# You know you're getting old(er) when **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 20, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091 "2022-04-20T01:13:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/1 "2022-04-20T01:13:03Z")
In my case, you find out that 80s teen star Debbie Gibson is affiliated with AARP. > **[AARP Virtual Concerts Present Debbie Gibson](https://aarpconcerts.org/debbie-gibson/?fbclid=IwAR3_D5ePCPS_UAMGcJoyZvUiZ0n0aJ0xhPMuXwdPyTk9pMQxIe2jpo8H24A)** > > Join us for an AARP virtual concert celebrating the connection between music and brain health. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/2 "2022-04-20T01:34:19Z")
You know you’re getting older when your birth year is near the bottom of the scroll-down menu. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/3 "2022-04-20T01:48:21Z")
[![](https://images3.memedroid.com/images/UPLOADED231/60ef12b7392a1.jpeg) ](https://images3.memedroid.com/images/UPLOADED231/60ef12b7392a1.jpeg) ---
**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:** [April 20, 2022, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/4 "2022-04-20T01:53:53Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > In my case, you find out that 80s teen star Debbie Gibson is affiliated with AARP. In my case it’s being reminded that I’m technically old enough to be AARP spokesperson Debbie Gibson’s _ **father.** _ ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/5 "2022-04-20T02:19:52Z")
Yeah, but you were back then, too. Several years ago, I realized that I was old enough to be the mother of 3 presidential candidates (Swalwell, Buttigieg, and Gabbard). Granted, I would have been a mom of 17 or 18, but old enough nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/6 "2022-04-20T02:26:41Z")
Even people known for certain to be legal adults (such as police officers) look like kids. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/7 "2022-04-20T02:42:01Z")
Your knees hurt and you’re not even using them. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/8 "2022-04-20T02:47:25Z")
I knew I was getting older when I happened to mention Carly Simon one day and my grown daughter said “Who’s Carly Simon?” I know now that I’m old because I watch TV shows I loved in the '60s, '70s, and '80s and ask myself “Why did I ever like this crap?!?” ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/9 "2022-04-20T05:02:31Z")
Technology which you still consider cutting-edge and use for pretty much everything (DVD player, DVR, tablet) is considered hopelessly outdated. You remember a time when Star Wars was almost universally popular and nobody you knew saw it as anything but an exciting action-packed sci-fi adventure. You don’t think pop music is any better or worse than it was 5, 10, or 20 years ago. It’s pop. What the hell does anyone expect, Beethoven? Cartoons that you watched once, laughed at, and forgot about half an hour later as a kid are now the subject of lengthy point-by-point analyses on YouTube. You still find it a refreshing change that sitcoms got rid of those annoying laugh tracks. Your fears of Russian invasion did not involve any of the nations that actually bordered it. None of the complaints you hear about Victoria’s Secret make any sense to you. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/10 "2022-04-20T05:09:10Z")
What is this nonsense? Surely almost everyone here is: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/aZRn4auk4PQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Young At Heart (Remastered)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZRn4auk4PQ) ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/11 "2022-04-20T06:10:10Z")
When you’re still sexually active and it’s as good as it ever was, some ways even better; but honestly: a good BM is a cherished joy. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/12 "2022-04-20T06:46:10Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Even people known for certain to be legal adults (such as police officers) look like kids. I heard ages ago that the first sign of aging is when you notice how young all the cops are. I didn’t understand it back then. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Several years ago, I realized that I was old enough to be the mother of 3 presidential candidates (Swalwell, Buttigieg, and Gabbard) When JFK was elected my father mourned that for the first time the President was younger than he. I didn’t understand that either, then Obama came along… ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/13 "2022-04-20T07:37:41Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > You don’t think pop music is any better or worse than it was 5, 10, or 20 years ago. It’s pop. What the hell does anyone expect, Beethoven? You don’t remember “A Fifth of Beethoven”? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0ouMaLRth-s/hqdefault.jpg "Walter Murphy - A Fifth of Beethoven") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ouMaLRth-s) In my case, I knew I was old when I went out with a girl who was about my age, and she said, “Let me tell you about my grandchildren…” Gosh, am I that old? It took some doing, but I accepted that yes, I am that old. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/14 "2022-04-20T07:42:03Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I heard ages ago that the first sign of aging is when you notice how young all the cops are. > > I didn’t understand it back then. I remember exactly this. I was pulled over, on the highway, in the middle of the night with my family sleeping in the car. The cop asked me, “Can I see your license, sir.” And I recalled that the previous time that I had spoken to a cop, aged about 18, his parting words had been, “OK, dickhead, fuck off.” Assuming that, despite the passage of time, this cop’s attitude would be much like the previous cop’s, I didn’t point out my wry observation. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/15 "2022-04-20T07:48:27Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I heard ages ago that the first sign of aging is when you notice how young all the cops are. For me it’s always when X is young enough to be my child do I take notice. Police, teachers, doctors . Doctor kind of stung ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/16 "2022-04-20T09:59:58Z")
I’m a Great Uncle! (Also I watched the first episode of Doctor Who and remember the Berlin Wall being built.) ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/17 "2022-04-20T14:54:02Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I heard ages ago that the first sign of aging is when you notice how young all the cops are. I had a startling moment one Sunday when I was watching an NFL game and realized I was older than all the players on the field. And another startling moment a few years later when I realized I was old enough to be the father of any current player. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/18 "2022-04-20T15:04:54Z")
…when the subject old lady of the OP is 10 years younger than you. But you fell young again when you realize you don’t look as old as she does. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/19 "2022-04-20T15:57:58Z")
First, high school girls started calling me “sir”. 😐 Then, college girls started doing it. 😒 Now, cops and doctors are starting to do it. 😠 Colonoscopies. Prostate exams. It’s too bad I’m straight. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091/20 "2022-04-20T16:25:57Z")
The young guys I play music with are in their 50s. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-getting-old-er-when/963091.md?page=2)