# Subtle signs that you're getting older **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 27, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244 "2008-01-27T22:48:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ForumBot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee59a6/32.png) [@ForumBot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForumBot)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/1 "2008-01-27T22:48:23Z")
I just realized that I’ve recently started looking at a woman’s hand for a wedding ring before I talk to her. Soon I’ll be asking if they have kids. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/2 "2008-01-27T22:52:38Z")
I don’t know that it it’s a subtle sign, but it really hit me that I was “old” when I realized that girls that are now of legal age \*were not even born yet \* when I was in college. I mean, college seems like just yesterday! ---
**Author:** ![bufftabby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/3 "2008-01-27T22:54:10Z")
I don’t like to leave my house past about 6:30 pm. It’s “too late”. And my ENTIRE high school crowd is either pregnant, married, a mother twice over, or a combination of the two, except for me. FWIW, I’m 24. I’m sure it just gets worse as time goes on. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/4 "2008-01-27T22:56:05Z")
Well, I just took delivery of my first pair of bifocals yesterday, although I suppose that’s not exactly a subtle sign. Starting to get AARP mailings, maybe? I seem to get called ‘sir’ a lot more than I used to. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/5 "2008-01-27T22:59:50Z")
This last year: bifocals, physical therapy for tendonitis in the ankle, and acid-reflux disease. I’m 41. Emotionally, however, I feel better than I ever have: I could give a shit less what others think of my opinion, I’m much bolder about speaking out, and I don’t hesitate to seize leadership roles. I’m also kinder, more generous, and, in general, really don’t sweat the small stuff much. ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/6 "2008-01-27T23:22:16Z")
Unfortunately, at my age (80), NONE of the damned signs are subtle. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Pixilated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aeb1de/32.png) [@Pixilated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixilated)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/7 "2008-01-27T23:44:12Z")
gray hair at the roots (eek!) 2 of my kids are pretty much “grown” It creeps me out to get hit on by a twenty-some yr old. _but_ at least I’m not a granny… yet! ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/8 "2008-01-27T23:49:28Z")
[QUOTE=ForumBot] I just realized that I’ve recently started looking at a woman’s hand for a wedding ring before I talk to her. [/QUOTE] I don’t know how old you are hon, but I’ll be 37 next week, and I \*assume \* every man I meet is married until he proves otherwise. (Hey, at my age, I meet a man I could fall in love with, the odds are pretty good that someone beat me to it!) I find myself listening to the 20somethings in my office talking about the trials and tribulations of being them, and thinking “Oh my god, that’s _adorable_!” ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/9 "2008-01-28T00:15:57Z")
I saw a picture of me with my brothers, and I didn’t recognize myself right away. I see a sign about a senior discount, and I wonder if 58 is old enough. ---
**Author:** ![cookeze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@cookeze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cookeze)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/10 "2008-01-28T01:02:07Z")
Well, the cashier at Hometown Buffet gave me the senior discount without even asking. And I’m not even old enough for it. Maybe that’s a subtle hint that I look older than I am. Damn. And some brat on the bus almost got hurt when he stood up and offered me his seat. Now get off my goddamn lawn! ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/11 "2008-01-28T01:14:26Z")
Realizing that my personal style was no longer charmingly eccentric, but suitable to a person of my age. I never recovered. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/12 "2008-01-28T01:18:36Z")
Barbers started offering to trim my eyebrows. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/13 "2008-01-28T01:26:46Z")
Not me, but [saggy balls](http://youtube.com/watch?v=9VpdWOVsM0o) ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/14 "2008-01-28T01:28:14Z")
Late teen/early twenties girls are still pleasing to the eye, just as they were twenty years ago. But then, they always ruin it by opening their mouths, and this squeaky vacuous voice comes out, and I think, “Ewww, I’ve just been admiring a _child_!” ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/15 "2008-01-28T01:28:18Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] I saw a picture of me with my brothers, and I didn’t recognize myself right away. [/QUOTE] That reminds me of the time I showed a picture from my wedding of my dad and his two brothers (all aged around 65-70) to my grandmother (aged 90ish). She was flabbergasted that “those old men” were her sons! My number one sign that I’m not as young as I used to be is the aches & pains. Even getting up from sitting on the floor is getting more difficult! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/16 "2008-01-28T01:38:27Z")
I joined Facebook to see if I could find people from high school and college, and half of my cohort has pictures of their babies instead of them. Oh, and somebody asked in GQ if it’s _safe to send checks through the mail_. That kinda did it. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/17 "2008-01-28T02:20:18Z")
I’m finding the loud, high-pitched voices of chattering teenage girls on a bus increasingly annoying. Found out recently that not only have I got rear pigment-lacking, cross-dominating, myopic eyes – the damned things now have astigmatism. “You’re getting older, y’know,” said my cheerful and utterly professional optometrist. Yeah, thanks for the reminder, bud. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/18 "2008-01-28T02:50:29Z")
One not-so-subtle sign: now _both_ knees make that weird Rice Krispy-like sound when I walk down the stairs. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/19 "2008-01-28T02:54:15Z")
All you classmates look like shit when you see them. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244/20 "2008-01-28T03:04:34Z")
When you know exactly what a prostate gland is, and you’re worried about it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-signs-that-youre-getting-older/435244.md?page=2)