Age ideas and the like!

[Kaelaroth]

Simply: When does a person stop being young? When does a person start being old? How do you make these choices? Do you think these are ideas that evolve as you yourself age? Other comments? :smallsmile:

[Mauve Shirt]

You're old when people start to take you seriously. You're not taken seriously at least until you turn 30.

[SilverSheriff]

Your old when you start saying that you are 'X years young'.

[Fredthefighter]

Hmmm, well, the first thing that comes to mind is that you're as old as you feel. The second thing is that although there is a certain point where people are no longer considered young, but that this point is different for all people, it's a hazy line. The final thing that comes to mind is that age (in terms of young or old) is relative to the age of the people around you. For example, Mick is 32, now when he hangs around his three younger brothers, Bob, Jim and John, who are all 8, he looks old in comparison, but when he plays D&D and video games with his dad (who is called Dad for all purposes), who in this case is 50, he is young by comparison.

The simple way to do it is to compare your current age with the average death age of your gender in your country, if you're age is under half that, then you're young, if it's over three quarters of that, you're old. There is then the matter of the area between the 50 and 75% mark, this is the spot where you're neither young or old.

Just my thoughts there.

[LXH]

Simply: When does a person stop being young? When does a person start being old? How do you make these choices? Do you think these are ideas that evolve as you yourself age? Other comments? :smallsmile:
It's entirely subjective. I'm probably old to a lot of the people who post here, but people in their fourties and fifties would give the entire contents of their bank account and 401k to be as young as me again. Seventy is really old to me, but it wouldn't be to my nearly ninety-year-old grandfather.

And then there are the people who are broken down with decreased mobility in their thirties and people in their eighties who run marathons. It's all about how you feel.

You might not be given default respect at twenty-five even if you come from a more learned and wise position as someone who's fifty, but people will learn pretty quickly not to underestimate those who deserve more respect. :smallsmile:

[Adlan]

I've recently turned 20. I've often been told I'm mature, responsible and so forth.

Now I'm 20 everyone's saying how young I am again.

[Lord Herman]

Your old when you start saying that you are 'X years young'.

This. I think you're young when you wish you were older, and old when you wish you were younger.

[Dogmantra]

You are officially old when you do any of the following:
1. Say "now I've seen everything!"
2. Complain about skimpiness of clothing
3. Watch Last of the Summer Wine
3a. Actually enjoy it
4. Knit
4a. Finish Knitting anything

There are more, I'm sure, but these are the ones that come to mind.

[SilverSheriff]

This. I think you're young when you wish you were older, and old when you wish you were younger.

then I must be really old... I've been saying 'I wish I were younger' for years now...:smalltongue:

However my meaning for the world 'Child' is simply someone that doesn't do something because they fear the consequences and an adult is someone who does something even if they fear the consequences.
However Criminals would be thought of as merely foolish and simple minded.

I'd consider myself an Adult: I have a fear of Spiders; however I work daily to overcome that fear.

[bosssmiley]

You think young people all need a haircut and a dose of real life (aka exemplary hardship).
You make a pop culture reference and the reaction is "Oh, my dad told me about that..." or "Wow, that was before I was born..."
Your reaction to things being quiet as "Aaaaah" rather than "I'm bored".
You get off the gadget upgrade treadmill.
You say "Back in the day..."

We had a work experience larva in the office recently. It annoyed me and reinforced all my most fogey-ish tendencies. Surely no-one can be that ignorant and live?! :smallannoyed:

[GoC]

One of my aunt's has a very good looking husband. One day I noticed he had a patch of gray hair and was completely shocked! I'd thought he was in his mid twenties judging by both looks and actions (it's not that he was irresponsible but that he was trendy, sporty, up-to-date and had an excellent sense of humour). Turns out he was in his mid forties!

I really hope I look that good when I'm his age...

[LXH]

You think young people all need a haircut and a dose of real life (aka exemplary hardship).
You make a pop culture reference and the reaction is "Oh, my dad told me about that..." or "Wow, that was before I was born..."
Your reaction to things being quiet as "Aaaaah" rather than "I'm bored".
You get off the gadget upgrade treadmill.
You say "Back in the day..."

