- My knee still doesn’t feel right after that hiking trip two weeks ago.
- I started listening to really old music.
Have I crossed the threshold?
Some things I’ve noticed in my early 40s:
- You talk about things like property taxes and 401k contributions more often than you ever thought would be possible
- You seriously weigh whether a drink is worth the bad sleep and headache it’ll cause you
- Your pop-culture references are lost on younger folks
- You start referring to college-aged people as “kids”
- You need reading glasses but you’re in denial about it
- Injuries take longer to heal
- Those of your peers who haven’t taken care of themselves are starting to have serious health issues
- You care more about flossing, skincare, fiber, and hydration
- You still rock bottom eyeliner like you did in high school
- You’ve seen fashion from your high school years go out of style and then come back as “retro”
- You see the utter confusion on your nephew’s face when you explain that you used to keep a quarter in your bike pouch in case you needed to call someone, because he doesn’t remember a time before cell phones and his generation isn’t allowed to just roam around unsupervised on their bikes
- You have strong opinions about things like laundry detergent brands
- Birds become fascinating
- You have no problem spending a few hundred dollars on a new kayak paddle, but the price of cold cuts these days is just unacceptable
That’s bang on. Aside from the quarter. I used to call collect and they would get “Would you like to receive a collect call from ‘Hidadcomepickmeup’?”
My friends did that, but my mother would’ve killed me - she thought that was no different than theft lol
You may fascinate the elderly with a bird
Injuries take longer to heal
Eyes, motivation, you can’t drink all night and only sleep for three hours, and in general it’s better to drink at home, it’s better to lie on the couch, lack of interest in many things… taking care of children’s health is above your own etc.
cold cuts? Have you seen the price of a bag of chips? Ridiculous. I don’t need to spend 5 bucks to hate myself later after I’ve eaten too many.
$30 to buy an old mechanical pencil on ebay you remember having in highschool? No problemo.
i think people are way too worried about being old while not enjoying the youth they have left right now
you can always be and feel older
You’ll never be as young as you are now
And this is the oldest you’ve ever been.
No this is
We always feel old cuz we’ve never experienced being as old as today.
You nailed it. I’m loving it, I’m more fit now than ever and do so much more in my 40s than in my 20s even. It’s great. You’re only as old as you want to be. Listen to new music, try out new things and complain about it all when you’re 90+
If these are signs of being old, I was born old.
Same. I’ve had shit joints since I was a kid. Sometimes I feel like I got a head start on aging 😛
Standing up feels like the check engine light comes on
My knees have been going out since I was like 16, so I’ve felt pretty old for a long time. I think my biggest old person thing is being very particular about my bedtime each night and always getting up at the same time. I definitely did not do that in my twenties.
Yeah same boat here.
Testosterone got the better of me weight lifting in high school and I fucked up the ligament that holds my left kneecap down.
I pop and crack like a 70 year old and I’m 29 (been happening since I was 17) and I can’t keep my left knee bent for long periods of time without it aching.
I’m trying to stay young by playing video games (primarily rocket league) but they don’t feel the same as when I was younger. That was my actual sign.
What’s really old music? Like Greenday?
No no like, that classic golden oldies singer, Britney Spears!
Then there are those of us who were already adults when she was on the Mickey Mouse Club.
Bro don’t
I mostly listen to music from my parents’ youth. Growing up I listened to the oldies station a whole lot (Oldies 98.1 used to be so good!). I’m Gen X, they’re boomers. So classic rock is definitely in the mix, but also artists like Petula Clark, the Supremes, Tommy James and the Shondells, etc. There’s a great station on SiriusXM called '60s Gold that I listen to pretty much every day.
And then when I need a change, I switch to New Wave / post-punk or Grunge.
Oh you mean music from the 1900s?
You are a menace and must be stopped.
I start my day on 1960s English prog and ska, and end my day on 1970s Italian and Turkish prog and pop. I dunno what’s out there
You start noticing bird species you’ve never seen before… Wait! Was that a cedar waxwing???
This is so accurate.
When you injure yourself sleeping
Been doing this since I was a kid. I regularly hit my head off (on?) the wall in my sleep because I twist and turn during the night.
I do not like this comment.
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When listening to new music, I’m constantly recognizing how heavily they sample older songs that I remember listening to when I was a kid.
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A night out with friends often ends at 9 or 10p because we’re all tired.
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A night out with friends often includes a lot of discussion of various health issues and encouraging each to see a doctor.
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I’m finding myself more and more avoidant of new technology. Or maybe it’s just that I’m getting more concerned about maintaining a little sliver of privacy?
It genuinely irritates me when I hear sampled songs get passed as new without any credit to the original
In your opinion, how should they be crediting it? I’m having trouble trying to imagine a good way that it could be credited within the song, and I can’t imagine very many people actually pay attention to the credits for music, especially when so few of us are buying physical copies anymore.
I’ve definitely experienced feeling annoyed at the new songs, but some have grown on me, and hearing the samples often leads me to add the original to my playlist. I’ve actually been having a lot of fun trying to see if I can name the original artist & song title whenever a new one pops up.
The DJ should mention it, would be my solution. I got into Gary Numan’s Are Friends Electric after hearing Sugababes fantastic Freak Like Me (arguably better than Numans), but I had to find out that they sampled from him. A quick nod from the radio DJ would have saved time, and would have been respectful of the original
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I turned my head to the right to look at something and sprained my neck.
So when just existing hurts, you’re old.
You’ll start growing hair in even weirder places than you did during puberty.
Dude I’m hairy ass a gorilla since puberty.
And start losing hair on top of your head
nose hair trimmer attachment works well around the ears I’ve found (but it’s loud!)
Why, ear lobes? Why?!
I have one weird hair that grows out of my neck. Why on earth?!
“Your teeth/eyes look pretty good for your age! 👍”
When you let the student hair dresser cut your hair and she cuts it to your actual hairline.
Please try different shoes. I was panicking that my knees were gone and it was just the shoes.
Barefoot shoes ftw.
My coworker and I had to rock-paper-scissors who hurt the most to go home early
But have you begun yelling at clouds yet?
No but sometimes I grunt when I get up from the couch.
Oh to be young again. I remember questioning whether I was old or not. Embrace your youth, it’s nearly gone…
