# When do you start to feel "old"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 2, 2003, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248 "2003-02-02T05:05:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Marine\_One](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marine_one/32/3461_2.png) [@Marine\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marine_One)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/61 "2003-02-04T14:45:07Z")
Went in an antique store a few years ago and saw my favorite toy I had as a kid in the toy section. There were some electric toys and sort of modern ones. I think they called it the “Past Toy” section. “Past Toy”?? My favorite? In an antique store? I’m old… And it hit me the first time I realized I could be the father of every college basketball player…football player…etc. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/62 "2003-02-04T15:59:47Z")
One of my friends said he realized he was old when he could not audition for _The Real World_ because of the age limit. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/63 "2003-02-04T16:26:53Z")
Two and a half years ago (34), while working out strenuously over a few months, I got tendonitis from hell in an elbow and knee. That will take the starch out of your collar. When I feel good I can still whip HS kids in basketball, so I don’t feel that old yet. But, yes indeed, when I think about the fact I could be their father that is a little strange. Fortunately, due to chronic immaturity, I can still hang with the younger peeps. I like Oakenfold. That’s a sure sign you are staying young, BTW, liking new music. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/64 "2003-02-04T16:56:08Z")
I guess one of my first intimations of aging was when I was watching MTV, and they were having some kind of Spring Break thing, and one of the gals – who had a really great figure – demonstrated her talent of being able to put a lot of peanuts up her nose. And I thought, “She’s just a KID!” for the first time about someone who was clearly well past puberty. ---
**Author:** ![acrossthesea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@acrossthesea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acrossthesea)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/65 "2003-02-04T17:29:59Z")
I’m 23 and feel like a little kid most of the time. In fact I find it scary that my two little stepkids regard me as their mommy. However my husband is 24 and thinks he’s really old…odd cause everything he does would be viewed as activities of the young… ---
**Author:** ![Rotten\_Candy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dbc845/32.png) [@Rotten\_Candy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rotten_Candy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/66 "2003-02-04T17:35:35Z")
I felt old six years ago (23 then) when my kid sister and her friends were surprised to learn that Metallica has made other albums before Load and used to have long hair, “like one of those _old_ heavy metal guys I like to listen to.” Lately, I find myself griping about the pop icons, such as Britney and Christina, corrupting the youth, in the similar way my grandmother griped about how society went downhill since Elvis shook his pelvis. I complain about the fashion these days more often than I used to. I absolutely detest those ridiculous butt crack revealing pants that are popular now. I prefer granny style briefs to thongs. I hate thongs and it’s frustrating not being able to find decent underwear when every store carries thongs, let alone finding other clothing that doesn’t expose the midriff or flap around the ankles incessantly. Holy cow, I’m turning into my grandmother. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![curly\_chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@curly\_chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curly_chick)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/67 "2003-02-04T17:39:12Z")
Anyone in the mid thirties or over, think about this: There are grown up people out there to whom George Michael has never been anything but gay ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/68 "2003-02-04T17:46:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rotten Candy \* > \*\*Holy cow, I’m turning into my grandmother. :eek: \*\* It could be worse; you could be a man turning into his grandmother… ---
**Author:** ![Rotten\_Candy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dbc845/32.png) [@Rotten\_Candy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rotten_Candy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/69 "2003-02-04T19:57:12Z")
A frightening thought, Evil Death. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/70 "2003-02-04T20:31:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rotten Candy \* > \*\*A frightening thought, Evil Death. \*\* We aim to please. ---
**Author:** ![manx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@manx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manx)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/71 "2003-02-04T22:21:24Z")
I turned 18 last year. Being able to walk into a bottle shop and buy alcohol without the panicky fear that they’d see that my ID was false made me feel old. The fact that my father will offer me a beer makes me feel old, as did the realisation last year that the third formers at my school couldn’t remember when bike pants (the tight, shiny fluro type) were cool. A few months ago me and a friend were sitting in a cafe, and we both realised that we’d be turning twenty this year. _Twenty!!_ This lead on to a discussion about how horribly old we were, and if the idea of twenty was scary, how bad was twenty-five going to be. Eventually the couple sitting across from us (who would have been in their 40’s) sent us a coffee over, with a note saying ‘don’t worry - you’re only as old as you feel’. I’ve decided that I’ll be old when _I_ sit in a cafe, listening to two teenagers talking about how life ends at twenty. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/72 "2003-02-04T22:54:38Z")