We had a work experience larva in the office recently. It annoyed me and reinforced all my most fogey-ish tendencies. Surely no-one can be that ignorant and live?! :smallannoyed:
One of my favorite things to do when one of my older coworkers makes a reference from before my time is to stare at them blankly for a few seconds and then say "I was born in the 80s." Even if I get the reference. :smalltongue:

[reorith]

i remember the day i realized i wasn't a kid anymore. my paw was out on a cattle drive, and this old yeller dog visited my family while we were enjoying a picnic. i tried to shoo the dog away, but my little brother immediately took a shine to it. my ma interfered, reasoning that the family could use a good dog. though i initially loathed that yellow bastard, as i called the dog, and tried to get rid of it, the dog eventually proved his worth, saving me, my brother and the family on several occasions. i grew to love that old yeller rascal. one day, the rightful owner of the yellow dog showed up looking for him. well, my little brother didn't quite like that and he threw a fit, but the owner recognized that my family needed and had become attached to the dog so he traded the mutt for some stew and biscuits. well eventually, the dog developed rabies after being bitten while defending my family from a rabid wolf. to protect my family, i tearfully shot that dog, my most loyal friend, in the back of the head and learned a valuable lesson about life and what it means to be a man. :smallfrown:

[Alteran]

i remember the day i realized i wasn't a kid anymore. my paw was out on a cattle drive, and this old yeller dog visited my family while we were enjoying a picnic. i tried to shoo the dog away, but my little brother immediately took a shine to it. my ma interfered, reasoning that the family could use a good dog. though i initially loathed that yellow bastard, as i called the dog, and tried to get rid of it, the dog eventually proved his worth, saving me, my brother and the family on several occasions. i grew to love that old yeller rascal. one day, the rightful owner of the yellow dog showed up looking for him. well, my little brother didn't quite like that and he threw a fit, but the owner recognized that my family needed and had become attached to the dog so he traded the mutt for some stew and biscuits. well eventually, the dog developed rabies after being bitten while defending my family from a rabid wolf. to protect my family, i tearfully shot that dog, my most loyal friend, in the back of the head and learned a valuable lesson about life and what it means to be a man. :smallfrown:

Hey, me too!

[Kara Kuro]

In addition to all the fun and silly comments previous to mine posted here, I've always thought that you're officially old when you stop laughing at ligitimately funny fart jokes.

[RTGoodman]

To me, you're an adult when you hit that point in life where you actually have to start FACING the hardships of life instead of getting someone else to do it or saying, "Ah, I'll worry about it later." Finding a real job (i.e., more than just a summer or part-time thing), having to pay bills, looking for a place to live, dealing with death, and all that. Doesn't mean you can't have fun or still be young, but you know what the real world entails.

When your age really hits you, of course, is when you are among a group of "kids" (and as a substitute teacher, I'm around middle- and high-schoolers quite a bit) and realize that they were all born in the '90s. Realize that, when they were born, you were already in schools. Realize that, when you GRADUATED high school, they were still in elementary or middle school.

Yeah, I'm only 21, but I feel like an old man.

[Partof1]

I think it varies depending on the situation, whichever benefits you less.
IE:
"You should know better! You're [X] years old"
"I'm not sure we can trust you, you're are only [X]"

This works anywhere from ages 9 to anything where you aren't in charge.

[GoC]

To me, you're an adult when you hit that point in life where you actually have to start FACING the hardships of life instead of getting someone else to do it or saying, "Ah, I'll worry about it later." Finding a real job (i.e., more than just a summer or part-time thing), having to pay bills, looking for a place to live, dealing with death, and all that. Doesn't mean you can't have fun or still be young, but you know what the real world entails.

Interesting... the law says I'm an adult but this post disagrees.:smalltongue:

[KnightDisciple]

You think young people all need a haircut and a dose of real life (aka exemplary hardship).
I tell you, young people these days...


You make a pop culture reference and the reaction is "Oh, my dad told me about that..." or "Wow, that was before I was born..."
How can kids not know what SEGA is?


Your reaction to things being quiet as "Aaaaah" rather than "I'm bored".
Mmm, quiet. It's so...peaceful.


You get off the gadget upgrade treadmill.
I'm telling you, cell phones aren't the be-all end-all gadgets you whippersnappers make them out to be! They're just phones that aren't attached to phone lines!


You say "Back in the day...":
I'm telling you, back in my day, we had respect. Respect, I tell you!


.....Crap. I am old. :smalleek:

[Indurain]

Before today, I would have just agreed with the fart-joke assessment above, but I saw a great movie today that had a great conversation about "becoming a man".

