# I'm "The Man"? WTF? When did that happen?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [January 11, 2006, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406 "2006-01-11T00:00:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/1 "2006-01-11T00:00:06Z")
So I’m at work today, and this lady comes in with her little boy, who promptly goes apeshit. So, I’m trying to serve this lady with the kid running around, when she turns to him and, in her strictest voice, proclaims “Now listen here! The man is going to be very cross with you! If you dont stand here quietly, the man will take you away!”. The kid froze, speechless.
My first thought was, wow, this lady has a better handle on her kids then most of the dumbasses that convene here.
And then, it dawned on me. I was the man. I was THE MAN.
As a child, I always feared THE MAN. THE MAN was scary; if you didnt behave yourself in a store, then there was a good chance that THE MAN would take you AWAY. I hated THE MAN. And now, it seems… I am that man.
I’m 25.
I wanted to say, hey kid! Go nuts! I dont give a fuck! Burn the place down, what do I care! I’m a kid myself!
But it seems, I’m not.
I’ve never felt so old.
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### Author:  [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/2 "2006-01-11T00:06:50Z")
You da man, dude! (high fives)
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### Author:  [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/3 "2006-01-11T00:08:52Z")
You think that’s bad? Wait til some kid your age stops you on the street to ask directions and starts off with - “Excuse me, **sir** …” That made me feel old and I wasn’t even 40 yet. Sir indeed.
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### Author:  [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/4 "2006-01-11T00:10:28Z")
But are you always trying to keep him down? You should get to work on that if not.
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### Author:  [@Farmwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmwoman)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/5 "2006-01-11T00:26:18Z")
The most disturbing aspect of this is that you are now the man in charge of disciplining some stranger’s kid.
Damn, that kind of crap makes me steam.
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### Author:  [@roshia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roshia)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/6 "2006-01-11T00:26:53Z")
Up until a few months ago, my oldest moment happened when a cute little eight-year-old girl excitedly told me “You look just like my mommy!” I was only sixteen.
What happened a few months ago? I found a 1/2" thick streak of grey when I was tying my hair back. I’m eighteen, ferchrissakes.
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### Author:  [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/7 "2006-01-11T00:28:15Z")
Congratulations! Now, how may I stick it to you? 😃
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### Author:  [@Otanx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otanx)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/8 "2006-01-11T01:02:45Z")
I was on campus getting books for my upcoming classes. I was headed for the building, and heard a couple ladies behind me. I hold the door for them. I get a “Thank you, sir”. It was the first time I felt old (I was 20 at the time). I wanted to scream “I am younger than you! Don’t call me sir”
-Otanx
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### Author:  [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/9 "2006-01-11T02:03:02Z")
I’m a newly-graduated professor at 33 and I have a 59 year old in my class calling me Doctor and it freaks me out.
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### Author:  [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/10 "2006-01-11T02:34:35Z")
Hey, it didn’t bother [Joe Jackson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Jackson_(musician)) and he was only 25 too.
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### Author:  [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/11 "2006-01-11T02:35:33Z")
> [@capybara](#):
>
> I’m a newly-graduated professor at 33 and I have a 59 year old in my class calling me Doctor and it freaks me out.
You’ll learn to live with it. I was a 21 year old 2[sup]nd[/sup] Lt. whose only military experience was being an Aviation Cadet. And I was supposed to lead people who had a lot more experience and were a lot older. It works out fine if you trust your own training, stick to what you know (which will presumeably grow with time), and don’t let it go to your head.
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### Author:  [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/12 "2006-01-11T03:02:17Z")
The bishop in my diocese(Episcopal church, Kansas) is younger than I am, by about a year or so.
But he _looks_ older! His hair is almost white, and mine is, at 51, brown. Except for one or two, here and there.
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### Author:  [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/13 "2006-01-11T03:35:43Z")
For those who freaked out over “sir” and “ma’am” I wouldn’t. I for one call everyone sir or ma’am. It’s just the way I am.
Now, I hate being called “Sir.” Damnit, I’m not an officer, I work for a living.
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### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/14 "2006-01-11T04:03:48Z")
> [@bubastis](#):
>
> If you dont stand here quietly, the man will take you away!".
That is so _cool_! Do you also get to cook their bones into a stew, and feed their entrails to the hounds?
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### Author:  [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/15 "2006-01-11T04:13:46Z")
“Get outa line, the man come, and take you a-way…” –_For What It’s Worth,_ Stephen Stills
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### Author:  [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/16 "2006-01-11T08:29:16Z")
> [@Squink](#):
>
> That is so _cool_! Do you also get to cook their bones into a stew, and feed their entrails to the hounds?
I guess! the kid looked terrified, like I really was going to take him “Away”.
Where was I going to take him? My dungeon?
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/17 "2006-01-11T11:08:07Z")
Yes, I remember when I became “that Man”, as in, “make way for that man Jimmy!”
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### Author:  [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/18 "2006-01-11T16:39:45Z")
How cool is that! You get to be the man, and witness one of the worst examples of parenting that I have ever heard!
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### Author:  [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/19 "2006-01-11T16:45:25Z")
Sorry, guys, I apologize. Whenever a guy holds the door for me, I automatically say, “Thank you, sir,” regardless of the guy’s age. When co-workers help me with a question, same response, again, regardless of age. It’s just kind of an autopilot response.
But all hell’s to the servers who don’t ask me for ID when I order a drink. I’m only 29! I don’t look old yet…do I?
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### Author:  [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-the-man-wtf-when-did-that-happen/339406/20 "2006-01-11T16:58:42Z")
> [@bubastis](#):
>
> And then, it dawned on me. I was the man. I was THE MAN.
Stop oppressing me!
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