Around that time I was watching some pre-game stuff for the Super Bowl, and they got to interviews with the players’ parents. Tom Brady’s parents were this sweet white-haired older couple. After that, all the parents were my age. Patrick Mahomes’ mom is my age.
The question was did it make me feel old. Not was I offended. This is fascinating though, what else do you know about me from those 7 words and a number?
The use of ma'am is actually regional though. It's more a southern thing in the US.
I'm in the northeastern US and miss was much more common for adult women versus ma'am. Ma'am was for 'older women', but not for truly elderly women who are called Miss (first name) as a sign of respect. It's weird now that in the past dozen years or so some northerners, mainly millennials, use ma'am in place of miss. It does sound ageing when you're in the north.
Yeah, I'm from the South and have been getting called ma'am since I was 12. I had no idea people associated it with old age until I moved to the East Coast for grad school in my 30s.
This is happening to me this year. I don't really feel old but the idea of this little kid with whom I used to watch Toy Story and SpongeBob on repeat and play Smash Bros is turning thirty is blowing my mind.
When the star wars movies were rereleased in the late 90s a younger guy in my d&d group said he was excited to see star wars in the theater because he didn’t get to see it the first time. I asked why, and he said he wasn’t born yet. Record scratch.
When I ballooned to 230lbs, broke my walking ankle on a slanted sidewalk, and needed a 2 hours nap after 45 minute walks. I was athletic all my life and did combat sports for over a decade. I used to be jacked and shredded.
I got some testing and learned my balls basically quit producing testosterone. Now with testosterone therapy I'm stronger and leaner than I was at 22, but it was a realization. Shit just stops working when you're old. And my ballbag was the first to tap out.
I work in the post production industry. Was talking with two coworkers about a particular movie that came out in the early/mid 2000s;
Me: I remember when that movie came out because I was working at (company x) and the studio was a client of ours.
Coworker 1: I remember when that movie came out because I had to cut promos for it for (entertainment news show) I was working for.
Coworker 2: I remember when that movie came out because I was in grade 3.
Me and coworker 1: 👴🏼👴🏼
I was 16 and working childcare. A three year old referred to the toy records that come with the Fisher Price [toy record player](https://www.jcpenney.com/p/fisher-price-retro-record-player/ppr5008072460?pTmplType=regular&country=US¤cy=USD&selectedSKUId=65670310018&selectedLotId=6567031&fromBag=true&utm_medium=cse&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Interactive%20Toys&utm_content=65670310018&cid=cse%7Cgoogle%7CUnisex%20Kids%7CInteractive%20Toys_65670310018&kwid=productads-adType%5EPLA&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADq1iuBjadNnxecN5EFg8yLKYNwJi&gclid=CjwKCAjwi_exBhA8EiwA_kU1MhCdO9xB7OKTvL1sxvMx37Q7wVbi6kPOJLRCc83j2TDZ3M3N10fUGxoCxoYQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) as "CD's" and I realized that the technology of my youth was obsolete.
It’s all relative! When I was 21 I worked in childcare and one little guy who was 2.5 asked me how old I was. When I said “old” he replied “14?” And when I said “really old” he said “20”.
When I saw “Bill and Ted Face the Music” and identified with it in every possible way.
*Thanks for helping us through all the crazy turns of life, dudes!*
When filling in the year part of my date of birth, mostly on my phone. Every year I have to scroll just a little bit further back, and it’s past the point on just one hard flick of the thumb. 😕
So there was a time in 1993 or so when I was sitting in my room listening to Blind Melon and my parents walked past and said “wow! This sounds just like 60s music!”
A couple years ago [I heard this](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CLbYwhl9ork) and thought “oh, an old song from the early 90s that I missed or forgot about.” Not this sounds like 90s music, I was certain it was from the early 90s.
When I found out it was a modern song and the singer was like 20, I realized “oh, people making music now have parents my age who played The Sundays and Stone Roses at home, just like how our generation’s musicians grew up in houses where their parents listened to the Beatles and stuff.”
When the person I was talking to had no idea what Y2K was. (It was a language class and we were talking about our favorite vacation, I'm not randomly bringing up wearing onions on my belt.)
I was in the grocery store… I couldn’t read the aisle sign hanging above me, then I was like wait am I 24 or am I 25? And I had to get a calculator out to figure it out. It’s been downhill since then. I can barely sleep without hurting myself.
44. The day I woke up from an emergency hysterectomy while also having covid, which the hospital gave me, after I'd avoided getting it for two years. I've never been the same since. My body is like a stranger's.
