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.
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.
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.
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:
I turned 40 last fall. I celebrated by decreeing that I was gonna wear fedoras 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.
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.
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!
