# "I'm so old!" "You're not old!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 10, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643 "2009-01-10T05:29:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/21 "2009-01-10T16:07:57Z")
I am 41 and most people think I am 10 years younger than that. Thank God. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/22 "2009-01-10T16:17:55Z")
How anyone in their thirties can even think “I’m so old” is beyond comprehension. ---
**Author:** ![Jettboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@Jettboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jettboy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/23 "2009-01-10T16:46:18Z")
I’m 43 and look every bit of 55. Whenever anyone is socially retarded enough to ask my age, I tell 'em that I’m only 22, but I’ve had one helluva rough life. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/24 "2009-01-10T17:33:43Z")
30 is not old! 30 is young and vibrant! Now get off my lawn damnit. Regards, Russell - who is facing 33 this year. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/25 "2009-01-10T17:40:30Z")
The taxi driver who just dropped me off is 75. Now that’s old. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/26 "2009-01-10T18:04:47Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > How anyone in their thirties can even think “I’m so old” is beyond comprehension. A couple of months ago, I was talking about my upcoming birthday with my family. I said something to the effect of “23 is a BIG number.” My parents were, uh, rather incredulous. My sister, who is 6 years younger than me, backed me up. So for my birthday, they get me a card that says “Old? You’re not old! Hands up everybody who thinks this person is old!” Inside the card is a picture of a bunch of grade schoolers with their hands up. The caption is, “Oh, who listens to them? They eat paste, for cripes’ sake!” I nearly had a heart attack when I read my mom’s message at the bottom: “Don’t worry, Rysto, 30 will seem a lot bigger.” :eek: Thanks, mom. My sister wasn’t much better: “You’re not old, you’re just a lot older than me!” ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/27 "2009-01-10T18:29:45Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Heh. I’ll be 38 next month. I don’t look it. I don’t know whether or not I “act” it, I’m not sure what that means. Most days, I don’t feel old. But \*some \*days… > > For me, the thing that is most simultaneously amusing and disturbing is that I’m frequently asked out by guys who are closer to my daughter’s age than mine. > I can’t remember the name of the multi-band tour my daughter went to last year that included Oasis, but pissy divas that they are, they didn’t show. She was bummed, she’d been excited to see them. She lists “Wonderwall” as one of the top twenty greatest pop songs of all time. She’s seventeen. My sis would agree. She discovered them at that tour. At her graduation she played a 90s mix tape which included all the best songs from this era. That decade had plenty of angst for many future generations and I’m not suggesting otherwise. But C’mon. She didn’t even know _The Goonies_ for Og’s sake. We’re being left behind. As regards Jet being popular for 5 or 6 years, that just proves how out of touch I am. I’ve already lived a long life. I’ve felt old for a long time. I felt old when I was 18. Perception can be a mighty powerful thing. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/28 "2009-01-10T18:39:52Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > I can’t remember the name of the multi-band tour my daughter went to last year that included Oasis, but pissy divas that they are, they didn’t show. She was bummed, she’d been excited to see them. She lists “Wonderwall” as one of the top twenty greatest pop songs of all time. She’s seventeen. That’s actually not surprising at all. I think you’d have to be 17 to think that :). ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/29 "2009-01-11T01:43:14Z")
I was routinely carded until I was in my thirties; even when I was in my forties, people would guess me five to eight years younger. Once I hit my fifties, it was all over. I suddenly looked my age; nowadays, people think I’m even older than I am. Getting old sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/30 "2009-01-11T02:00:37Z")
I am 27, but co-workers frequently mistake me for older. They are quick to assure me it’s not my looks, but my air of authority. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/31 "2009-01-11T02:37:28Z")
