# What, for you, were the most unexpected things about aging? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2020, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620 "2020-10-10T08:12:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/41 "2020-10-11T05:31:02Z")
> [@carlotta](#): > > I have also been surprised that the future has arrived and seems slightly less terrible than any dystopian imagining of my youthful sci-fi consumption, but also far more ridiculous. Basically the science fiction visionary has proved to be Mike Judge in creating Idiocracy and that is too bad. I figured by now I would be living in a nuclear wasteland, so this is…better…probably?? I was the opposite. As I aged, I was excited at how much progress was being made. Technology! Science! Entertainment! Yeah, there’s been plenty of bad shit along the way but I always thought the future was upward and onward. Progressive. I thought by the time I retired life would be, well not a utopia, but pretty damn good. Instead, here I am and what I got was Twitter Trump, a pandemic and corrosive social media. Not the future I expected at all. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/42 "2020-10-11T08:59:07Z")
I had a [seborrheic keratosis]([http://Seborrheic](http://Seborrheic) keratosis) removed earlier this year. Noticed it wasn’t going away and kept getting scraped off, so I went to the doctor, thinking it might be something serious. Felt like she took a good chunk out, but it actually wasn’t that deep. It was right at the bra line, so I couldn’t just leave it, unless I wanted to put a bandage on it every day for the rest of my life. The other thing, is how much time I have to spend every day to do stretches, etc., to make sure I don’t deteriorate more. After 3 days of not doing my jaw exercises, my jaw will ache all day and it will be uncomfortable to chew. So I’m pretty good about doing my jaw, shoulder and foot/ankle exercises. Because if I don’t, I hurt. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/43 "2020-10-11T12:44:54Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I had never noticed that hairs grew in the ears of old men. Not only the ears, but also the nose. And not just inside the nose, but on the outside too. Manopause: everything is bigger, hairier, and closer to the ground. (stolen from a Red Meat comic strip) ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/44 "2020-10-11T13:01:57Z")
I didn’t realize how much better I would feel emotionally as I grew to understand myself more clearly and worried less about what other people would think of me. Meanwhile, the people I like best keep thinking better and better of me anyway. On the down side, I didn’t realize how much spinal problems could interfere with life. Not that I’m that bad – I don’t lose all that much time to such problems. But I grew to be very impressed with how afraid to move I could be, how much functionality could erode away, and how many different things can go wrong with the spine. Now I wonder what the various growing disabilities are going to leave me with. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2020, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/45 "2020-10-11T16:11:27Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Not only the ears, but also the nose. And not just inside the nose, but on the outside too. Heh. One Christmas morning when I was a teenager, my dad opened a present from Mom and got all excited about it: some tool for trimming nose hair. My brother and I made fun of him mercilessly, calling it a “nose picker.” Dad took it all in stride, but he must have been thinking “someday, suckers, you’re gonna need one of these!” I think about that Christmas morn every couple of weeks, as I’m trimming my nose hair. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/46 "2020-10-11T16:38:55Z")
It wasn’t really unexpected, because I’d started noticing in way back in grade school…but it is weird how, the older you get, the faster time goes by. For a kid, a week is a damn long time. For a college student, it’s significant, but much less. For an old fart like me, it feels pretty darn short indeed! ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/47 "2020-10-11T17:23:52Z")
Yeah, time flies… away, and nothing gets done. And you lose friends and don’t make new ones. And I get tired more easily and forget that I forget things. I have not discovered a new band or a new singer for ages. And my eyes are bad but actually better than I feared. But none of that was unexpected, it is turning out just as I thought: bad enough. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/48 "2020-10-11T17:55:00Z")
Early this morning I was reminded that, now that I’m on the far side of 50, I too often have to get out of my warm comfy bed to go pee before I would otherwise want to. > [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Yeah, time flies… away, and nothing gets done. And you lose friends and don’t make new ones… Friends are lost but enemies accumulate, as a wise man once said. ---
