50 Questions (1/50): How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

I noticed how Sofie does her 50 questions from Mark and Angel Hack Life. I’ve tried at least twice, maybe three times, in the past to do this, but I kept failing. It’s a lot to do at once. So, I’m going to do this every once in a while — one question per post  — and see if I can actually complete it this time.

If nothing else, this should be an easy-ish chunk of blog posts, no?

I look young. I used to get ID’d by cops in the grocery store parking lot. People buying alcoholic beverages would even ask me if I was old enough to sell it. In Texas, you have to be at least 21 years of age to sell alcoholic merchandise and at least 18 years of age to sell medicines, knives and cigarettes. It may be the same in other states, but I’ve only ever worked in Texas.

I like to refer to myself as mentally older, and therefore I think I would be older than 21. Ever so often I have grey hairs. A doctor once told me it’s possible that they’re caused by the amount of stress I have handled in my life and that I’ve dealt with more stress than the average 21 year old.

I’m also quite wise when it comes to certain things. I think this makes me older, too.

However, if I didn’t know how old I am, I would go off of looks and assume I’m 16. I’d probably even try to live like a 16 year old.

Then again, whether I look young or old should not be what my age depends on. Give me a math book, and I’ll solve problems at a college students’ ability[1. Non-advanced classes-wise, of course.]. Give me finger paint, crayons, markers, colored pencils, etc., and I’ll make a “pretty picture”.

I don’t think that age should calculate the maturity of one person to another. So my skin is 21 years old, so what? My mental state is much older than that.

I’m not the stereotypical 21 year old. I don’t drink. I’m actually allergic to brewer’s yeast, which is in alcoholic beverages. People don’t think about that. People also don’t understand that I’m technically allergic to alcoholic beverages. That’s a fun one to explain. 😉

I don’t go out an party or club, staying out all night.

When you dig into the nitty-gritty of it, what exactly is in an age?

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Comments on this post

I like that you are answering this one by one! I might take a look at those questions myself. 🙂

Age is just how old we are in years, really. When we think about mental ages or physical ages, we aren’t really thinking in numbers. We’re thinking “you look mature” or “you look young”. And especially with a mental age, we just just easily differentiate by thinking of how much experience we’ve had in life or what we’ve been through.

I also look young (despite having a few white hairs, heh) but I feel that some parts of my mental state are really mature. There are also other things I don’t really know, and may not be so mature about. I can’t really tell how old I would be if I didn’t know how old I was. I still feel that my age defines me, to an extent… but I have no problem seeing myself as 24 or 25.

I agree with your post. When you think about it, age can be considered a subjective matter.

I’m 23 and I still feel like a teenager. Sometimes it bothers me, especially when I see someone my age with two kids and acting all responsible and motherly. I think I’m mature when I need to be, but sometimes it feels like I’m only acting like a grownup.

I think next time I’ll just pretend I’m allergic to alcohol. D: I don’t drink because I just don’t like the taste and the feeling in my mouth. D: Some people actually tell me I’m too immature when they heard my reason. At my age I should be mature enough to tolerate alcohol. Or so they said. T_T

I think for many people the years they’ve lived correlates to the things they’ve experienced and thus has a big impact on their maturity level, but for others it simply doesn’t fit neatly into that equation. Most of the people I know do act their age, for better and worse, but there are some that are more responsible than their young years. And of course some that are just reckless and immature despite being middle-aged and, one would assume, knowing better. Age is just a number, sometimes it fits, sometimes it doesn’t.

I used to correlate age with maturity, but the more I met different kinds of people, the more I find out it’s definitely not true. I do have to admit, I still do it sometimes, but it’s more of an expectation that older people should be more responsible and that I don’t necessarily stereotype all young people as immature. When I meet mature people in general, I have feelings of admiration towards them, so I really have to commend you for being wise. No matter what your age is, as long as you a responsible human being, I will treat you with respect 🙂

I’ve met another person who said they were allergic to alcohol, but I thought it’s cause she is Asian and couldn’t process the alcohol, not cause she was having an allergic reaction to it. But if you can’t drink alcohol, all I can say is that you save a lot of money and save yourself from a lot of pain.

Hmm this is a nice post. I think I saw a pic of you before and you do look young. When people card you I’m sure it’s just because of the law, but when people assume stuff about your age then it’s wrong. I’m not a stereotypical 21 year old either. I’m only a sophomore in college and I can’t drive, and I don’t drink. I refuse to drink. I’m not living with a guy or even with roommates.

Georgie said age is just a number and she’s right, though it’s hard to get that past my mom when it comes to college and stuff.

—

I bought K-POP – The Ultimate Audition, it’s about a girl who sneaks into a Korean pop boyband as a boy, hehe.

I don’t know if my school offers that actually, but even if we did I don’t think I’d want to take it.

I’ve certainly met my fair share of 40 year-olds who might as well be 14, or even younger! As for me, I think that I’d probably be exactly my age. I don’t think that I’m incredibly wise, but I’m certainly better than most people in high school and college! If I went off looks though, I’d probably be under 20, because unless I’m dressed like a business person, most people seem to think that my ID is fake whenever I try to buy alcohol. (But because my ID is real, they have no way of proving that, so they let me buy the alcohol anyways.)

On that note, I really don’t think that there are that many 21-year-olds are partying all the time and stay up at night all the time. Sure, there are definitely some that do – there are some in nearly every adult age group that do! Before I went to college, I learned through a video that I was required to watch before enrolling as a student that less than half of college students drink regularly, only a few are drunk all the time, but despite that everybody thinks that “everyone drinks a lot”. Personally, I drink and party once every few months, mostly when visiting friends I don’t see often.

Oh what would be my age if I didn’t know how old I am? Hmm… I think I’d be torn… Sometimes I feel like a five year old, most especially when I receive gifts, or when someone does something nice to me. I’m gleeful like a little girl. Sometimes I still cry like one, too. Sometimes, though, I do need the maturity of an 80-year-old when it comes to being understanding and patient with some people, which is really a challenge.

I used to drink, but only around close friends and we don’t do it in a bar because we don’t like going to bars. We would drink at a friend’s house, but not to the point where people get drunk and then puke and then do crazy things. We have friends who don’t drink and it isn’t a big deal. And we only drank occasionally in the past, only when we had something to celebrate about. Now, we rarely see each other because everyone’s so busy. 🙂

Ahh! I am bursting at the seams because I finally found a blog that resonates so strongly with what I’m writing about/thinking about/looking for a community to RANT about! I get the mental/cognitive issues thing (I have brain injury at 23 🙁 I get not drinking — WHY is the attitude toward people who don’t drink that they are a waste of youth? OMG makes me angry that people just can’t let loose and be ADD honest without something coursing through their veins. The memory/health issues — this is all so taboo, especially in young women. Blogging about it keeps me in integrity with what I’m going through, who I am, and that I’m not alone. Thank you so much for sharing your story. We are not crazy, we are honest and the taboo discomfort is a societal problem that distracts and dissociates from pain to the point of alienation, lack of empathy, lack of HONESTY. TY. All my love.

xx
Maia

“I don’t think that age should calculate the maturity of one person to another.” <– Exactly. This is what I wish our society would understand about age-difference relationships. I've also seen some job listings that won't accept applications from anyone who is younger than 25. As if no 28-year-olds or 35-year-olds are ever immature, dishonest, or irresponsible. Hah!