When did you realize you were old(er)?

[trekkiedane]

I think it actually dawned on me, when the kind of clothes I wore as a teen came around again -for the second time since I'd been wearing them

Of course it also helps when your teenage nephew likes the music you have on vinyl...

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ or when you actually have vinyl...

 

[trekkiedane]

^Actually, that's my sole way of connecting with teens today

 

[Lookingglassman]

I hate all new music except for the 80's

 

[trekkiedane]

I hate all new music except for the 80's

The past two years I have shocked myself several times: The music I'm listening to is increasingly becoming music from before I was even born

Like, The Dave Brubeck Quartet...

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2htbaJFEAXQ&feature=related[/yt]​

Not only is my music vinyl, it's also in black & white

 

[Trilliam]

I've still got a stack of Led Zepplin, Billy Joel, John Denver, Jon English, Christopher Cross, Supertramp and Neil Diamond on vinyl. Oh and Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" on vinyl.

Time for some ultimate frisbee!

Not likely. The offspring gave my husband a turntable that is compatible with our soundsystem about 2 years ago.

 

[marksound]

Two words: Ear Hair.

 

[Trilliam]

WHenI looked in the mirror and saw my mother looking back

 

[Maestro]

I bought a new bike today. Haven't bought a bike since before Timothy Dalton became Bond. I'm not even sure where my ancient Huffy 10 speed is.

We had to get some soccer gear for the little Maestriss today, and bikes were on sale at the sporting goods store, so I got a nice Schwinn hybrid-y thing. Rides nice.

What does this have to do with this thread? After biking just about 2 miles on it, My thighs are killing me and I can hardly walk. Where's the BenGay?!

 

[BillJ]

Getting ready for my daughters high school graduation in two weeks has me feeling a bit old.

 

[Maestro]

Getting ready for my daughters high school graduation in two weeks has me feeling a bit old.

I have a friend whose eldest daughter graduated high school last year. My friend is now pregnant with her fourth child. Perhaps this knowledge will help balance how old you feel.

 

[Lord Garth]

I'm almost 32 and don't have any children, but I have two friends who are 35, one of whom has a 16-year-old and the other of whom has 18-year-old fraternal twins.

 

[Trilliam]

Getting ready for my daughters high school graduation in two weeks has me feeling a bit old.

THat was last year for us, the 4th & final child to finish Yr12. My oldest graduated from Uni in 2006.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

But most of all, I don't think I have developed what I see as the middle-aged curmudgeon mindset -

PKTrekGirl I relate to much of your post. It's alarming to watch your peers calcify, many already at 30. Not listening to new music and a knee jerk eschewing of new fads seems to be the norm. Some become devout luddites. When I was last single I found I couldn't relate to any males my age or older as they seemed to be trapped in whatever opinions and tastes they had developed in their 20's. They could not be shifted into seeing the world as full of new and wonderful things, in their minds everything was worse than in their hey day. It is a horrible mindset.

Exactly.

I can't say that everything 'new' appeals to me. But at least I am willing to try new things. A lot of my peers, to me, just seem stuck in, like, the late 80's. They like the same things that they liked 20 years ago (which is fine) and they have no interest whatever in trying anything newer than that, having prejudged it all to be 'crap' (which is not so fine, if one wants to avoid curmudgeonhood). This can apply to anything from new restaurants to new music to new technology. Even new fiction authors, or places to vacation. Same place, every year like clockwork. BLEH!

But even more important than trying new things is the desire to consider new ideas. And wow - that is when curmudgeonhood REALLY shows. And ages a person 30 years in my eyes, as soon as I realize that they have not learned much of anything in 20 years! They don't read anything they might disagree with. They don't care about facts if those facts infringe on their existing world view. They don't read anything that might teach them something new, or different. I don't know if it's laziness or fear. But whatever it is that causes people to do this, it is very alarming.

To me...that mindset is what ages people faster than anything else, except for maybe poor health habits (not eating right, exercising, sleeping enough, etc).

 

[Amaris]

^ That does make a difference, I agree. Now, see, my favorite years are the late 80's/early 90's. That was the golden age of my life (I was between 8 and 12) before everything started going horribly, horribly wrong, so I reminisce and wax nostalgic there. I still adapt to new technologies, cultures, mannerisms and such, and what I end up doing is fusing them together.

For example, I don't abbreviate words in Twitter or chat. I type full sentences whenever I can. I'm using Twitter, just not finding it necessary to abbreviate, which means that, being the occasionally long winded person that I am, Twitter doesn't fit my needs, but I have used it. That's important. I don't want to be some kind of 80 year old hipster embarrassing the hell out of his grandkids because he's doing the Macarena like it's in style, but at the same time, I don't want to be the 80 year old enfeebled and doddering oldster who is woefully lost because he chose not to stay abreast of changing trends.

 

[Lord Garth]

Ironically, all my favorite music is either from 2006 to now (especially 2009 to now) or from the late-'80s and earlier. These days, I have next to no use for '90s and early-'00s music. I can only take so much grunge and post-grunge. Same with fashion. I hated the styles from the late-'90s to mid-'00s, yet like the fashions of the past few years (though I've always done my own thing). People my age and slightly younger are complaining about new trends and I'm always defending them. I prefer slim jeans, high-contrasting colors, and electronic music.

My interests are simultaneously ahead and behind of my peers. I've done some looking up of people I used to know in high school (thanks Facebook!) and I haven't friended any of them but it was interesting to see a lot of them were stuck in the '90s and the first half of the '00s.

 

[chardman]

Old is when you lust after someone only to realize that they hadn't been born yet when you were their age.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I am indeed very set in my ways. I only watch Law & Order-verse TV shows (in fact, now that SVU is the only one left, I plan to drop cable), my tastes in music stop at about 1987, the only sport I give a shit about is baseball, and I only vacation in New York City. (I am making a special trip, though, at the end of August: going to Boston to see the Yankees play the Redsox. Should be fun!)

And speaking of which, when I am in NYC, I eat at the same place every single day for lunch. I'll give you three guesses but you're only gonna need one...

 

[SicOne]

I began to feel old when the Playmate Of The Month was the same age as my oldest daughter.

And that was 5 years ago.

 

[donkey]

i started to feel old when I realized i was older then most of the starting lineup for the mets.