**Author:** ![Aescwynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Aescwynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aescwynn)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/49 "2020-10-11T17:55:35Z")
Kitty Carlisle said that her mother once told her, “After you pass 50, every 15 minutes it’s breakfast.” ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/50 "2020-10-11T20:26:27Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > I think about that Christmas morn every couple of weeks, as I’m trimming my nose hair. You can go two weeks? The flower of youth is yet upon you, it appears. It’s every day now. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/51 "2020-10-11T21:09:53Z")
The most unexpected thing about aging? Grey pubes. …no one said there were going to be grey pubes. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/52 "2020-10-11T21:20:37Z")
That’s going to be a mighty awkward place to end this thread if nobody else comes along 😉 ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/53 "2020-10-11T21:24:01Z")
It wasn’t a surprise, but I’m not happy that my once superlative memory for names seems to have been running away from me. I usually do remember, but it’s often hours or a day or two later. 😢 ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/54 "2020-10-12T02:42:24Z")
> [@Dr.Colossus](#): > > The most unexpected thing about aging? > > Grey pubes. > > …no one said there were going to be grey pubes. And no one said the grey pubes would be so sparse and thin. Gives pattern baldness a whole new definition. > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > That’s going to be a mighty awkward place to end this thread if nobody else comes along 😉 Actually, I found it kinda reassuring. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/55 "2020-10-12T03:49:59Z")
The mental decline. I look at some of the stuff I’d written 5+ years ago and I don’t think I could be that coherent now. I lose track of what I’m thinking about a lot more often now. On the plus side, you learn more about what works to deal with your problems and learn more about your actual wants/needs as you age which is nice. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/56 "2020-10-12T04:56:31Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > The most frustrating thing for me is, when I get a new ache, or something goes screwy, I fret is it just old age? Or do I need to go see a doctor? > [@Newtosite](#): > > Because we’re older, new symptoms are statistically more likely > to be something serious. Me at 30: “Hm. I’ve got a stomach ache.” Me at 70: “So this is how it ends.” > [@Dr.Colossus](#): > > …no one said there were going to be grey pubes. Actually, Bill Cosby did. A _long_ time ago when he used to be funny. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/57 "2020-10-12T06:27:43Z")
I’m 68, and the only ill effect I notice is having to pee more during the night. I did have a prostate problem but it got fixed in one session with no side effects. A disk got swollen and then fixed itself. Nothing as serious as Afib that started about 15 years ago. Sex drive is doing fine also. And I walk 45 minutes most days without getting tired out or winded. It helps that a lot of the people I hang out with are older than I am. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/58 "2020-10-12T10:09:21Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > > [@Dr.Colossus](#): > > > > The most unexpected thing about aging? > > > > > Grey pubes. > > > > > > …no one said there were going to be grey pubes. > > And no one said the grey pubes would be so sparse and thin. Gives pattern baldness a whole new definition. Yep, it can go from lush tallgrass prairie to “honey, the lawn died!”. Of course, with younger generations clear-cutting the flora they probably won’t even notice. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/59 "2020-10-12T10:23:47Z")
Yeah, I forgot about the ear hair thing. Little tufts of perfectly white downy tumbleweeds, not only sticking out of your ear hole but growing like mutated ivy along the back of the lobe too. I’m not a meticulous groomer by any stretch (I’ve shaved three times this year, I haven’t had a haircut in two years) but I got me a little nose hair/ear hair trimmer and I burn through two or three double-A’s a month. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/60 "2020-10-12T14:48:07Z")
Childhood: Don’t know anyone who dies of old age (“Who the \*\*\*\* was Franco?”) Adulthood: Know them all, mostly don’t care–busy, \*\*\*\* happens. Middle age: Know them all, are horrified (“David Bowie! Eddie Van Halen!”) Old age: Don’t have a hot clue who that youngster who just died is. And a quote I heard a couple of months ago, forget who: “I’m now old enough that I can no longer tell if someone is beautiful, or just 20.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620.md?page=4)