When did you realize you were old(er)?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Having recently turned 41 - which I know is not old, as such, just work with me here, dammit - I got to thinking, when was the tipping point at which you realized you had hit middle age? Mine is this:

For my birthday, I received these presents (which I specifically needed and requested) from my parents: a microwave oven, and a new set of towels.

Pathetic, innit?

And let me be clear, I'm not *complaining* that I'm old. I have no right to do that. I have a good job, a good home, and more importantly, my HEALTH. I'm just sayin'.

 

[JarodRussell]

I honestly can't even say how old I am without thinking about it a couple of seconds. I stopped caring about the numbers long time ago.

 

[auntiehill]

The minute I realized that I could hurt myself by *sleeping.*
That's when I knew I was old.
Not to mention that, last year, I heard some of my favorite tunes as a teen being played in the grocery store.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I have also been guilty of doing these things:

- Yelling at people for driving down my street too fast.

- Openly using the term "whippersnappers" in a non-ironic sense.

- Waxing nostalgic for the Superfriends.

- Watching my nephew graduating from high school.

- Remembering anything that happened in 1975.

- Having been taught DISCO dancing when I was in sixth grade.

 

[Davros]

When I started saying "those damned kids and their weird music".

 

[RoJoHen]

Hasn't happened yet.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

When doctors visits became a regular part of my life.

The minute I realized that I could hurt myself by *sleeping.*
That's when I knew I was old.
Not to mention that, last year, I heard some of my favorite tunes as a teen being played in the grocery store.

These two as well. I have sleep apnea.

I also noted that songs I remember as are now being played on the oldies station.

My closest friends are people I see once a month, not three or four times a week. I spend as much time playing with their kids as I do catching up with them.

I also find that I have no common frame of reference when talking to someone under the age of 25.

 

[Brian]

When at 42 (last year) I got cruised by a hot guy on a smartphone social app. He was nearing the club where we were hanging out, so I told him when he got there to look me up. A while later, I saw him walk in and buy some drinks. I went over and said hi. He politely said hi, then excused himself to take the drinks to his friends. I figured he was busy and we'd chat later. Half an hour later, I got a message from him which read, "Sorry about that. My friends don't know I'm into older guys."

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

When at 42 (last year) I got cruised by a hot guy on a smartphone social app.

When I realized I had never HEARD of smartphone social apps (and still don't know what they are).

 

[HoneyBLilly]

I'm not old but I most definitely feel old, and I'm pretty sure my body thinks it's like sixty.

And I get reminded of it everyday by my little sister, yesterday was over me remembering watching "Endgame" when it aired(even though she did too, except she was eight and doesn't remember it.)

 

[Capn Flukie]

When I saw little babies grow up to have families of their own.

 

[Holdfast]

Funnily enough, this topic sort of cropped up in a conversation I had with some colleagues today. For me, it happened a handful of years ago when I realised I couldn't automatically bounce referrals about kids born in the late-80s to the child & adolescent teams any more. The first time I saw someone in my (adult) clinic who was born in the 1990s was freakier still.

 

[Brian]

When at 42 (last year) I got cruised by a hot guy on a smartphone social app.

When I realized I had never HEARD of smartphone social apps (and still don't know what they are).

The app in question was Grindr for iPhone. It's a M4M app where you can see a guy's profile (description and pic) and it tells you how far away they are, and has a chat feature.

Margaret Cho calls it "GPS for c*ck." She started her show here by asking, "Okay, who's Grindr blew up when they walked in the building tonight?"

 

[SchwEnt]

When, at some point, I looked around and noticed that most of the people around me were younger than I.

That's how I knew.

If you look around and most of the people are older than you, then you are young.
If most of the people around you are younger, then you are old.

And I'm old.

 

[RJDiogenes]

There are any number of things that have happened that make me intellectually aware of my longevity. My favorite songs being on the Oldies stations, remembering things firsthand that my niece and nephew are learning in History class, routinely talking about things I did thirty or forty years ago, realizing how many of my favorite writers and artists have died of old age et cetera. I still don't actually believe that I'm old, though. Even knowing that, for the first time, the current president is actually younger than I am.

 

[marillion]

Hasn't happened to me yet (now at age 41), but my daughter "graduating" from 8th grade this week (when the hell did they start calling it that??) has me leaning that way a bit more...

 

[RandyS]

I have also been guilty of doing these things:

- Yelling at people for driving down my street too fast.

- Openly using the term "whippersnappers" in a non-ironic sense.

- Waxing nostalgic for the Superfriends.

- Watching my nephew graduating from high school.

- Remembering anything that happened in 1975.

- Having been taught DISCO dancing when I was in sixth grade.

With the exception of the nephew (I don't have one) and the disco thing (I can't dance), I have experienced all these things. Hell, I can remember things that happened in 1973!

But then, I also turned 41 last month.

For me, the first time I realized I was older was twenty two years ago, when, at the (what I now know is the tender age) of 19, a man who had to be roughly my age NOW addressed me as "sir" for the very first time in my life. Until then, I had only heard my grandpa addressed that way.

Also, yelling at people for driving down the street too fast is not a sign that you're getting old, it's a sign that you are a responsible person, and that the driver is an idiot who should have his license revoked and be dragged from his car and beaten severely about the head and shoulders.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I am 53 and I don't consider myself to be old. I didn't even consider my father to be very old when he died age 77. My mother is now 80 and even though she is terminally ill I don't think she is all that elderly.

Maybe this is because I worked in a nursing home when I was a teenager. Most of the residents there were very infirmed and this came to be my image of being old and not someone still living at home and doing most things for themselves.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

When at 42 (last year) I got cruised by a hot guy on a smartphone social app.

When I realized I had never HEARD of smartphone social apps (and still don't know what they are).

The app in question was Grindr for iPhone. It's a M4M app where you can see a guy's profile (description and pic) and it tells you how far away they are, and has a chat feature.

Margaret Cho calls it "GPS for c*ck." She started her show here by asking, "Okay, who's Grindr blew up when they walked in the building tonight?"

I was going to ask if there's a straight equivalent but then I realized I have no iPhone. *backs away slowly*

 

[Timby]

When a trip to Office Max to buy desk supplies became exciting.