# Stark reminders that you are getting old **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 30, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632 "2004-07-30T19:38:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![krisolov](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krisolov/32/3724_2.png) [@krisolov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/krisolov)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/21 "2004-07-30T22:59:43Z")
Huh, I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, as I’ll be 40 tomorrow. I’d have to say worrying about getting a sunburn on my bald spot is one. Also preferring to stay in and just relax on a weekend night. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/22 "2004-07-30T23:26:01Z")
I saw a fondly rememberd song on my iPod (set on ultra random) it was ‘King of Wishful Thinking’ from Pretty Woman. Pretty Woman was out nearly _fifteen_ years ago. It doesn’t feel like fifteen years. That’s just the most recient episode You’re young for a bit, but you’re old for a long long time. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/23 "2004-07-30T23:42:42Z")
My best friend is 11 years younger than me, and sometimes she makes me feel old. Once, I told her that I’d had the hots for Jimmy Smits ever since he was on L.A. Law. She told me she never watched that, because it was on after her bedtime; I went into labor with my first kid during that show, and it was _after her bedtime???_. Another time, we were going to a town about an hour away, and I had the oldies station on; I asked her if she minded listening to the oldies, and she said (in all seriousness, no teasing) “Oh, no, my parents listen to this all the time”. Gaah! I’m actually a shade closer to her mother’s age than to her age! Also, when hubby’s best friend became a grandfather 6 years ago, that made me feel old. ---
**Author:** ![toftdahl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@toftdahl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toftdahl)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/24 "2004-07-30T23:45:37Z")
I will be 38 in about 5 weeks, but my “I’m getting older” moment came about a year ago. I heard there was going to be a flag football game and decided to go play. As I was lacing up my cleats I realized that I’d be TWICE as old as most of the players. For some reason, that was rather eye opening to me. 37 never seemed that old. It dawned on me that I was more years older than them than they were old. When did I get twice as old as high school seniors and college freshman? On the flip side, I more than held my own against the youngins. ---
**Author:** ![Fritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Fritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fritz)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/25 "2004-07-30T23:46:19Z")
Checking out at a grocery store two years ago (47 at the time) the clerk gave me a Senior Citizen’s discount - 5% off my bill… I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/26 "2004-07-30T23:46:38Z")
My health has been steadily declining for the past 2 years. I’m 41. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/27 "2004-07-30T23:55:00Z")
I’m 24 and I have wrinkles in my forehead, from raising my eyebrows so much. Yes, Botox definitely does make sense. It also upsets me that this year’s high school freshmen are a decade younger than me. It also upsets me that this year’s college freshmen were born after I learned to read. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/28 "2004-07-31T00:01:29Z")
I’m nowhere near as old as all of _you_ old farts, but several months ago I heard a song I danced to at my high school prom as background Local Forecast music on the Weather Channel. :eek: I have no idea why anybody thought “Come On Ride the Train” is good Muzak, but I guess it was just in the “old” file or something. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/29 "2004-07-31T00:03:43Z")
**Draelin,** this one’s for us: I’ve just been informed (by two beautiful college girls and several high school ones) that Doc Martens - you remember, the big, heavy sh!t-kickin’ combat style boots that punks and goths wore - are now only worn by preps. As in preppies. Kids who dress to please their country-club parents. That is, too lame to consider wearing. Ever. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/30 "2004-07-31T00:09:15Z")
A couple of years ago I ran into a guy I first became friends with our freshman year in college (1982). We realized with shock that more time had expired since we had first met than we had actually been ALIVE when we first met. Basically, freshman year of college is more than half a lifetime ago for me. Compared to some of you this 39 year old is doing ok…no bifocals, heck no glasses yet, and most of my hair, although the gray hairs are getting more and more numerous. My memory for names and faces is shot, though. But it was never so hot to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/31 "2004-07-31T00:46:06Z")
My smartie middle son once asked me how old I was when I stopped listening to new music. Once I mock-complained about feeling old and my Mom said, "Wait until your children start to complain about getting old. Now David doesn’t follow the new music. He’s 25. And he occasionally mock-complains about getting old. (I remind him about the music thing.) ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/32 "2004-07-31T01:12:44Z")
1. I realized I’ve been married more than half my life (same chick, btw). 2. Rummaging thru storage boxes, found old LP albums, showed to 13 yr old son. His comment? “Ya’ll must’ve had HUGE slots in the dashboards to play those back then, huh?” (he’s never known a recording medium that can’t be played in a moving vehicle) 3. Taking him and his young teenage friends waterskiing. I _literally_ tire of driving the boat before they tire of skiing. (I really hate this) ---
**Author:** ![SpectBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@SpectBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpectBrain)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/33 "2004-07-31T02:01:30Z")
Getting new glasses and realizing that they make me look older. Yes, now I can look at myself in the mirror and _clearly_ see all my lines and wrinkles. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/34 "2004-07-31T03:20:30Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I’m nowhere near as old as all of _you_ old farts, but several months ago I heard a song I danced to at my high school prom as background Local Forecast music on the Weather Channel. :eek: > > I have no idea why anybody thought “Come On Ride the Train” is good Muzak, but I guess it was just in the “old” file or something. Then I guess you’ll HATE that I teach a night club line dance to that song 😃 But if it makes you feel any better, I teach it to college students half my age. ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/35 "2004-07-31T03:46:03Z")
Was scanning the obituaries earlier this year. Saw one for a guy who is a year younger than I am. It listed his surviving relatives - parents, siblings, children, grandchildren… \* **Grandchildren**?!\* I’m 36. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/36 "2004-07-31T04:13:40Z")
“All-request Oldies noon hour” The song? “Smells like Teen Spirit” NIRVANA IS OLDIES??? WTF??? And I now have a pension plan at work. I’m 23. I know, not that old, but I’m definitely crossing into the “actual adult” stage and it’s WEIRD!! ---
**Author:** ![SnakeSpirit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snakespirit/32/7271_2.png) [@SnakeSpirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakeSpirit)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/37 "2004-07-31T05:10:28Z")
When you check out his thread and at the end decide, “I don’t need to subscibe to this thread. I’ve already got more reminders than I need.” Including, trifocals, deteriorating memory, joint aches and pains, an expanding middle, declining strength, and pills, pills, pills. Yuck. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/38 "2004-07-31T07:03:37Z")
Several of my kids’ high school teachers are younger (by far) than I am. In fact, the middle kid is looking to play volleyball in college next year, and several of the coaches she’s talked to have been noticeably younger than I am. My **doctor** is just a kid. Scary, I tells ya. ---
**Author:** ![lynxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e99b99/32.png) [@lynxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynxie)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/39 "2004-07-31T10:03:43Z")
My SON is starting to grey! eek… ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632/40 "2004-07-31T10:42:14Z")
I was out drinking with some friends from work. We were all having a normal conversation, and then I made a reference to the TV show “Maude.” Everybody just stopped and stared. Like an idiot, I kept it going: “You know, that show with Bea Arthur? Maude? From the late 70’s?” The guy I’d been talking to said he was born in 1979. I asked around the table how old everybody was. 25. 26. 24. 27. I was the oldest one there (at 33). One of them was 21. She was born when I was a junior in high school. I went home, looked in the mirror for a while, and then shaved off my goatee. I managed to get rid of the gray hair, but the haunted look in my eyes still remains. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stark-reminders-that-you-are-getting-old/257632.md?page=3)