I was surfing through random journals on LJ, and I hit a bunch of teenager’s journals. I won’t quote anything directly, but here is a composite of what I read …
“OMG, I am SOOO in love with Justin. Hez hot!! lol! G2G BRB. Krital is so kewl. Her dad is a dork lol!! The cutest boyz in class are all so kewl LOL!! OMG. Soo kewl. BRB. LOL!! Kewl.”
And this goes on for several pages through various journals. I was amused.
Next I was perusing Excite News and ran accross this article.
Here is the chorus of the song, for your entertainment …
Only one thing flashed in my head…
“What the F is with kids these days?”
I weep for the future and I feel like my dad. Argh!
The other day as I was driving home, I saw a car whizz by me (and I was doing a good 65 in a 55) and cut off a car a ways ahead of me, missing it by what must have been inches. I actually shook my head and clucked my tongue in a disapproving manner.
To make matters worse, when I got home and was climbing out of my car, I unironically groaned. I mean, I groaned without planning to, and not for my own amusement. I simply sounded like a dying cow. It was horrifying.
I started a new career in teaching aged 35.
My first class were 11 year olds. All went well, till one asked how old I was. I replied that I would tell them only if they guessed it exactly.
Then we went round the class.
The youngest was 57, the oldest 74!
Beadalin - I’m 28 and have been doing the groaning thing when I get up for years. You should hear my knees pop when I stand, it sounds like gunfire.
And Jack, how’s the libido? That’s the true sign of growing old. Let me share my story of exactly when I realized I was getting old. Last year when the Rams had started the season with 6 straight wins, I talked football non-stop. My gf joked about my infatuation with the sport and asked if I would rather have sex or watch the football game.
Without a pause I asked in return: “Well are we talking about a regular Sunday game or the playoffs?”
7 or 8 years ago, my penis wouldn’t have allowed my brain to ask that question, it would have had me shout out “SEX” before I even had time to contemplate any other options.
I’m not sure if viewing other people as incomprehensible would be the best way to tell you’re old, rather it points to you as old fashioned, and as has been noted there are ‘young’ people who are old fashioned. and while failing body parts is a very good approximation I think we need to explore some other areas for more general views on the agedness of a particular person. let me try out a few on you that I’ve noticed over the past decade or so that have made me realize, “holy shit! that whole part of my life is gone!”
people look at you with extreme suspicion and make snide comments when they see you trick-or-treating. this sadly occured to me when I was quite tall as I am quite tall
people are not only shocked, but are disgusted when you say you’re dating a 16 year old, even if no sex is involved.
when you’ve had sex before many of your classmates were even born.
when even though you’ve never left college, you’re identified as non-traditional, hmm, that ones boring too
when you begin to skip comics in the newspaper. at first just a few, then several, and now I only read a couple, and even those I miss occasionally
you begin to notice yourself saying things like “that used to be a Police Station, and before that a Sears.” what really brings it home is when you say that to person and their eyes just glaze over in boredom
your constantly comparing things to how they were way back when. I will still occasionally say to people “you know when I first started using computers, I had to have an 8” floppy disk" was it 8"?
here’s a good one, when you’re changing the diapers of a baby who’s parent whose diapers you’ve also changed.
this one hit me hard, when I realized that I am the Johnson heir for my family, my father and grandfather both gone, If my grandfather was King, now I would be. Wierd.
What got to me was when I went back to college (I had dropped our for awhile) I changed majors, which meant that I was forced to take some “freshmen” classes. When you have fellow students that were in diapers the first time you started college is when you feel old. (Not to mention a TA teaching one of my classes that wasn’t even born when I took that first half of the course.) Needless to say, when ever we did “scenes” for acting class, I was always the one to play the father character. :rolleyes:
“An old man, broken with the storms of state,
Is come to lay his weary bones among ye;
Give him a little earth for charity!”
–Henry VIII, Act 4, Scene ii
Old age has arrived (for us guys, any way) when you see a carfull of teenaged girls drive by, and the only thing you think is, “Wow - look at all the babysitters”.
Looking at the question like brother rat did, I knew I was old when:
[ul]
[li]I started sounding like my father. (“Kids today! You know, when I was younger…”)[/li][li]I noticed the pizza joint on the corner, and remembered that it used to be a dry cleaners. And before that, a variety store. And before that…[/li][li]I could remember when my Dad was the same age I am now.[/li][li]I awoke one morning with a pimple on my face, and it was not a tragedy.[/li][li]I took getting carded at the liquor store as a compliment.[/li][li]I didn’t know any Top 40 song (or whatever today’s equivalent of the Top 40 is). And if I heard one, I didn’t much like it.[/li][li]I found that I had little patience for the “U R kewl, d00d!” kind of communication.[/li][li]I realized that the new college graduates coming into my workplace weren’t even alive when I was at school.[/li][li]I realized that I wasn’t indestructible.[/li][/ul]
Speaking for myself, I guess I’m on my way to becoming a crochety old man. And oddly enough, it’s not as bad as it once seemed!
Well, I was born “old” and had a relapse using the standards that Jack Batty used for himself.
But if I use the standards the rest of you guys are using, I’m freakin’ ancient and that’s depressing when you consider I won’t be 35 for two weeks (from yesterday if anyone’s keeping track )
)