# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/161 "2020-10-21T23:41:45Z")
I haven’t thought about Manhattan Special in a long time. We lived a few blocks from where it was made (Manhattan Ave. in Brooklyn, not the borough of Manhattan). I’m ok with caffeine as long as it enters my body before mid afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/162 "2020-10-21T23:47:03Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Fortunately, another thing about aging is that your sense of taste dulls. Interestingly, apparently this is why kids usually don’t like certain “grownup” beverages like coffee and beer, and vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Kids’ taste buds are more sensitive to the bitter flavors in those things. By the time most people reach adulthood most people’s sense of taste have dulled enough that those things taste decent. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/163 "2020-10-21T23:48:32Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > I’m ok with caffeine as long as it enters my body before mid afternoon. Same here. I used to be able to have caffeine well into the evening and still sleep at night. A while back I thought it would be a good idea to order an affogato for dessert after a relatively early dinner at the local Italian place. Barely slept a wink that night. 😖 ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/164 "2020-10-22T04:00:03Z")
To get back to the OP’s question: I didn’t expect forty-leven pieces of mail in the last few weeks wanting me to enroll in various Medicare Advantage Plans. I guess that’s something to “look forward to” every October from here on out. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/167 "2020-11-16T16:51:44Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > My father died suddenly, of a pulmonary embolism, as he was about to play tennis. At the time, a close friend’s mother was slowly dying of cancer. I saw a lot of her at the time, because she liked me, and so when my friend was in town I would visit with them both together. > > She was green with envy when she heard how my father died, and spoke at length about it. She bitterly hated losing her physical faculties, as well as some mental decline. > > At the time I was devastated, because I was very close to my father. And I still wish I could have had more years with him. But in retrospect, he had a really good death, and I’m grateful for that. My parents died about a year and a half apart in their early to mid 80s and it was relatively fast for both of them, to the extent that neither of them needed to be cared for (my dad was carrying sheets of drywall from his garage into the basement a year prior to his death), so I believe I have those genes on my side. The negative is that they did nothing overtly healthy, in terms of diet and exercise, so I’ve often thought that if they had done all of the healthy stuff they may have survived their respective heart attacks and therefore needed long-term care. My wife and I were talking about this yesterday (I’m 61 and she’s 63) and we both agreed that if we had our way we would be able to order assisted death kits from the pharmacy, or whatever, without major regulatory or legislative hassles etc, and go out in the way, place and time of our choosing if, for example, we foresaw being in separate nursing homes or whatever. I am a lot healthier than my parents so who knows how this will play out. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/168 "2020-11-17T03:22:40Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > > [@Tamerlane](#): > > > > But not having to work until you drop > > Fortunately, with the ways things are going in the world, I doubt I’ll live much past 40 or so 🙂 There’s not exactly much of a future left to look forward to! > > Play hard, die young? It’s the Millennial Way. I forgot how far away 40 seems when you are under 40. Almost as far as it seems when you are over 40. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/169 "2020-11-17T03:32:02Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I forgot how far away 40 seems when you are under 40. Almost as far as it seems when you are over 40. I remember as a teen and even into my early twenties thinking about the Year 2000 and how unimaginably old I would be by then. You know - 32 😉. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/170 "2020-11-17T15:22:36Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > f we had our way we would be able to order assisted death kits from the pharmacy, or whatever, Is there a place where people can do that, or was that a hypothetical? ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/171 "2020-11-17T15:42:54Z")
You can join Exit International. > **[Exit International - Exit International provide Information and guidance on...](https://www.exitinternational.net/)** > > Exit International provide Information and guidance on assisted suicide and end of life matters - Dr Philip Nitschke. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/172 "2020-11-17T20:15:46Z")
Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/173 "2020-11-17T20:33:14Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I remember as a teen and even into my early twenties thinking about the Year 2000 and how unimaginably old I would be by then. You know - 32 😉 I remember sitting in class in 6th grade when I was 11 years old, making the same calculation, and getting the same result as you. At the time, it seemed impossibly far away, and I would be unbelievably old. A few years later, in 1985, I got my Eagle Scout award along with a paid-up membership to the National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) through the year 2000. Again, it seemed so impossibly far away that I didn’t even recognize it as a year at first. Not to mention the sci-fi movies of the 1980s that were set in the early 2000s (_Bladerunner_, _Back to the Future Part II_, etc.). They all seemed as far in the future as Buck Rogers (which was familiar to me because of the 1979 film and TV series, of course). ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/174 "2020-11-17T21:30:41Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > > [@msmith537](#): > > > > I forgot how far away 40 seems when you are under 40. Almost as far as it seems when you are over 40. > > I remember as a teen and even into my early twenties thinking about the Year 2000 and how unimaginably old I would be by then. You know - 32 😉. That is old! I was only 28 in 2000. ---
**Author:** ![jimmyjoeraybubbabob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eada6e/32.png) [@jimmyjoeraybubbabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmyjoeraybubbabob)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/175 "2020-11-18T01:12:01Z")
Dry dreams and wet farts. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/176 "2020-11-18T01:23:48Z")
I look at young people and wish I could be young again, only knowing all the stuff I know now. ---
**Author:** ![Newtosite](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/newtosite/32/8623_2.png) [@Newtosite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newtosite)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/177 "2020-11-18T01:37:19Z")
I remember getting my first library card at age nine and thinking that when it expired in four years I’d be the unimaginably old age of 13. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/178 "2020-11-18T02:45:10Z")
Regarding 2000 feeling far away in the future, every year feels like that to me. Like if a project is scheduled to be finished in 2022, that always sounds to me like some far off sci fi future date, and that I’d be, like, middle aged, by the time that’s done. Then the conscious mind kicks in, realizing it’s barely more than a year away, and reminds me again that I am _already_ middle aged. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/179 "2020-11-18T17:44:38Z")
I’ll be 48 in February. And the thing that hit me as I got older was that it was something that happened to me. I knew in the abstract that I’d get older and die, but I never really applied everything that went along with aging would actually land on me. I always thought that only applied to everyone else ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/180 "2020-11-18T19:38:43Z")
It’s a hypothetical as in Canada we have a medically assisted dying law though I have no idea of the specifics. I just want to be able to buy the gear or potion or whatever at the local store when the time seems right. Don’t need an answer fast 😀 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/181 "2020-11-18T21:03:43Z")
Reading about people 30-40 years younger than I am, talking about their experiences with aging. 😲 ---
**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:** [November 18, 2020, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-were-the-most-unexpected-things-about-aging/922620/182 "2020-11-18T22:19:31Z")
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