# I knew I was getting old when... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 25, 2007, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085 "2007-07-25T14:39:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/41 "2007-07-26T18:45:38Z")
I’m nopt sure mine fits with the tone of the thread, but mine came when I had a sex dream about a co-worker and, in the dream, I said, “No, thanks.” I’d had my share of “headaches” up to that time, but in a _dream_!?! WT… H, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/42 "2007-07-26T18:56:38Z")
-When I noticed I was older than the Playboy centerfold -When I met someone who had never seen B/W TV in a household setting -When I met someone who had no idea what I was talking about when I described that plastic adapter you snap into the center of a 45 so you can play it on a turntable ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/43 "2007-07-26T19:10:05Z")
I was in a bike shop last year and took one out for a test ride. While taking the bike outside I asked the girl how you changed gear on it - I knew that the shifters had developed since I’d last got a new bike in 1984. She misunderstood me and started to explain how derailleur gears work - to her the bit that was invented 90 odd years ago was the same as the bit that was invented 3 years ago. It’s hard to explain why, but she managed to make me feel both old and stupid. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/44 "2007-07-26T19:28:49Z")
When a friend of mine asked me if I knew Phil Collins was in a band before he went solo. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/45 "2007-07-26T19:41:15Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] When a friend of mine asked me if I knew Phil Collins was in a band before he went solo. [/QUOTE] It could be worse; I had a co-worker who didn’t even realize Phil was ever a “regular” pop singer. She thought he was just a “composer and singer of Disney soundtracks.” ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/46 "2007-07-26T19:58:14Z")
[QUOTE=cochrane] When I learned that Billy Joel’s current wife was born (1981) after I had bought some of his hit albums, such as **The Stranger** (1977), **52nd Street** (1978), and **Glass Houses** (1980). In fact, she was an infant when he was dating Christie Brinkley. [/QUOTE] When the ‘cover bands’ that occasionally play in a park near where I live stopped playing ‘oldies doo-wop’ and switched instead to ‘Billy Joel’… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/47 "2007-07-26T20:03:43Z")
Oh, while we’re on the subject of music: a few years ago, there was a local radio station that used to do “Now and Then” music blocks, meaning they’d play an new and then an old song by a particular artist. At any rate, I turned them on one day in the middle of U2’s “Mysterious Ways.” Far from my favorite U2 song, but I stuck around to see if maybe they were going to play “I Will Follow” or “Gloria,” or maybe at least “New Year’s Day” next. At the end of the song, I realized that"Mysterious Ways" had been the “then” track. ☹ So, to sum up, you know you’re getting old when: _a radio station plays a song recorded after you consider the artist to already have been washed up, and they call it an oldie but goodie._ ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/48 "2007-07-26T20:41:08Z")
[QUOTE=Bayard] He invited some of his pals over. So far, so good, but I was beginning to realize that I was a 31-year-old in an apartment full of 19- to 22-year-olds. The evening progressed, a lot of liquor was consumed, and I was feeling like my old college self. Then, in a moment that haunts me to this day, my hip, young coworker leaned over to me and quietly, politely asked, “Do you mind if we all smoke some pot?” But I hadn’t previously realized that I was an adult. [/QUOTE] Let me make you feel better, I think they were asking you because you just met all these guys tonight. They were being polite, not making you feel old. As for me, I’m only 26, but I always feel old when I realize that the teenagers I have to supervise weren’t even born when The Simpsons debuted. That blows my mind in ways some of these other examples (which I can somewhat relate to) don’t. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/49 "2007-07-26T21:17:15Z")
…when you read in the Dope about the hot actress in the latest Harry Potter film (which you saw a couple days ago) and all you can remember is a child. You follow his link…and all you see is a child. You know you’re old ---
**Author:** ![Flipshod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f19dbf/32.png) [@Flipshod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flipshod)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/50 "2007-07-26T21:27:02Z")
When I realized I was older than the college football players–sorta felt old. When I realized I’m older than the professional players–that’s old. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/51 "2007-07-26T21:34:42Z")
[QUOTE=Flipshod] When I realized I’m older than the professional players… [/QUOTE] …when they talk about players who are well past retirement age and they are _my_ age! ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/52 "2007-07-26T21:35:46Z")
[QUOTE=Justin\_Bailey] Let me make you feel better, I think they were asking you because you just met all these guys tonight. They were being polite, not making you feel old. [/QUOTE] I dunno, man. If he’d been 23 instead of 33, the politeness probably would have taken the form of, “Dude, you want?” 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/53 "2007-07-26T21:39:01Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] I dunno, man. If he’d been 23 instead of 33, the politeness probably would have taken the form of, “Dude, you want?” 🆒 [/QUOTE] Ah, so old people don’t smoke pot. Excuse me while I inform a certain old pothead of that. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/54 "2007-07-26T21:41:25Z")
[QUOTE=Telperien] Ah, so old people don’t smoke pot. Excuse me while I inform a certain old pothead of that. [/QUOTE] I didn’t say it was _valid_. But when I was in my early twenties, I would have felt it really dangerous to just _assume_ a guy in his mid-thirties was “cool” like that. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/55 "2007-07-26T21:44:10Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] I didn’t say it was _valid_. But when I was in my early twenties, I would have felt it really dangerous to just _assume_ a guy in his mid-thirties was “cool” like that. [/QUOTE] Maybe it’s just because I don’t want to smoke pot that it makes sense to me. I was absolutely awestruck in my teens when my friend’s sister just lit up in front of a group of us without asking and thinking it was OK. No one wanted to smell like that and we made her put it out immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/56 "2007-07-26T21:45:18Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] I didn’t say it was _valid_. But when I was in my early twenties, I would have felt it really dangerous to just _assume_ a guy in his mid-thirties was “cool” like that. [/QUOTE] No, I get what you’re saying. I was joking. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/57 "2007-07-27T07:11:20Z")
I realized a few weeks ago that at work I casually refer to people 20 years old as “kids”. I’m only 23 ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/58 "2007-07-27T09:37:53Z")
I started feeling a disconnect from “younger” people when I was in college. Around the time of the Bush 41 generation, ahead of the first Gulf War, it seemed to me like there was a big change in the culture. I was a [child of the 80s](http://www.inthe80s.com/dynamic/child8e.shtml) . ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/59 "2007-07-27T10:12:47Z")
[QUOTE=Bayard] Do I mind? Hey, I’m a cool young guy. What makes you assume that I don’t want to smoke pot with you? OK, so I’ve never smoked pot, and I’m a complete dork. But I hadn’t previously realized that I was an adult. [/QUOTE] I was at a boat party on the Thames a couple of weekends ago, and an attractive young lady asked if she could borrow my newspaper. I thought “how nice, maybe she can help me with the crossword”. Turns out she wanted a clean surface to hoover up some Colombian Marching Power from… :dubious: Sigh… I’m only 29, and an ex-raver as well. (Hah! That’s another one… admitting that I am an _ex_-raver. The thought of dancing in a field till 6am doesn’t sound half as appealing as an evening on a tuscan hillside with a bottle of wine or three.) ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085/60 "2007-07-27T12:18:47Z")
[QUOTE=Koxinga] I started feeling a disconnect from “younger” people when I was in college. Around the time of the Bush 41 generation, ahead of the first Gulf War, it seemed to me like there was a big change in the culture. I was a [child of the 80s](http://www.inthe80s.com/dynamic/child8e.shtml) . [/QUOTE] That was a cool essay. Subtract 20 years, and the Atari, there’s me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-knew-i-was-getting-old-when/413085.md?page=4)