# "I'm too old for this..." What are YOU too old for? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 1, 2005, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311 "2005-10-01T05:45:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/61 "2005-10-04T04:16:29Z")
> [@Seeker74](#): > > I’m too old for men my age. Which is why I married a man sixteen years my senior. Does he have any daughters? ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/62 "2005-10-04T17:14:37Z")
I’m too old to do things that I’m too old to do. For instance I could say I’m too old for pole vaulting, but so what? Right now my wife and I are raising our daugther’s five year old boy and 16 month old daughter. I’m too old to be doing it and so is my wife which is the reason for my initial statement. Matter of fact I was 42 when we adopted our daughter and I complained then that I was too old to raise anymore children. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/63 "2005-10-04T17:59:27Z")
> [@kniz](#): > > I’m too old to do things that I’m too old to do. For instance I could say I’m too old for pole vaulting, but so what? Right now my wife and I are raising our daugther’s five year old boy and 16 month old daughter. I’m too old to be doing it and so is my wife which is the reason for my initial statement. Matter of fact I was 42 when we adopted our daughter and I complained then that I was too old to raise anymore children. Ouch, that is rough ~ for all of you. The children are lucky to have loving family to step in and help out. I have a lot of admiration for you and your wife for doing so ~ I’m not sure I could do the same. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/64 "2005-10-04T18:46:15Z")
What am I too old for? Most of them have been said already (employers, office politics, camping, partying till the wee hours), but some have surprised me, like not being able to eat anything I want without paying for it later. Christmas damned near kills me, with all that eating of rich food at strange hours. A couple of days of that, and I just want rice and a salad for supper. Staring down the barrels of 39 in two months, it seems like my thirties have been a time of major changes. Those of you in your early thirties who still do all the things of your youth, I would be surprised if you’re still doing them in your late thirties. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/65 "2005-10-04T19:44:27Z")
I’m too old for jerry-rigged DIY projects. I’d rather hire someone to do it right. I’m not too old to be creative and have a sense of whimsy, but I’m too old for milk-crate, 2X4 and cinder block bookshelves. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/66 "2005-10-04T19:57:54Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > About five years ago, I decided I was too old for the big crowds of concerts, etc. Amen to that, and also Live clubs Where. You. Have. To. Fricking. Stand. The. Whole. Time. Holding. Your. Coat. And. Drink–but I didn’t like that any better at the age of 21 than I do now. Sorry about your trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/67 "2005-10-04T20:01:49Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I’m too old for jerry-rigged DIY projects. I’d rather hire someone to do it right. > > I’m not too old to be creative and have a sense of whimsy, but I’m too old for milk-crate, 2X4 and cinder block bookshelves. I take quite a bit of pride in working on projects _and doing them right_. It really doesn’t take muck more from a cost standpont, just a little more forethought. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/68 "2005-10-04T20:03:21Z")
> [@Queen Tonya](#): > > now I’m just vaguely pissed off in a sort of false advertising way. False advertising, how?? You don’t have to like these guys, but don’t accuse them of false advertising. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/69 "2005-10-04T20:51:28Z")
I’m too old to trust a fart anymore. I’m too old to just pull an all-nighter and smile about it. These days, what doesn’t hurt doesn’t work right. I need my sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/70 "2005-10-04T21:38:38Z")
1. Too old for: - Loud bars. - Converse All-Stars. - Nauseating plastic-coated tourist attractions. - Giant überbaggy shorts. - Crummy, low-paying gruntwork. - Everclear and Kool-Aid. - Games people play (except possibly foosball). - The nagging pointless feeling that everybody else is more (successful, loved, accomplished, grown-up) than I am. ---
**Author:** ![moonstarssun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@moonstarssun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonstarssun)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/71 "2005-10-04T21:41:21Z")
I’m 35. I’m too old to have kids (and until my 35th bday I was too young–I had all the bases covered 😃 ). I’m too old to care about a job that’s only going to make someone else rich. I’ll come in, do my work, and leave, but it all stays behind when I walk out the door. No crazy amounts of overtime, no coming in on the weekends, and definitely no sacrificing myself for someone else’s profit. I have my own life, and it matters a hell of a lot more than any marketing campaign I’m going to crank out here. I’m too old to dress conservatively. If I feel like wearing an orange and pink paisley skirt with sequins and carrying a velvet purse decorated with chunky beads, I’m gonna do it. And I am doing it as I write this. I’m too old to not listen to my instincts. I’m too old to believe that I and everyone I love will live forever, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/72 "2005-10-04T23:07:00Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > False advertising, how?? You don’t have to like these guys, but don’t accuse them of false advertising. It feels like false advertising, or like they ought to come with warning labels at least. Everyone’s got baggage, sure, that’s kinda what dating is for, finding out if you can handle each others particular emotional crap. But serious lack of competency? I dated one guy who was dismayingly clueless in the romantic arts, he just didn’t have any idea of what to do or when or how or that orgasming thirty seconds after removing his pants wasn’t the norm, who does that? He’s never seen a movie, read a book, watched a porno at 36? He was divorced, for pete’s sake! Was his sex life always like that and she just never mentioned it wasn’t supposed to be? At this age, I presume a certain level of experience, based on our ‘would you date a virgin’ threads, I’m not in the minority. I’m not expecting him to magically know how to press all of my buttons, getting to know one another is part of the fun of a new relationship, but a working familiarity with the basics is expected. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/73 "2005-10-04T23:44:22Z")
