nineteen today! Woo!
I’m going to try to put a positive spin on this thread here. Go and have a read of some of the Trouble With Love threads that have been around of late. Whenever some unpleasant or generally foolish behavior is described, there are always a few replies along the lines of ‘These people are under twenty-five, right? God am I glad I’m out of that.’ So maybe we have something to look forward to after all. 
~ Isaac
Happy birthday, Dinaroozie! Just a couple weeks younger than me. You, me and jesleigh are all 19 now, we should form a ‘19-only’ club so we can exclude everyone 18 and younger and 20 and older.
A nineteen-year-old classmate cheerfully pointed out to me on my twenty-fifth birthday that, “It’s only five years till you’re thirty!”
I could have hit him. I almost did. Bratty teenagers, they think they’re so cool…
For the LOVE of god! Someone, ANYONE…PLEASE STOP TIME!!!
I turned 21 on January 8th…I’m in Australia so I’ve been able to drink legally since I was 18…nothing special about it whatsoever.
Turning 20 was a bit more traumatic for me actually, “Ahh…you aren’t a teenager anymore!” and “Better start doing something with your life now that you are OLD and CRUSTY”…
Shmeh. I hate time.
OK, this gave me a shock. I read it and was thinking, “Really? That’s funny, my 20s don’t particularly seem to be flying by…”
Then I realized my 20s ended two years ago.
Wait! I totally screwed up my 20s! Don’t I get another try? I want a do-over on my 20s! I want another 20s!
(And by the way, I have a large brick to be hurled at anyone who suggests the 2020s.)
I turn 26 this year. Doesn’t seem like too much for me, but the other day, my wife and I went out for breakfast, and I actually uttered the words “I remember, 20 years ago, our winters had a lot more snow then they do now.”
Any dopers from Saskatchewan over the age of 25 might be able to back me up on that one, but…
I uttered the phrase “I remember 20 years ago…”
I turn 29 in 16 days.
I was just talking to a co-worker, who I found out is 22 (7 years difference). Another co-worker is 36 (also 7 years). I realized I have much more in common with, and similar interests to, the 22 year-old.
I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad thing. It makes me feel younger, but maybe it just means I’m immature. I also know that I think of the 36 year-old as “old,” so I imagine the 22 year-old thinks quite the same of me. 
Happy
Oy. I turned 25 yesterday & I’m somewhat less than pleased about it. I mean… On one hand, I’m enjoying life & accomplishing my goals. On the other, I wish I’d accomplished more by now, in terms of my professional life & maybe even my romantic life.
Maybe I’m just PMSing.