Lars Lindstrom: I was talking to Bianca, and she was saying that in her culture they have these rites of passages and rituals and cermonies, and, just all kinds of things that, when you do them, go through them, let you know that you're an adult? Doesn't that sound great?
Gus: It does.
Lars Lindstrom: How'd you know?
Gus: How'd I know what?
Lars Lindstrom: That you were a man
Gus: Ahhh. I couldn't tell ya.
Lars Lindstrom: Was it... okay, was it sex?
Gus: Um. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's uh, yeah, yeah it's kind of - it's uh - no. Well, it's kind of sex but it's not uh, you know? I don't know. I don't know. It's - uh - good question, good question.
Lars Lindstrom: Yeah, but I have to know
Gus: Okay, you know I can only give you my opinion.
Lars Lindstrom: That's what we want
Gus: Well, it's not like you're one thing or the other, okay? There's still a kid inside but you grow up when you decide to do right, okay, and not what's right for you, what's right for everybody, even when it hurts.
Lars Lindstrom: Okay, like what?
Gus: Like, you know, like, you don't jerk people around, you know, and you don't cheat on your woman, and you take care of your family, you know, and you admit when you're wrong, or you try to, anyways. That's all I can think of, you know - it sound like it's easy and for some reason it's not.

I think that sums it up pretty nicely.

P.S. The movie is called Lars and the Real Girl, and is a real heartwarmingly odd movie!

[Yarram]

You are officially old when you do any of the following:
1. Say "now I've seen everything!"
2. Complain about skimpiness of clothing
3. Watch Last of the Summer Wine
3a. Actually enjoy it
4. Knit
4a. Finish Knitting anything

There are more, I'm sure, but these are the ones that come to mind.

I'm screwed then lol.

[Pyrian]

I've virtually always been old - certainly ever since Elementary school. :smallconfused: It's left me with some disdain for the stereotypes of different ages, particularly "maturity" - many of the traits people associate with maturity seem to me to have far more to do with an individual's personality than their age.

[SDF]

For me it's all about consequences.

"My parents are going to kill me." - Kid

"I am so going to jail." - Adult

[averagejoe]

You think young people all need a haircut and a dose of real life (aka exemplary hardship).
You make a pop culture reference and the reaction is "Oh, my dad told me about that..." or "Wow, that was before I was born..."
Your reaction to things being quiet as "Aaaaah" rather than "I'm bored".
You get off the gadget upgrade treadmill.
You say "Back in the day..."

We had a work experience larva in the office recently. It annoyed me and reinforced all my most fogey-ish tendencies. Surely no-one can be that ignorant and live?! :smallannoyed:

Man, I'm just over 20 and I do those things. :smallsigh:

[OverdrivePrime]

Normally I feel pretty vibrant and young still, but man - having some kid call me 'sir' is like a punch in the Kings of Leon every time.

[Collin152]

This. I think you're young when you wish you were older, and old when you wish you were younger.

But what are you if you, like me, wish you could remain at your current age indefinitely?

[Vizen]

But what are you if you, like me, wish you could remain at your current age indefinitely?

That would be the prime of your life, which you'll shortly pass through, resulting in the "Boy, I wish I was younger." line of thinking. :smalltongue:

[Kara Kuro]

Although I won't pretend I wasn't serious when I was talking about fart-jokes, I think my idea of age and grown-ups versus children is influenced very much by reading 'The Little Prince' by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, which is and hopefully always will be my favorite book.

It's got lovely things to say on the subject of growing up.

For example: To be a grown-up means you are only ever concerned with matters of consequence, you forget your friend the fox even though you spent many days gaining his trust in order to become one, you forget to consider whether you should perhaps put a muzzle on a sheep to prevent him from eating a flower that is more special than all the other flowers like her and you can no longer see an elephant being eaten by a boa constrictor when you look at a drawing of a hat.

[golentan]

A person stops being young when they accept a responsibility or danger that nobody should ask them to shoulder to do what should be done. A person begins being old when they use "tired" or "weary" as an excuse for why they do not act even though the issue is important to them.

[Thufir]

I don't know about when you become 'old'...
What I do know, however, is that age 21 is the prime of your life, and it will remain that way until I turn 22!

[Szilard]

I feel old whenever I go on about back in the day, or remember things that are no longer around. Like cassettes, and windows that you actually had to roll down.

