Does anyone agree there seems to be a borderline ridiculous, overexaggerated stereotype that once you get to a certain age you're suddenly supposed to act way "older" and not be cool anymore? Like, ditching current pop culture (especially music and fashion) as well as complaining about kids and the world not being what it once was. I know logically that everyone's an individual, and of course alot of people don't really do this, but it seems like there's an unwritten rule that these changes automatically occur at maybe age 25 or 28.

Reason I bring it up is that I've been thinking about how it relates to me recently. I've always been old school, it's just that now I might be getting old enough to wear it convincingly, and that worries me. :\'(

See, as a kid and a younger teen, I liked that it made me an individual. Even up into high school and beyond, that's still been pervasive in a reduced way in how people reacted to me about this stuff. Like telling me I was "wise beyond my years" or a "bright young man" and all. I'm not merely talking about being nostalgic or having tastes in '80s and '90s stuff, but just generally my more mature, intellectual side that related well with people older than me. Now it's like I'm finally reaching the age where I'm kinda SUPPOSED to be like that. I don't want to start being a part of the crowd when that was always one thing that set me apart.

I think that you can still definitely be nostalgic, young at heart...no matter what age you are. Just because you are approaching the big 30...doesn't mean that you have to put all good stuff aside, and become a stuffy man or anything. I mean..yes, there comes a time in one's life where they do reach an age, that they might have to make some things secondary to the primary things in their life (getting a decent job, being in a stable relationship, starting a family, making sound purchases in life, etc)...however, that shouldn't mean giving up on the things that have made you...YOU, over the years. :)

i dont think so. people just have this idea adults are supposed to be anal and fun-hating.

I think that you can still definitely be nostalgic, young at heart...no matter what age you are. Just because you are approaching the big 30...doesn't mean that you have to put all good stuff aside, and become a stuffy man or anything. I mean..yes, there comes a time in one's life where they do reach an age, that they might have to make some things secondary to the primary things in their life (getting a decent job, being in a stable relationship, starting a family, making sound purchases in life, etc)...however, that shouldn't mean giving up on the things that have made you...YOU, over the years. :)


I know sweetie, I just want to be like a current version of guys my age that I looked up to as a kid. See I'm a very "reciproical" person. In other words if I felt a certain way about someone on one side of the fence, once I got to the other side, I'd want to live up to how I always pictured it. Twentysomethings seemed really cool when I was 10. Obviously I knew everyone was different, and that Wayne's World was just a movie, but I figured it was still akin with the basic way younger adults acted and lived.

I never thought people started really seeming like "adult adults" until like close to 40.


Here's the thing, I think I could have ONE or the other, but not BOTH. I mean people like Paris and Britney are my age, and I'm sure there's 50 year olds who still think of them as bratty young "kids". Same for even just average people that age who might go out clubbing all the time or whatever. It would take that for people to still think I'm young and that's not me, so I would never want to do that just to shift people's perception.

On the other hand, I could be old school and begin to be more respected/taken seriously for it. Yet I don't think I can have BOTH at once to where adults (well I'm one too, but you know what I mean lol) will look at me as this great exception to the rule amongst other young people. I used to love when, let's say soccer moms would applaud me for not being like all the other punk kids out there. Even for things as simple as being an open fan of '80s music in 1994 (when it was generally not cool to do so) or being really knowledgeable on that stuff.

i dont think so. people just have this idea adults are supposed to be anal and fun-hating.


