# I was just told I could pass for 30 years old :( **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 13, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620 "2009-02-13T01:03:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/21 "2009-02-13T13:32:54Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > My boyfriend will be a little over six You’re dating a six year old? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/22 "2009-02-13T13:36:43Z")
When I was in college the first time - I was about 19 - I hung out with the assistant dean. He once asked how old I thought he was. He looked rather old, but to be kind I said 30. He was 27. No doubt now he would have looked rather young to my much older eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/23 "2009-02-13T13:50:03Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > It won’t help much if I tell you I’m 20, and the difference between 27 and 30 seems awfully small to me, will it? 😃 I’m with you, and will be 27 this year. I’ve got the opposite situation - a couple of weeks ago, the store wouldn’t sell me canned air because I didn’t have ID. Apparently they card for it now. Who knew?:dubious: The cashier assured me that my youthful looks would be a blessing soon, but my keyboard had to stay groddy until I could prove that I left age 18 behind almost eight years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/24 "2009-02-13T14:39:38Z")
> [@hawksgirl](#): > > I’m 22, only 4 years older than some of them, and due to stress, I even have acne. I have no clue what lead them to that conclusion, but I went home seriously questioning my fashion choices. Bad news: I’m 40, have acne, and the dermatologist says it’s “juvenile acne.” My mother says it’ll go away in my mid-50s, if her own “juvenile acne” is any indication. Saleswomen in perfume stores try to sell me mid-20s creams… ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/25 "2009-02-13T14:46:59Z")
[Obligatory link to howoldareyou.net](http://www.howoldareyou.net/getUser.php?id=2619) Fun site. Cheers me up immensely when I’m feeling like a big bag of dirt. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/26 "2009-02-13T14:48:06Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > I’m with you, and will be 27 this year. > > I’ve got the opposite situation - a couple of weeks ago, the store wouldn’t sell me canned air because I didn’t have ID. Apparently they card for it now. Who knew?:dubious: The cashier assured me that my youthful looks would be a blessing soon, but my keyboard had to stay groddy until I could prove that I left age 18 behind almost eight years ago. But I still haven’t learned to count.:smack: I blame the time. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/27 "2009-02-13T14:49:18Z")
I’m not really sure what the difference between a 27 year old and a 30 year old looks like. It’s not like you have a late 20-something growth spurt or a light in your hand starts flashing or anything. I usually get pegged for being anywhere from 26 to 31, depending on how I’m dressed or where I am. (Actual age 36). Mostly it’s because I have a full head of hair and I’m in reasonable shape. We had a guy on my freshman hall who could have easily passed for 40s. And I’m talking like “my God you’ve aged horribly!” 40s. He was short, balding, a bit overweight and had a bad knee so he used to shuffle around like an old man. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/28 "2009-02-13T14:57:30Z")
You guys should be happy you are not [Greg Oden](http://www.theonion.com/content/files/images/Greg-Oden.jpg), poor kid looked 50 when he was 18. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/29 "2009-02-13T15:01:07Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > Because I’ve had acne for the last thirty years, and had to do all that fussy skin care stuff, I look in my 30s while in my 40s. Although the silvering and slowly receeding hair is working hard to fix that. This is good to know. Try not to get too angsty about it. A lot of people (me) are really bad at guessing ages. I’m 28, and recently people have guessed I’m anywhere from 16 to 30. I think it just depends on how I’m dressed. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/30 "2009-02-13T15:09:25Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > You’re dating a six year old? :eek: I would venture to guess that her boyfriend was born on February 29th. She said he doesn’t have a birthday this year. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/31 "2009-02-13T15:17:47Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I knew someone who, at 28, looked 40. Though on the upside, at 40, he looked 40. If he had not accidentally died, I expect that at 50 he would have looked 40. That’s pretty much how it works in my family. We typically don’t age much for about 15-20 years, then we age a lot in a few years, then it slows back down for another 20 years or so. When I was born, my dad looked about 25. He was 29. By the time I was 3, he looked to be pushing 40. He still looked about 40 when he was pushing 50. He’s 62, and has looked 60 for at least 10 years. I expect he’ll look about 60 till he’s 70 or so. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/32 "2009-02-13T16:22:04Z")
I am 26 and I keep getting asked if I have picked which college I am going to yet. It is always assumed that I am about 17 or 18. My boyfriend is the other way, as he lost his hair and what little he has left went silver, so despite the fact that he is 27 people assume he is at least 35, sometimes 40. If he hasn’t shaved his head in a while and I am wearing an old university t-shirt I’m sure it looks like I am hanging out with my dad to people who just see us around the city. ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/33 "2009-02-13T16:45:51Z")
If it’s any consolation, I’m constantly being carded for alchohol and cigarettes, after having been legal for almost a decade. My (ten years older) boyfriend keeps telling me to enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/34 "2009-02-13T16:48:46Z")
Nooooo! You can’t pass for 30! You were just talking to a stupid person. Poof! that thought away. No one else has ever said it, don’t believe the first goofball that does say it. You look good. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/35 "2009-02-13T17:12:27Z")
I once told a 14 year old I remember when the Beatles first came to America. Only time I have ever caused a person to literally fall off a chair. She thought I was mid-30’s. I was early 50’s. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/36 "2009-02-13T19:56:26Z")
Definitely a stupid comment, but it’s only 3 years, that’s certainly within margin of error. They could have just meant you act more mature than a 27-year old. ---
**Author:** ![Sonnenstrahl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Sonnenstrahl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonnenstrahl)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/37 "2009-02-13T20:33:41Z")
I also think it’s funny that the person had to draw a distinction between looking 27 and 30. You should have said you were 27 and a quarter. I could see being surprised if you had said you were 18, but if I thought someone was 30 and they were 27, I would think that I had guessed accurately. Same if I had thought 24. A friend of mine was taken for 30 last year. She was maybe 21 of 22, so she was a bit hurt. But he was the mailman and she lived alone in a house in a somewhat rural area; the circumstances were that she was housesitting for a family friend whose mother had entered a nursing home, but I’m sure the mailman just never expected to find a 21 year old living in her own 3-bedroom house in that area. Circumstances have a lot to do with it. I used to complain about being carded, being asked what grade I was in, etc., until I gained some weight and suddenly bartenders give my card only a cursory glance. What the hell? Now I look… matronly! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/38 "2009-02-13T20:41:48Z")
I’ve always looked old, but my son who turns 30 in two months could easily pass for 18 or 19, most people are shocked when they find out his age. He had his Drivers license refused for beer last month as it “had” to be a fake. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/39 "2009-02-13T21:04:00Z")
My SO is 28 (next month anyway) and could pass for about 15. I think I’m holding up well at 33. Been told recently that I could pass for 25. Look on the bright side OP, maybe you’ll look 30 forever. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620/40 "2009-02-13T21:09:30Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I knew someone who, at 28, looked 40. Though on the upside, at 40, he looked 40. If he had not accidentally died, I expect that at 50 he would have looked 40. You realize of course, that it was no “accident”. He was actually 768 years old, and has looked around 40 for 728 of those years. Right now, he’s pumping gas just outside of Flagstaff NM. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-just-told-i-could-pass-for-30-years-old/485620.md?page=3)