# What Birthday Age Has Been The Hardest For You To Deal With? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 13, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949 "2010-04-13T14:38:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/21 "2010-04-13T16:18:23Z")
The only one that was ever hard for me was 20. There was so much like getting laid that I wanted to accomplish in my teens that didn’t happen and I felt like someone had blown the stop whistle too early and I wasn’t done being a teenager, dammit. 30, 40, 50, the inbetween ages, all good news. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/22 "2010-04-13T16:19:05Z")
My 40th was a bummer, but only because my then-girlfriend of 18 months did not acknowledge it in any way. When I called her on it a week later, all she said was, “Oh, that’s right…happy birthday!” Hmmm…maybe I should say she was my “so-called” girlfriend. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/23 "2010-04-13T16:26:13Z")
My 30th wasn’t very happy. Well, the actual celebrations and being with my friends and family was fantastic. And I met a new guy around the same time. But still, I am pretty melancholy about being 30. I am starting to _feel_ old. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/24 "2010-04-13T16:35:58Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I refuse to acknowledge that I am now 55. I refuse to order from a “Senior Menu.” Take your Senior Discounts and shove them up your posterior. I’m still young and vital, dammit! Brilliant reply! I’d say “me, too” but that would be redundant, now wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/25 "2010-04-13T16:38:01Z")
> [@melodyharmonius](#): > > So what you are saying is that you look great, but your memory sucks. I don’t remember saying anything like that. Honestly, I was vaguely aware of my sister’s birthday coming up, but I didn’t tie it to any seminal age. And then on that day I was sick as a dog, so it was the furthest thing from my mind. It just occured to me that her household had two important birthdays that week – 50 and 18. Pass the torch, sis. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/26 "2010-04-13T16:44:27Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I don’t remember saying anything like that. I see what you did there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/27 "2010-04-13T16:47:07Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > The prospect of turning thirty bugs me a bit, and I’m only 26 now. It’s not so much the bit about being “old” (hah!) so much as the realization that each year seems to go by faster and faster. It’s been nearly a year since I graduated law school, and it’s gone by _fast_. As did law school itself. College didn’t go by as fast, but still moved at a brisk clip. So, was 30 as bad as you’d thought it would be? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/28 "2010-04-13T17:06:56Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Take your Senior Discounts and shove them up your posterior. I’m still young and vital, dammit! I have no problems at all taking any discounts that come my way. Merchants wanna reward me for living this long? Cool! My husband is younger than I but looks older, and he was offered discounts when he was barely 50. That was payback for all the “abuse” he’s piled on me about being older. 😛 One thing I’ve noticed in a few restaurants - the Seniors Menu isn’t any cheaper than the regular offerings - they’re just gathered in one place. (I’m looking at you, Bob Evans!!) ---
**Author:** ![PandaMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@PandaMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaMom)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/29 "2010-04-13T17:15:21Z")
Working backwards, 47 (this year), was very hard. Too many health issues. I am sick of being sick and having problems. I told my husband that I was going to start looking for a younger lower-maintenance model for him. (funny, there are NONE that meet my requirements!) 30 was a challenge too. Wait, that was because my husband, the dearheart that he is, decided to have some fun that day. Let me explain. I was born at 2:03am in 1963. Fast forward to 1993. I have a small baby now. At approximately, oh… 2:03am, said baby was crying. So, being the loving parent, I got up and tended to her needs. I got back to bed, and as I was laying down, I heard a LOUD CRACKING noise. It startled me. I said to dearheart husband, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? His reply??? “Dunno, you ARE 30 now, it must be your boobs hitting your knees.” I love my husband. I LOVE MY HUSBAND!!! That story makes me laugh even now! ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/30 "2010-04-13T17:18:36Z")
40 hit me like a ton of bricks. 30? It was to laugh- I had my PhD. married, one child and one on the way. Everything was perfect. 35- things were still on track and I was happy. 40 hit me so hard. I don’t even know why. It was only about three years ago and I still haven’t fully gotten over it. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/31 "2010-04-13T17:20:53Z")
18 was a bit traumatic, because I had to register for the draft and the Vietnam war was still going on. None have bothered me since then except for my daughter’s 21st and 30th.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/32 "2010-04-13T17:32:19Z")
I started freaking out about three months before my 30th birthday, and it escalated up until the big day. And then I woke up on my birthday, and thought “Meh, whatever. No difference.” I’ll be 39 in a couple of months, and my impending 40th isn’t bothering me at all. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/33 "2010-04-13T17:35:24Z")
0 was an odd one. My entire universe changed that day. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/34 "2010-04-13T17:59:50Z")
I cried at 30. In a little over two weeks I’ll be 45 so we’ll see how that goes. 40 was no biggie; but I was so busy at the time that I didn’t have time to dwell on it. I’ve never really pinpointed why turning 30 gave me such a hard time. I worked hard in my 20’s but I also partied a lot, too. I think it was realizing that I couldn’t keep going the way I had been. ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/35 "2010-04-13T18:13:03Z")
When my husband hit 40, that hit me hard. I’ve got a couple more years to go to 40, so his hit first, and that was the wake-up call that 40 is coming and there ain’t no stoppin’ it. ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/36 "2010-04-13T18:55:11Z")
30 was my hard one. My wife had just left me (for draft choices to be named later, I think) and I knew my life was over. Then I visited my sister in Denver and was crying in my beer about my fate - and a bartender carded me and then threw me out of the bar when I produced a non-picture-ID that said I was thirty. It’s been 32 years since then, and I think my sister is still laughing about it. Everything has been a steady improvement since, and when I think back on that time I can’t believe how stupid I was. Been married 31 years now to a wonderful woman, and just attended my oldest daughter’s wedding. Life doesn’t get any better than this. (Well, my golf scores **could** be lower…) ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/37 "2010-04-13T18:58:09Z")
I’ve collected 48 to date, and I haven’t had one yet that bothered me. 50 will be fun, because of what I have planned for AARP when they try to foist membership on me… ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/38 "2010-04-13T19:15:29Z")
My worst birthday so far would be my 24th, easily, because that’s the birthday we buried my grandmother on. That’s not the question you asked, but it’s the closest I have to an answer, because I’ve never really had a problem with getting older. Beats the alternative. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/39 "2010-04-13T19:29:12Z")
My next one will be hard. I’ll be 27 in June, and I haven’t done anything. I just got married a few months ago, I’m still haven’t gotten anywhere in my professional world, and I’m still not even pregnant. So much for two kids and a good career before 30. ---
**Author:** ![kathmandu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kathmandu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kathmandu)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949/40 "2010-04-13T19:40:58Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > My next one will be hard. I’ll be 27 in June, and I haven’t done anything. I just got married a few months ago, I’m still haven’t gotten anywhere in my professional world, and I’m still not even pregnant. So much for two kids and a good career before 30. That’s quite a lot to hope for before age 30. I wouldn’t worry about it - you still have lots of time for both! To answer the OP, none of my birthdays has bothered me yet. I’m 38, so maybe 40 will, but I doubt it. I figure having more birthdays is better than the alternative. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birthday-age-has-been-the-hardest-for-you-to-deal-with/535949.md?page=3)