I was at a cocktail reception with my husband, and somehow the talk turned to the Vietnam War. The woman who initiated the discussion turned to me, waved her hand dismissively, and said “Of course, it was over before you were born.” I was born in 1960. Saigon fell in 1975. This woman apparently thought that I was about 33 instead of 48. (Or maybe 35 if she was counting from the withdrawal of US troops in 1973). Yeah, I know, poor me! Well, I usually _am_ pleased when people say I’m young-looking. The thing is, she made me feel like I was projecting immaturity, rather than youthfulness. I’m a middle-aged women, and I have the life experience that goes along with that. If I have to suffer through perimenopause, I’d at least like some of the respect that is supposed to go along with age. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/32 "2009-01-11T02:47:55Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > I see the point you’re trying to make, but Jet’s been popular for a good five or six years. Never heard of them, either\*. I’m 37 (38 in March). \*I know THE Jets… (o/`You found out...I got a crush on you! o/`), but not Jet. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/33 "2009-01-11T03:00:10Z")
I won’t say how old I am, but I am often shocked at how young the celebrities, doctors, and politicians are getting, nowadays! I think, on a good day, pulling it all together (hair, clothes, makeup) I look MUCH MUCH younger than my real age. On a bad day, looking semi-homeless and in need of a shower to boot, a store clerk asked if I wanted to use my senior discount! I’m currently in a no-man’s-land of being eligible for the senior discount in some stores and restaurants, but not others. The age limit varies. Sometimes they ask me about a senior discount, but not very often. (Must be my young and vibrant appearance!) ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/34 "2009-01-11T03:36:22Z")
I’m 20 but apparently I’ve looked older than my age since I was 11 or so. That’s when random people started asking me if my cousin, born a month before my 10th birthday, was my son. When I was 14 a guy at a mall kiosk tried to sell me a senior portrait packet. When I was 18, people thought I was in my early to mid-20s. I only say “I’m so old!” jokingly, when discussing the fact that a guy who was a seventh grader when I was a ninth grader is now in college, or that my cousin will start middle school in a few years. But I do think something is wrong with this world when people born in 1996 can be teenagers. That’s just not right! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/35 "2009-01-11T04:19:10Z")
My best friend, who is 17, has told me that I’m old, at 20. Gee, thanks, Diana, that’ll really help me get over my fixation with my age! (I’ve been mildly conscious of it for a good ten years, since I’m almost a year older than most people in my grade. Having gotten to college, I’ve relinquished much of that, but there is still some there.) ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/36 "2009-01-11T09:16:19Z")
For a long time I looked much younger than I am, although I don’t know about now. Once, about 8 years ago or so, when I was around 23 or 24 and I was standing outside of my house, somebody came up to me and asked if my mother was home :eek:. I find it fascinating just how relative age can be. I’m 35, and through most of 30’s I’ve had people in their 40’s and older say I’m “Just a kid.” Guarantee you nobody who’s my age or younger thinks that. I also find it funny that rockers who are in their 40’s, or sometimes even late 30’s, are called aging, but Barack Obama is 47 and all I hear about is how young he is. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/37 "2009-01-11T09:59:23Z")
I’ve noticed in general, young people like to brag about how old they’re getting, and old people like to brag about how young they feel. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/38 "2009-01-11T15:25:42Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > I also find it funny that rockers who are in their 40’s, or sometimes even late 30’s, are called aging, but Barack Obama is 47 and all I hear about is how young he is. It’s not the age, honey- it’s the mileage… 😉 ---
**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:** [January 11, 2009, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/39 "2009-01-11T15:40:55Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Never heard of them, either\*. I’m 37 (38 in March). > \*I know THE Jets… (o/`You found out...I got a crush on you! o/`), but not Jet. You’ve likely heard one of their songs in the current Budweiser [commercial](http://coolspotters.com/brands/budweiser/and/songs/are-you-gonna-be-my-girl-by-jet#medium-14367). I, on the other hand, have never heard of The Jets.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643/40 "2009-01-11T17:18:35Z")
I’m the youngest of six, so no matter how old I get, 27 now, I will always have brothers and sisters who are older. I was in Target a few days ago and saw [this.](http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2053&e=product&pid=47240) It’s apparently the 50th anniversary of the Little People toys for Fisher Price. I loved these things growing up. But I’m not anywhere near 50, and for some reason that struck me. -Lil [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-so-old-youre-not-old/480643.md?page=3)