Nobody is as young as they used to be. That's kind of how the inexorable forward march of time goes.
But there are points in life where this realization really hits home. The r/AskReddit thread, "When did you realize that you are officially 'not young' anymore?" is sure to hit home for at least a few of us.
"I was in my late 20s, at work talking with one of our new interns. I can’t remember why but she asked how old someone was and I was like, 'I dunno, about our age?' She gasped and asked 'How old do you think I am??' Then I gasped and asked, 'HOW OLD DO YOU THINK I AM?!'
"Anyway, that’s when I realized I was 'not young' anymore."
"Here in Boston, I was annoyed when the classic rock station started playing songs from the 80s and 90s. What???? This isn't classic rock!!!! Then I did the math and got depressed. Worst thing is: they canned the oldies station a few years ago. The rock from the 70s would now be considered an 'oldie'."
"I just bought a new mop and was really excited to go home and use it :( I mopped the whole apartment in absolute bliss. I finally decided that I will not fall for the Swiffer commercials again."
"Saw some neighborhood kids messing with a stop sign while driving home. I slowed the car down, rolled down a window and said,
'Hey... I think maybe you shouldn't be doing that.'
"Which in my mind meant cut it out before an adult catches you.
"But these kids look sheepishly at the ground and give me an ok like I was the adult in the situation. Which I was, gently chastising children for fooling around with public property."
"When my best friend and I were planning for a concert next month and for the first time in our lives we were like 'Do we... want to buy seats instead of standing in the pit?'"
"I took my fiancé back to the University I attended and we went for a drink at my old favorite bar. Ordered a margarita & the waitress said, 'Do you want the well tequila that we serve to everyone or like…. adult tequila?'"
"It was when I went to casually step off a 4 foot drop.
"I had one foot off the ledge and my brain screamed Danger, I had to stop reset and prepare myself to absorb the impact and make sure I bent my knees.
"20 year old me wouldn't have thought at all about that."
"When I realized having a one in front of my birth year is all anyone needs to know I'm old enough to purchase alcohol. I don't know why but that dumb fact just hit me like a ton of bricks."
"When one of my younger coworkers took it upon herself to explain to me who Cardi B was. I already knew who she was and was familiar with her music. Apparently I just looked like I needed to be supplied with this info."
"When I was trying to hang out and play with my kid at school drop off, and she was like, 'mom! Not in front of my friends!' I realized in that very moment that I was not young, fun, cool mom, but indeed old, regular, embarrassing mom."
"Had a truck sitting in front of my house a few weeks ago for like an hour, at around 1am. Didn't know what they were up to, but I didn't like it. Finally knocked on the window and said 'I don't know what you're doing, but do it somewhere else...'
"Turns out it was a couple of teenage kids fooling around, one of which lives a few houses down and I'm assuming didn't want to get caught by her parents."
"Went to the hairdressers, had a great cut, at the end she complimented the condition of my hair and then said ‘and amazing, no greys!!’ Honestly, that’s when I knew. I was 28. Still low key hurts."
"I went for a motorcycle ride with 4 of my friends and stopped at the gas station for a picture. The first picture was all of us gasing up the bikes and the second was from behind. I was not wearing my helmet and saw the top rear of my head. I was balding at the age of 28 and had a spot so shiny that even the camera didn't know WTF happened."
"It hits you when you’re 36. That’s the year you could’ve had a child at age 18 who would become 18 and possibly have a child, making you old enough to be a grandparent."
"This is pretty silly, but for me it was when I was shopping in Target and came across a buy one, get one 50% off deal for Oxy Clean. I was so excited that I texted my wife, and then promptly realized 'oh man, I’m so middle aged!' It was like one of those 'Avoid becoming like your parents' commercials."
"A couple of days back. Husband and I had a movie night mid-week and were up till 3am. The entirety of the next day was spent in agony with a terrible headache while I spent 8 hours looking at my laptop screen."
"I'm not even thirty yet, but I already have realized I barely understand my partner's teenage younger siblings. Their culture is entirely different from when I was that age.
"Also got really, REALLY excited to take my first Costco trip as an adult."
"Early 30’s. At 28 I was interviewed for a position and asked how I would manage a team of people mostly older than me. At 32 I was interviewed for another position and asked how I would deal with having a boss quite a bit younger than me (25) 🤷🏻♂️ I remember thinking how did I miss the tipping point?"
"One day I woke up with agonizing pain in my lower back radiating down to my legs. Felt like I was being jabbed with a cattle prod repeatedly. Eventually learned I somehow gave myself a herniated back, despite not doing anything strenuous. Took me like 6 months to fully recover, and ever since then my back aches if I sleep in a bad position."
"I live in a city with a thriving nightclub scene, and used to go to the clubs a fair amount. A good way to find out what's on (before we all had smartphones) was at the weekend people in the city centre would hand out fliers for the various club nights.
"One day I walked up to a guy who went to hand a flyer to me, then looked me in the eye, visibly thought 'nah' then turned to somebody else."
