When did you finally feel old?

ohlaph@lemmy.world to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 57 points –
91

I’m 50 and still don’t.

I'm 42 and same here.

I see a lot of posts in this thread that, on the surface, seem to be more health and lifestyle issues than solely age. I still play ice hockey, climb mountains, stay out late, enjoy alcohol, play in a band, play computer games, bartend, throw parties, travel, and generally live life to the fullest. I’ve been fortunate to not have any debilitating genetic problems, but I’ve also kept myself physically active and emotionally healthy throughout my life. I truly wish society supported more people to be able to live that way. As I’ve aged I’ve become more of an activist for a shorter work week, better support from the government, and much higher wages. I hope, those of you who want to, can find ways to reverse some of the things that make you feel old beyond your years.

Seconded, fully. In addition, doing new things really helps: all the time I've been spending challenging myself and learning new skills has basically been keeping me mentally young and flexible.

Yes, that’s an EXCELLENT point! During COVID I learned French and now I’m studying to get my sommelier certification. Never stop learning! It also tends to be very humbling. There SO much I don’t know and am terrible at, but being a beginner has its own type of joy.

That's the spirit. Although sometimes I see changes in my skin that don't match the age I feel :-D

When the moms at the skatepark seemed too young to flirt with.

When I noticed how excited I get about good quality appliances.

IMO fuck everyone who doesn't care about good quality appliances. They are to blame for how common shitty ones are these days. Especially developers who just get something that looks nice but actually sucks when you use it.

Glares at oven that takes forever to preheat, doesn't keep the temperature even once it does, and has a drawer oven that takes even longer to preheat than the shitty main oven takes to preheat and COOK things

I sell appliances and the number of times I hear “It’s for a rental”, as a reason to get the cheapest thing, is depressing.

As someone that is on the marketing side of individuals renting condos for vacations, the ones that buy the quality stuff, are able to get more revenue per booking, and a better retention. It not only applies to the kitchen, but to things you wouldn't expect, like sheets, towels, and toilet paper. Go cheap on any of those, and you'll read about it in a 2 star review.

I’ve been quite poor my whole life. For me simply having the appliance, in my own apartment, is amazing. One year I lived in a little place with a little washer and dryer in the closet. It was incredible. The washer didn’t drain right, and the dryer would go for hours without drying the clothes, but it was still amazing because it was the first time ever I’d had a washer and dryer of my own that I didn’t have to go outside to use.

I was at a cocktail party a couple of weeks ago, and had an engaging conversation with 4 other dads about our choices and regrets in kitchen appliances....and lawnmowers.

When a little boy in the supermarket called me "sir"... I'm 18

Shortly after turning 34, it occurred to me I was closer to my 50th birthday than 18th.

Yeah somewhere between 32 and 34. So long youth, I guess I had my go.

My joints were already telling me I'm old. Did you really have to point that out to all the other 34 year Olds on here?

2 more...

I was at Warped Tour many years ago, talking with randos in the campground. I mentioned which bands I was there to see, and this guy gave me a huge smile and yelled 'You're old' in my face.

I went in 2018 and only went for/recognized reel big fish... Wuf

Well, throwing out my lower back bending over a table a couple weeks ago sure didn't help...

The worst I have ever thrown my back out was picking up a pair of scissors. I was in my 20s.

Yep. It hit me at 32. I literally wasn't even bending over. I walked about 30 feet in my house and by the time I got to the couch I was in terrible pain

I took four naps on my day off. I'm 32.

That may as well just mean you're overworked (or something else) though. I do stuff like this in my 20s

Could be a nutrient deficiency, too. I've gotten myself out of that exhausted state with b-complex and magnesium supplements. It's quick, too, if that's the real problem. I felt normal and alert again within 15 minutes of taking the supplements.

I hesitate to nap on a day off because if I’m not careful I’ll just wake up the next morning and my day off will be gone.

When I honestly felt that what my homemade juice/blended smoothie thingy needed more of was celery and that without enough celery it was too sweet and lacked body. That was the day there was no more pretending. Only a year before had I suffered through my first back injury, so they can go together.

Otherwise, the beginnings of it for me were when I noticed warming up for physical exercise took longer. 10-15 minute bicycle commutes used to require no warm up at all. Then I’d feel warmed up only by the end of them. That’s when I knew I was turning the corner.

Within the past few years, once my neck problems started getting worse and I finally went for an MRI and was diagnosed with arthritis.

0/10, do not recommend.

My MIL has had really good luck with non-thc CBD creams for arthritis. Done it daily for the the last couple of years and she swears by it. Don't have personal experience with it, but she recently opened a jar of pasta sauce in front of me and didn't blink. Hope you get some relief.

I was speaking to someone at a party recently and realised they where both in their 20s and born after 9/11. Was quite a moment.

