# I am 40 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 18, 2007, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138 "2007-10-18T04:27:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/21 "2007-10-18T14:43:55Z")
[QUOTE=Noone Special] Yes. And you know what is the only way to avoid it… :eek: 😃 [/QUOTE] I took one of those “What’s your life span” tests in Playboy or something when I was 18. If I’d continued the way I was living back then, I’d have 5 more years to live. Now I wake up in the morning feeling not much better than I did back then after a night of drunken debauchery, only without the fun of debauching! My head hurts, my joints ache, my muscles are stiff… I can’t imagine how terrible I’d feel if I was still drinking. Heck, the first 20 years of my life didn’t really count, I was clueless for that part. The last 20 years I’ve accomplished more than I ever expected. The next 20 years should be just fantastic. Yeah - _60_ is old, 40 is just getting started! Jezus… 40. People’s dads are 40. Cool dudes like me can’t be 40. I must have miscounted. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/22 "2007-10-18T14:55:52Z")
_~Happy Birthday, Haze!!~_ ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/23 "2007-10-18T14:56:05Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] Jezus… 40. People’s dads are 40. Cool dudes like me can’t be 40. I must have miscounted. [/QUOTE] That’s exactly how I feel. I was talking to this girl at work and she said bla bla my parents are thinking of moving somewhere and I said “to retire” and she replied “no, they’re 45”. 45?! That’s only five years older than me. But you’re an adult!! Does not compute. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/24 "2007-10-18T15:02:50Z")
See you at Lubys. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/25 "2007-10-18T15:06:26Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] Is it as bad as they say? I still have a few months, but I suspect I’m not going to enjoy the whole process. [/QUOTE] Say goodbye to your eyesight’s ability to quickly focus on close objects. Presbyopia hit me literally days after I turned 40. On the other hand, I very seldom get zits now, and the few I do get are nothing to post gross tales about. Dating becomes a different ballgame. If you’re a man, you’ll sometimes get hit with the “If you’re 40 and you’ve never been married, something’s wrong with you” stigma. When you do date, about 90% will be moms, and she’ll often steer the conversation towards child rearing and school districts; it seems like women increasingly sacrifice their personalities and identities to justify their identity as uber-moms. Fortunately, I’m dating a 40-something woman without kids, so I don’t have to worry about it. 😃 Oh … you don’t develop a taste for Buicks yet. At least not for another 15 years. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/26 "2007-10-18T15:17:19Z")
[QUOTE=elmwood] Say goodbye to your eyesight’s ability to quickly focus on close objects. Presbyopia hit me literally days after I turned 40. [/QUOTE] Speak it! I was befuddled for about a week when I first realized that I couldn’t read anything close up… then it suddenly hit me: I’m getting _old_! :eek: 41 with bifocals! 🆒 Happy birthday, **purp**! ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/27 "2007-10-18T15:17:24Z")
Amateurs. All of you – amateurs! I’ve got the best of both worlds: Over the hill AND mother of a toddler. Ha! Ellen, 44 Life Really Did Begin at 40 ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/28 "2007-10-18T15:27:04Z")
Happy Birthday, purple haze. I hope its an enjoyable one. Missy2U, 41 I still don’t HAVE a life. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/29 "2007-10-18T15:28:47Z")
I turned 40 last fall. I celebrated by decreeing that I was gonna wear [fedoras](http://www.thefedoralounge.com) whenever, and wherever, I deemed good, and who cared what anyone said. Felt good (no pun intended). Best thing is, you’re only 40 for a year. 41 is a lot easier because people don’t make a big shmeal out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/30 "2007-10-18T15:53:39Z")
Echoing what others have said upthread, as I close in on 47, I often reflect on how young and fit I was at 40. If this trend keeps up every 7 years, I don’t know. They’d better start coming up with some better drugs - that or prosthetics. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/31 "2007-10-18T16:32:55Z")
[QUOTE=fessie] Happy Birthday! The text size increase option is under “View”. [/QUOTE] Bwah! I’m 42. So true. (Imagine rapid mood change, there.) And I disagree with the previous posters–I’m 15. I still feel like I’m 15 years old inside. The outside is just lumpier now. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/32 "2007-10-18T16:36:44Z")
[QUOTE=Astroboy14] Speak it! I was befuddled for about a week when I first realized that I couldn’t read anything close up… then it suddenly hit me: I’m getting _old_! [/QUOTE] The way it works is: you slide the glasses up or down and peer near-sightedly at the small print with your naked eyes. Reading ingredient labels at the grocery store is an _adventure!_ Also: you start reading ingredient labels. Happy Birthday! ---
**Author:** ![Smashed\_Ice\_Cream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Smashed\_Ice\_Cream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smashed_Ice_Cream)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/33 "2007-10-18T16:40:54Z")
Happy Birthday!!! You have a wonderful birthday! Happy day!! (I’m 35 today.) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/34 "2007-10-18T17:08:24Z")
Happy Birthday, kid! (51) Like my Mother said when I made a comment about getting old: “Wait until your kids start complaining about getting old.” My youngest started complaining two years ago. 😃 If you’re going to complain about the kids on your lawn properly, you need a proper lawn chair and a pitcher of something frosty on a warm summer day. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/35 "2007-10-18T17:33:21Z")
Ha- ha! You lost your youth!! /Nelson Muntz Happy B-day. I’ll be there in about 2.5 years. [[shivers]] ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/36 "2007-10-18T17:48:01Z")
[QUOTE=Savannah] The way it works is: you slide the glasses up or down and peer near-sightedly at the small print with your naked eyes. Reading ingredient labels at the grocery store is an _adventure!_ Also: you start reading ingredient labels. Happy Birthday! [/QUOTE] Oh and cornflake boxes take the place of a newspaper, some damn fine reading in there son ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/37 "2007-10-19T01:41:43Z")
You have reached the age where, when you go to a football game and see the cheerleaders, you wonder what their moms look like nude. I’ll be 65 next month, and I’ll walk all over your damn lawn if I feel like it. I may have to stop now and then for a short rest, though. ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/38 "2007-10-19T03:00:49Z")
We share a birthday! I was 45 yesterday! Happy Birthday to us. [Here’s the cake!](http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z76/pitocyn/cake.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/39 "2007-10-19T03:15:09Z")
Let’s all raise a glass and toast our wasted youth. (Clink!) ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138/40 "2007-10-19T04:02:10Z")
So that’s you, me, \*\*jjimm \*\* and **Mangetout** , this year. Anyone else? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-40/423138.md?page=3)