[Recaiden]

I feel old whenever I go on about back in the day, or remember things that are no longer around. Like cassettes, and windows that you actually had to roll down.

You, know we still have those here.

I think Kara's definition is overly serious, but mostly how I feel.

[Trog]

Inside you're never old until you forget that inside you're never old.

[Decoy Lockbox]

i remember the day i realized i wasn't a kid anymore. my paw was out on a cattle drive, and this old yeller dog visited my family while we were enjoying a picnic. i tried to shoo the dog away, but my little brother immediately took a shine to it. my ma interfered, reasoning that the family could use a good dog. though i initially loathed that yellow bastard, as i called the dog, and tried to get rid of it, the dog eventually proved his worth, saving me, my brother and the family on several occasions. i grew to love that old yeller rascal. one day, the rightful owner of the yellow dog showed up looking for him. well, my little brother didn't quite like that and he threw a fit, but the owner recognized that my family needed and had become attached to the dog so he traded the mutt for some stew and biscuits. well eventually, the dog developed rabies after being bitten while defending my family from a rabid wolf. to protect my family, i tearfully shot that dog, my most loyal friend, in the back of the head and learned a valuable lesson about life and what it means to be a man. :smallfrown:

Rabies? Pssshh! Mofo had hydrophobia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrophobia), oldschool rabies.
I remember tearing up when I read that book in elementary school. I really hope they still make kids read it, and not some newfangled garbage, dagnabbit!


I've virtually always been old - certainly ever since Elementary school. :smallconfused: It's left me with some disdain for the stereotypes of different ages, particularly "maturity" - many of the traits people associate with maturity seem to me to have far more to do with an individual's personality than their age.

I know what you mean. When I was in first grade, my teacher told my parents that I was just like a "little old man". Somehow I doubt that was a compliment.

A person is old when they can say the phrase "I'm getting to old for this sh*t", and actually mean it.

[Telonius]

You're old when you stop learning.

[Jae]

Your old when you start saying that you are 'X years young'.
hahahaha qfe

Honestly, I've been wishing I was younger for a long time now and I'll be seventeen this year...not what most people consider old.

I've always thought you were old when you start worrying. That sounds odd I guess and it's hard for me to explain in a more tangible way...but "young" is an innocence thing to me and I remember feeling less innocent when I worried about money problems, drugs/alcohol, being left, etc. When I was no longer SCARED of the monsters in my closet but WORRIED about the monsters actually out there in the real world, if that makes any sense at all.

But I also felt old at an extremely young age, so beats me :smallamused:

[TSED]

2. Complain about skimpiness of clothing


This one I have to object to. I was definitely not young when I was 4 and I'm definitely still young now. Even if I'm older than a lot of people here (apparently!).

Skimpy clothing is just bad taste.

Also I think good choice in clothing is way sexier than gratuitous skin so maybe that has something to do with it.

[Dallas-Dakota]

hahahaha qfe

Honestly, I've been wishing I was younger for a long time now and I'll be seventeen this year...not what most people consider old.

I've always thought you were old when you start worrying. That sounds odd I guess and it's hard for me to explain in a more tangible way...but "young" is an innocence thing to me and I remember feeling less innocent when I worried about money problems, drugs/alcohol, being left, etc. When I was no longer SCARED of the monsters in my closet but WORRIED about the monsters actually out there in the real world, if that makes any sense at all.

But I also felt old at an extremely young age, so beats me :smallamused:
This.

This, very much.
Except replace seventeen with sixteen.

[Jae]

Haha im really glad it made sense to somebody because after I posted that i was like uhmmmmm oops haha :smallredface:

[Lufia]

How can kids not know what SEGA is?
Er... Ok, maybe it's because I'm a bit of a video game nerd, but, come on! How can you not know SEGA? :smallconfused:

Anyway, it's all a matter of how you feel. Back when I was 6, 20 seemed like an incredibly old age. Now that I'm older than that, I still feel young. My father, at 56, still feels young, gray hair or not. I think he's old. Et caetera.

[Generic Archer]

According to most of these definitions I've been old for at least 5 years, and I'm 19 now...
Complaints about the skimpiness of clothing - check
Wishing I was younger - check
Saying I'm too old for this - Check
Saying back in the day - check
Just generally feeling old - Check

most of these stem from being athletic, and occurred at about 13 when I realised I needed to stretch before running.


Dane