Thanks. :) And I agree, that's a massive stereotype which usually isn't true.

reminds me of a Ramones song....ha, when all else fails, turn to the Ramones for some sound advice and a shoulder to cry on. ;)


"I Don't Want To Grow Up"

When I'm lyin' in my bed at night
I don't wanna grow up
Nothing ever seems to turn out right
I don't wanna grow up
How do you move in a world of fog that's
always changing things
Makes wish that I could be a dog
When I see the price that you pay
I don't wanna grow up
I don't ever want to be that way
I don't wanna grow up
Seems that folks turn into things
that they never want
The only thing to live for is today...
I'm gonna put a hole in my T.V. set
I don't wanna grow up
Open up the medicine chest
I don't wanna grow up
I don't wanna have to shout it out
I don't want my hair to fall out
I don't wanna be filled with doubt
I don't wanna be a good boy scout
I don't wanna have to learn to count
I don't wanna have the biggest amount
I don't wanna grow up
Well when I see my parents fight
I don't wanna grow up
They all go out and drinkin all night
I don't wanna grow up
I'd rather stay here in my room
Nothin' out there but sad and gloom
I don't wanna live in a big old tomb on grand street
When I see the 5 oclock news
I don't wanna grow up
Comb their hair and shine their shoes
I don't wanna grow up
Stay around in my old hometown
I don't wanna put no money down
I don't wanna get a big old loan
Work them fingers to the bone
I don't wanna float on a broom
Fall in love, get married then boom
How the hell did it get here so soon
I don't wanna grow up

^ See that's why I like celebrities. That's a good song, even though I've never heard it (plus if you like it I'm sure I would too). ;)

48 year old Al Yankovic probably still seems a billion years younger than people half his age, not to mention his own peers.

I grew up around entertainment so much, that I guess I assumed that was how things were "supposed" to be, like it was a marker of real life. Of course it didn't help that alot of the real people I knew (my parents, other relatives, family friends, babysitters) fit generally into this category too.

I think I get what you're saying, and I'm starting to feel a little like that too.  I think it's just the fact that, when you get older, you're expected to be more mature.  I think it's still appreciated by "old" people, but it's even more obvious for them when you're an especially mature child.

Actually you can think of that one episode of Full House where Joey wanted to be more "mature" so he was always dressing in business suits, slicking his hair back, reading the newspaper, and trying to act serious all the time.  But in the end, everyone wanted the "real" Joey back.  I think a lot of adults try to be like that just because they are expected to, and not necessarily because they want to.

Also, no matter how old you get, people older than you usually still view you as a kid, lol. ;)  Like my dad, who's almost 60, calls 35-40 year-olds "kids".

I think I get what you're saying, and I'm starting to feel a little like that too.  I think it's just the fact that, when you get older, you're expected to be more mature.  I think it's still appreciated by "old" people, but it's even more obvious for them when you're an especially mature child.

Actually you can think of that one episode of Full House where Joey wanted to be more "mature" so he was always dressing in business suits, slicking his hair back, reading the newspaper, and trying to act serious all the time.  But in the end, everyone wanted the "real" Joey back.  I think a lot of adults try to be like that just because they are expected to, and not necessarily because they want to.

Also, no matter how old you get, people older than you usually still view you as a kid, lol. ;)  Like my dad, who's almost 60, calls 35-40 year-olds "kids".


I totally agree all around. :) That's also a really good point about that FH episode, and I remembered thinking this when I saw it, too. Like Joey was trying really hard to be something he wasn't out of wanting respect, and he was best at just being himself. That's what everyone else valued.

Even though I look somewhat youngish for my age and people often mistake me for 19-23 or so, once they know I'm in my mid-twenties, they don't seem as surprised anymore when I say I'm not into clubbing, hard partying, (most) modern music or things like that.

I guess they still do value me being as I am, it's just not as surprising as when I was 12 and an obvious alternative to kids who were like Beavis and Butthead lol.

Exactly, and if it's of any interest--my brother recently asked me, "At what age do you think people mature?"  He meant mentally/emotionally.  I made a point to him that everyone is different and there is no general answer for things like that.  Because you will see 8-year-olds who are wise beyond their years, and then you'll see 80-year-olds who still don't seem mature at all.  I think people just tend to generalize things too much.  It's your upbringing and experiences that make you more or less mature, not just what age you are IMO. :)