Older people - How do you define 'young'

[Kirby]

^^ That's exactly what I was getting at Melakon. I manage a large group of people, about half of which are in their 20s, and in one team meeting I referenced Sgt. Schultz from Hogan's Heroes and claimed "I know nothing!" which drew blank stares from a about half the group. Youngsters...</p>

 

[RoJoHen]

^^ That's exactly what I was getting at Melakon. I manage a large group of people, about half of which are in their 20s, and in one team meeting I referenced Sgt. Schultz from Hogan's Heroes and claimed "I know nothing!" which drew blank stares from a about half the group. Youngsters...</p>

Pop culture references are the biggest indication of generational divides. I was tending bar last night and "Gettin' Jiggy With It" by Will Smith came on the radio (I was listening to the 90s station). There is a line in the song that goes, "...since I moved up like George and Weezie," and I actually stopped to think, "I wonder if anybody even knows what that line is referring to anymore."

 

[Davros]

First, how do you define old(er)?

When one starts saying "Those damned kids and their crazy music.".

 

[Melakon]

It has to do with cultural awareness. There are a lot of references thrown around on this board that I don't catch at all, because I've not had cable since about 1992, and I haven't even watched broadcast tv in over 7 years. So to those people, I'm ignorant.

 

[Tralfaz]

I am 58 and inside I feel like I was 18-19. However, getting up each morning and going to bed at night I tend to feel old as I take my meds for diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and so on. I feel that anyone who could be my child is too young.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Well, a female customer of mine came back today.
She always greatly confuses me.
She is extremely attractive and sexy and acts pretty mature for her age.
Problem is, I know how young she really is. around 18 or 19.
And every time I realize that again I feel so old (am 34) and just scream internally: WHYYYYYY?!
Either I or she was really born in the wrong decade! DAMMIT!

 

[Melakon]

I stopped buying Playboy every month when I realized the girls in the centerfold were born the year I graduated high school.

 

[DimesDan]

Anyone younger than me is "young." Anyone older than me is "old."

 

[CorporalClegg]

Well, a female customer of mine came back today.
She always greatly confuses me.
She is extremely attractive and sexy and acts pretty mature for her age.
Problem is, I know how young she really is. around 18 or 19.
And every time I realize that again I feel so old (am 34) and just scream internally: WHYYYYYY?!
Either I or she was really born in the wrong decade! DAMMIT!

A few years ago (I was 29 at the time.) I was doing this Shakespeare workshop. We were doing AYLI and I was spending a lot of time working with the girl playing Rosalind. I was totally infatuated with her. I thought she was one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen. She was smart, funny and really nerdy. She also acted really mature to the point I thought she must have been 24 or 25. Of course, I was brought up to believe asking was rude.

I spent a lot of time with her during "down" time talking about lots of different things from books to sci-fi, and music (she had wonderful taste).

Anyway, it got to one point were we were waiting for the director/instructor. We were sitting on the floor against a wall and she was resting her head on my shoulder. Someone saw us and walked up to me sometime afterwords and said, "You know she's only 17, right?" I had a Wile Coyote moment right there and then.

I do believe in the "age is only a number" axiom but only to a point.

The thing about young/old really is a matter or perception. Had I not been told how old she was, I would have gone on believing she was in her mid twenties. She just didn't seem that "young" to me.

Transversely, I've met people who are in their 20s or even older who I still think of as young because of the way the act.

And because I look a lot younger than I am, I hear people tell me I'm really mature for my age all the time.

Also, *hugs* for J.!

 

[Melakon]

Someone saw us and walked up to me sometime afterwords and said, "You know she's only 17, right?" I had a Wile Coyote moment right there and then.

I don't blame you. After my divorce, I was rooming with a friend for about 3 months, and a girl we both knew would sometimes crash there. One morning I got home from work, walked past the open bedroom door, and she was naked on the bed, apparently waiting for me. I was 28, she was 17. I just pretended I didn't notice her.

 

[Velocity]

I'm 60. I think of "young" as not able to remember a time before personal computers and cell phones. And not experiencing gas prices under a dollar per gallon.

There's an old adage that 'youth is wasted on the young'. Maybe...to some extent, anyway.

 

[scotpens]

I'm 60. I think of "young" as not able to remember a time before personal computers and cell phones. And not experiencing gas prices under a dollar per gallon.

We're coevals. Pretty much the same for me. I think of as "young" anyone who can't remember when there were no personal computers and no internet, when cigarettes were advertised on TV and it seemed like everybody smoked, and when black people were called Negroes.