> [@Queen Tonya](#): > > But serious lack of competency? I dated one guy who was dismayingly clueless in the romantic arts, he just didn’t have any idea of what to do or when or how or that orgasming thirty seconds after removing his pants wasn’t the norm, who does that? He’s never seen a movie, read a book, watched a porno at 36? He was divorced, for pete’s sake! Was his sex life always like that and she just never mentioned it wasn’t supposed to be? > . eek–already been married?..some of us do join the game a little later in life but I wasn’t imagining this. At any rate, I can certainly understand that dating inexperienced people wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea, or even most people’s. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/74 "2005-10-05T01:38:16Z")
Had to add another one… I’m too old to drink coffee all day long. In the olden days I was able to drink a cup of coffee just before going to bed. Now any coffee after 3:00 PM keeps me up all night. ---
**Author:** ![lachesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@lachesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lachesis)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/75 "2005-10-05T16:09:11Z")
after half a century – i’m too old not to realize you need a little joy and fun in your life, to balance out the everyday crap. which is why i have a part-time job at the Spirit Halloween store, where i get to dress in costumes and put on scary make-up and freak people out when i pretend to be a mannikin at the doorway and they suddenly discover i’m **not**. heh heh heh i’m not too old to still be evil. i loves me a good Halloween scare. definitely too old to give a damn about what people think of me and how i look or what i do. providing i’m not doing stuff that’s bound to get me locked up by the authorities. i’m not too old to still _live_. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/76 "2005-10-06T03:14:19Z")
I don’t _think_ I’ve ever said this before, but… **lachesis** , how _you_ doin’? 😃 (I mean, who could possibly pass up someone who’s so obviously into all things Halloweenie?) Anyway, coming up on 38, I have to agree with most of what’s already been posted here. Plus, leet. Argh, that stuff, in all forms, sucks donkey balls. But anyway, I’d also like to add the caveat that I thought these realizations would make me sad… although they haven’t. Instead, it’s made me understand that out of all the screwed up crap that life tosses our way, some thing get better as you go and you learn to appreciate what is important to you more than ever. I truly do not miss being even a call-in slave to “fashion.” Now I can just let my inner hippie run amok and never give nary a thought to Paris or her Ugg boots, those hideous spangly purses or this seasons’ new black (orange?). We’re FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! At last! ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/77 "2005-10-06T13:36:05Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > I don’t _think_ I’ve ever said this before, but… > > **lachesis** , how _you_ doin’? 😃 > I truly do not miss being even a call-in slave to “fashion.” Now I can just let my inner hippie run amok and never give nary a thought to Paris or her Ugg boots, those hideous spangly purses or this seasons’ new black (orange?). Aren’t you a little old to not give a crap about your appearance. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/78 "2005-10-06T15:43:02Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Aren’t you a little old to not give a crap about your appearance. I’m not sure how to take this - are you saying that a 38 year old woman **should** be more concerned about how she looks because she’s getting grey, wrinkled, and saggy? Cause that would be truly mean. But I’m also aware that you have a strange sense of humour, and might mean something completely different. - featherlou, 38 year old woman ---
**Author:** ![leandroc76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@leandroc76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leandroc76)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/79 "2005-10-06T15:58:09Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > At the grand old age of 29… > I’m also too old to care what people think. > I’m too old to turn my nose up at new things simply because they are new. > I am too old to deal with guys with mommy issues. > I’m too old to get irritated over trivialities. I’m 29 too… I’m too old to Skateboard. I can’t even Olly anymore. I’m too old to climb… actually… that’s wrong… I’m too fat for that. I’m too old to play playstation. But I’m addicted to Madden 06, Tiger 06’, SOCOM and RPG’s. I’m too old to speed around in my Honda. it’s only 85Hp but at 110mph you’d never know it. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311/80 "2005-10-06T17:00:11Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Aren’t you a little old to not give a crap about your appearance. There’s a difference between being a ‘fashionista’ and wearing what makes you look and feel good. I have no desire, not that I ever really did, to make sure that every outfit matches Tinkerbell’s and is approved by the MTv TRL audience. Og, that puts a strain on your pocketbook, credibility and sanity (ever try keeping up with how quickly these things cycle??). But once you hit an age where designer names mean nada to you and you’d rather spend that $200 plus towards your monthly house payment, it’s liberating to only desire special occasions for dress up and the rest for comfort and your _own_ sense of what works best. YMMV and thank you for being concerned about those of us declining in age. I’m sure we need the extra support and direction. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-too-old-for-this-what-are-you-too-old-for/324311.md?page=5)