Dammit, I **hate** these kindsa threads, but I can’t help but answer them! 😃 I’m 53, and everyone I know says I look 40, but my **body’s** saying something else. For instance, I can no longer play my 6 string guitar because my fingers have started getting arthritic. (So I just bought myself a bass guitar, **HA**!) I still have all my hair and teefies but my hearing’s going. (I know this because on the phone I favor one ear over the other, and sometimes when someone’s talking to me, and I don’t understand them, I say “That sounded like you just said\_\_\_\_\_\_”) I also have bags under my eyes big enough to act as a rainwater reservoir, and I’m stuck in 60-80’s music. Also I love Johnny Cash. Can’t get outta bed without groaning, even though I ride my bike about 60 miles a week. Anything else you wanna know, pipsqueak? 😃 Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/73 "2003-02-04T23:00:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by singular1 \* > \*\* > But I first began to feel it at 36, when I had to start checking _this_ box: > > **Age 36-50 Š** > > And in a few months, I won’t even be able to check _that_ friggin’ box any more… > goddam kids these days! \*\* Well, you can take some comfort in this: You know when you’re registering for something online and you have to give your birth-year? Well, I think that drop-down box goes to way past 1940! 😃 Q ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/74 "2003-02-05T02:39:34Z")
I just thought of something else. Cars! I see high school jackets that say “Class of 2002,” and realize that the person wearing it was probably born when I graduated from high school. How about seeing rusted out, beat up hulks of cars that you cold only dream of owning at one time. Battered mid-1980s era Ford Tauruses and Honda Accords, for instance. Consider how there’s so few cars on the road from the time you graduated high school (for me, it was 1984), just like there were so few 20 year old cars on the road when you graduated high school. The sight of a 1984 K-Car to a fresh high school graduate would be the equivalent of my spotting a 1964 Tempest when I was hanging out on the corner towards the end of Reagan’s first term. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/75 "2003-02-05T05:03:42Z")
Being only 19 I feel a little out of place…but I first felt old when I saw a young lady on TV that was just SMOKING!!! After researching her a little bit, I found out she was in her thirties. ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/76 "2003-02-05T06:32:13Z")
**Quasimodem** , thanks just ever so much for using a love of Johnny Cash as one of the signposts of being old. You’re 53. I’m 32. I also love Johnny Cash. Imagine how old I feel now ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/77 "2003-02-05T08:11:15Z")
At almost 29, I’m starting to feel old too… 1. A couple days ago, the young kids in my lab (just past college age) all said Sid Vicious is a pro-wrestler. I had to convince them this simply was not the case. 2. I found a white hair the other day. I’m not thinking I’m prone to early greyness, so hopefully that was an anomaly. Actually, I don’t think I’ll mind having grey or white hair; It looks dignified. 3. I look quite young for my age, but am still addressed as “sir” by cashiers and such. 4. There was one other thing I was going to add, but I’ve forgotten it! ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/78 "2003-02-05T14:06:15Z")
Four years ago, the latest incarnation of my beard came complete with a fair amount of gray hair, which it hadn’t before. I was talking to some friends at work about my exercise routine (sword class three nights a week, karate class two nights a week, some weights and running). They asked me how old I was, and I said, “53.” They said, “Well, that’s just terrific that you can still exercise that much at 53.” I was 38. I shaved the next day. ---
**Author:** ![andymurph64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@andymurph64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andymurph64)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/79 "2003-02-05T22:52:15Z")
Late 30’s here… What has made me start to feel old… Gray hairs, wife comments/pick fun about them. Not bad yet but will come. Meeting women that look old to you and finding out they are younger than you. I guess my ‘internal mindset’ age is about 30 since women in their late twenties look about right and mid to early twenties look too young. Women mid-thirties? My God, they look _old_, most of them anyway. Good thing I’m married. Children of same-age friends that had a child in their early twenties are graduating high school now. I’ve always had a plan for quasi-retirement to kick in about when age-discrimination really kicks in hard in the workplace (age 50). It’s only a little more than 10 years away. I still feel like I’m starting out and want to ‘climb the ladder’ some more. 10 years is really not that long a time… But I still like computer games! But even those make me feel old sometimes. I am glad that RTS games are dying though because I didn’t really like them and the youngins did. Also, in WWII-Online, a good commanding officer resigned because he graduated high school and started college and wanted to make sure he did well. The guy was good but I thought he was in his twenties… ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248/80 "2003-02-06T01:30:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 2trew \* > \*\ ***Quasimodem** > You’re 53. I’m 32. I also love Johnny Cash. > > Imagine how old I feel now \*\* You know what, **2trew**? I think I should have left Johnny Cash out of that description of my age. Mr. Cash doesn’t appeal to just one age group, and I regret having written that. So don’t feel old, okay? 😃 Quasi [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-start-to-feel-old/152248.md?page=5)