I am 28, and for the most part I consider anyone 21 and below to be "young," but that might just be because I work in a bar and 21-year olds are incredibly immature drinkers.

Most 21-year-olds are incredibly immature everything. Well, the male of the species, at any rate.

Now you kids GET OFF MY LAWN!

 

[Skellington]

Any colleague of mine who wasn't born when I started work 23 years ago is young. Really young.

 

[Kestra]

I'm 33, and for myself, I feel I am at middle age, just shy of "old." To me, if you are under 30, you are "young." If you are between 30 and 40, you are still young-ish. To be honest, I consider 75+ to be old, I just don't think I'm ever getting there, so for me, 33 is bordering on old.

You might be surprised, J.

If my past fortunes are any indication, I doubt it. I used to see life as a mystery, an opportunity to explore what it means to be alive. I wanted to go places I had never been before, and learn great things, to be a part of something wonderful. Now I see it as a dread progression of days in which tedium has claimed any joy I once had. It's all uphill, every moment is a struggle for relevance, and that when I die, I will be alone and forgotten. That last one only bothers me for a moment, as once I'm dead, it won't matter anymore. This is how I see "old" and "young." I will be forever old, until I am dead. Then it won't matter anymore. I'm pretty sure I'll be dead before I ever get the chance to actually live.

It seems like you feel like since your life is tedious and lonely, it won't be a long one. That doesn't really make sense. Happiness and unhappiness don't directly affect our longevity.

As to the topic at hand, young and old changes as you age. Right now I'd say 80 seems old to me. Maybe 75? Young is anything under 25. But my views on that will change with time.

 

[Amaris]

It seems like you feel like since your life is tedious and lonely, it won't be a long one. That doesn't really make sense. Happiness and unhappiness don't directly affect our longevity.

It's more a combination of significantly high stress levels, combined with lifestyle patterns (by necessity, not by choice), Depression, health problems, and a good dollop of pessimism that has built up over many years of having one's face metaphorically pressed into the mud. I've been working to just ride it out, do what I have to do, and then try to live my life (what will be left of it) as I can.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

J. don't forget that making incremental changes in your life can take you surprising places. It seems so pathetic sometimes to just start doing some small thing that everyone else does without thinking but if you keep making those kind of changes in a few years you can find yourself with options and things in your life you didn't expect.

And I think you've already done that to some extent, going veg and having big health benefits and weight loss as a result. Someday you may find yourself with options that you wouldn't have had if you hadn't taken those steps some time back.

 

[scotpens]

I do believe in the "age is only a number" axiom but only to a point.

The main thing is, don't try telling it to the judge.

 

[Amaris]

J. don't forget that making incremental changes in your life can take you surprising places. It seems so pathetic sometimes to just start doing some small thing that everyone else does without thinking but if you keep making those kind of changes in a few years you can find yourself with options and things in your life you didn't expect.

And I think you've already done that to some extent, going veg and having big health benefits and weight loss as a result. Someday you may find yourself with options that you wouldn't have had if you hadn't taken those steps some time back.

That is good advice, teacake, and I will try to keep that in mind.

 

[Australis]

You might be surprised, J.

If my past fortunes are any indication, I doubt it. I used to see life as a mystery, an opportunity to explore what it means to be alive. I wanted to go places I had never been before, and learn great things, to be a part of something wonderful. Now I see it as a dread progression of days in which tedium has claimed any joy I once had. It's all uphill, every moment is a struggle for relevance, and that when I die, I will be alone and forgotten. That last one only bothers me for a moment, as once I'm dead, it won't matter anymore. This is how I see "old" and "young." I will be forever old, until I am dead. Then it won't matter anymore. I'm pretty sure I'll be dead before I ever get the chance to actually live.

Seriously... it's all ahead of you. I'm 55 (damn that sounds old!), but I don't feel anything like that, I'm losing weight and I just bought an electric guitar. I might only have 10-15 good years, and maybe another 10 not so good ones, but I'm going out on a high and a rush! So much to do!

Read the poem 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night', and some of the analysis and history of it. It's not perfect, but it has acertain strength we could all use. You won't regret it.

Push harder. It will be wonderful.

As to young and old, if they're scampering on my lawn, they're damn kids. If they're doddering along with a walker that wasn't acquired through injury, just years, they're old.

But, as the joke says, when you drive past a high school and find your checking out the moms instead of the students, you're old.

 

[RandyS]

The older I get, the younger I am.