Hell, I clearly recall the space shuttle Challenger tragedy. I even vaguely recall when Reagan was shot.

At my BF's cousin's 18th birthday party, a small family do at the uncle and aunt's house. The living room was full of people 60+, so as 30 something young people we naturally headed out into the hallway to hang with the cousins and their friends. All these young people barely registered us and just moved aside to let us past, they didn't even look at us, just carried on talking to each other. We got to the kitchen and looked at each other and just went oh shit, we're old aren't we. Grabbed drinks and headed back to the old folk, at least they would speak to us!

when the web became an application platform

When my cousin's babies that used to play in my grandmothers house had children of their own

When I realized that the games I enjoyed in college were released over twenty years ago.

Cs 1.6 is not that....

Fuuuuuu

For me it was "Why are they remaking Metroid Prime? The original looks fine and it was only released in... 2002? Oh god... that's 21 years ago..." One of my favorite games in college is old enough to drink.

Want to really feel old? In just a little over two years from now, the Xbox 360 will be 20 years old.

When I address my peers suddenly as "old white men", and then realize they're just as old as me.

First time I picked up the laundry basket and my back hurt. I'm careful now to lift with my legs but my back hurts more or less in the same place when it does hurt. My vision's going too, but that's genetics, not age related.

Back hurts regardless.... it's not well engineered and it will fail and hurt. We're supposed to live untill our kids are able to fend to themselves so for evolution after 30 we don't matter anymore

When I had to fill a survey and I filled age group 25-35 instead of 18-25

The first time was when even the "old man" veteran professional athletes were younger than me.

When I started sharing aches and pains over lunch with friends.

When I was 23, I was in a conversation with some teenagers and realized I didn't understand half the things they said.

The gap grew at 30. Teens and social media challenges? Planking? Chili powder? Tide pods?

Now at 40... YouTube drama? Lil skizzle doing a pop tart on Biancas Insta made her reem? I don't even wanna know.

I'm concerned that I'm not sure if you were making up words or not.

The funny thing is planking, chili powder, and tide pods was like a decade ago.

When I got blackout drunk last week and I'm still feeling the hangover effects.....I'm 29 for fuck sake! Let me do what I did ten years ago and still come out strong!

"sir"

Depends on the context, I look pretty young but people still call me sir in restaurants.

Multiple times a month ever since the day I was taught what birthdays are.

I've always enjoyed some classic rock, when I was a kid I used to listen to the oldies station and groove to some Steppenwolf or whatever. One day I was driving to work, radio tuned to the classic rock station, and they played Pearl Jam.

When I was 21, and I got the first of my "arthritis."

It's in quotes because years later it was diagnosed as an entirely different (and even more debilitating) disease, but I still effectively have arthritis a lot of the time, I just now also have constant insomnia and fatigue.

1 more...

40 essentially. Intensified when my anxiety peaked from tapering off meds, and realized that at 60 im 75% done with my span statistically.

My partner keeps calling me 'old man' but it makes me feel more like a slug than old...

Not yet. Lets see again when I'm 40

Yeah! 40 is so old! Those geezers should.....

Wait. 40 is old? Shit

For as long as I've remembered people have been telling me 'just wait untill you're x-years old.." and yet almost none of the things that were supposed to happen when I get older still haven't happened at +30 and I have a feeling it's not going to happen at 40 either. I refuse to get old as fast as my parents generation.

I was in a GameStop one day and there was a father and son there. The son was wanting to buy some Pokemon cards and asked his father if they were similar to the Pokemon cards they had when he was growing up and that's when it hit me that people who grew up playing Pokemon are old enough to have children.

I saw the Coachella lineup this past year and didn't know 90% of the lineup. My back started acting up that day. I'm 33.

The first time was when I realized I couldn't read the digital clock on the microwave when I was sitting in the livingroom. I'd been able to do that most of my life, but suddenly it was too far away and blurry.

My eyesight isn't even bad, I don't wear glasses and don't have a problem reading books or seeing things near or far.

But damn, did that make me realize I'm getting old.

I'm not sure about "old" specifically, but the first time I really felt my mortality and the ticking clock was when I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, and realized that virtually every night I sleep from then until I die is with something strapped to my face.

That was 14 years ago, and now I have high blood pressure meds I will likely take until I die and arthritis from working as a helicopter mechanic (those 9 years of piano lessons are sure paying off, lol). So I guess the new feeling of old is seeing the ticking clock and hoping it runs out before the general painful breakdown of my body progresses too far. When I was in my early 20s, I imagined I'd be unlikely to live past 60. Now I dread what my life will be like if I'm still alive after 60.

If it wasn't going bald after high school or turning 30, it had to be when I turned 36 since I realized I could have pressed a magic reset button and relived my first 18 years of life over again within that time.

since I realized I could have pressed a magic reset button...

What?

Starting to understand why he'd hit the reset button