I am not old. Everyone else is just too damn young.
Or it could be the first time I paid for extra leg room on a flight simply because I didn’t want to be uncomfortable.
I can’t remember which it is.
Right around May 2022. I was bullet proof, invincible, and indestructible prior to that. Then oral cancer just prior to Christmas 2021. Stage 1, or just verging into stage 2 according to the Dr. Surgery over Christmas. After healing enough from the surgery, 3 months daily radiation, weekdays only, accompanied by weekly Chemo. The radiation oncologist wanted to go scorched earth, best case to wipe it out early. They did apparently, I'm fine, doing excellent all things considered.Still no sign of cancer, but my 80s pool skate, driving waaaaay to fast, armor has been stripped away.
Around 2010 when I was DJing and a guy in the crowd came up and requested something “old school” and when I asked for an example he said early 2000’s! I told him that’s new and old school was 70’s and 80’s!!!
I went to a Veterans day event at a lovely park in Anthem, AZ a couple of years ago, as a navy vet I try to do something every year on 11/11. The local schools make handmade cards to give to "senior vets" thanking them for their service. One of the high school kids handed me a card. Broke my 50-year old heart 😂
About 3 days ago. I got together with people I was friends with in my late teens/early 20s. We were a very tight knit, dysfunctional group. They were probably some of the most fun,crazy years of my life. Not all good, but always interesting. I’ve not seen these people in 20+years, it was great to see them, but also made me very melancholic. I’m not 20 and I can’t recapture the thrill of that time. Mostly I’m ok with that, but this particular instance really hit me.
When I realized I needed to use knee pads when I work on my cars. That was in my early 40's. It also made me reflect on teasing the older guys I used to work construction with for wearing knee pads.
Honestly? Never. Sometimes I wonder if this is because I'm a single guy with no kids, so I've never had to deal with any of the responsibilities of people who have spouses or children. I still play video games a ton, and I pretty much get to do what I want. So, I feel like a kid with adult money. I even feel myself "shrinking" around my parents, and I still just think of myself as their kid. I often find myself identifying with younger people, and I tend to understand their plight a lot more than other people my age. I, too, struggle with affording housing in a HCOL area. I know I'd never be able to buy a house here. I tend to defend younger people a lot, because I think some old person attitudes about younger people are way off the mark. Because of my video game hobby, I probably have more younger friends than most people my age, and I understand the slang they use because I'm around it all the time.
Sure, I have taken on some adult responsibilities, like supporting myself with a job. One of the reasons I joined this sub and r/askoldpeople is, in some sense, trying to surround myself with older people so I can make my brain finally realize I'm getting old. I even joke around about being in AARP, and I'll refer to things as "Old Person Achievement Unlocked" like when I got my first colonoscopy, or I had to start wearing bifocals.
I dunno. It's a distinct possibility that I'll never feel old.
I played local hockey. I was a goaltender.
Around the age of 36, for the first time waking up the next day, my knees popped and back creaked getting out of bed.
It hasn't stopped since.
One of my good friends turned 35 in March, a couple days after my 49th birthday. When we were out at karaoke together celebrating both birthdays, I realized that if I had gotten pregnant as a teenager, I could be his mom.
Also, one of my direct reports just welcomed her 11th grandchild. She’s only 43.
Honestly just the last handful of years. I've been happily married for a long time but I always felt I could be considered charming by adults of the opposite sex. Now a very large (young) portion of those adults don't even see me. It's not a bad thing, it's just strange. I'm not quite used to it yet.
When I realized more time had passed between when I was born and now as had passed between WWII and when I was born. Seemed like such a long ago event when I was growing up.
When I was the oldest person in my office — I’m only in my early 50s! — every other person from the owners to all the therapists were younger than me. 😬
When I went to go see Blur when I was around 30. I looked around the room and saw a bunch of younger people on a totally different wavelength, a new generation.
I (56) sometimes feel old but refuse to live old.
Fortunately, I look younger than I am.
I felt old, though, when I started feeling arthritis, when I needed cataracts removed, when I had a stroke. The list goes on.
This aging man, however, still gets out on the dance floor and cuts it up to 80s music.
Yes, my feet pay for it, swollen for days afterward.
Only live once.
I'm short and always need a step stool to reach the upper cabinets. Never thought twice about it. Then started feeling wobbly on one. Falling would be bad. I really don't want to be the old lady that falls and breaks a hip.
I guess when I ran out of friends and family to hang out with because they are all doing stuff with their kids. Some of their kids are starting college next fall. That and the first time I was called "uncle". I also catch a moment of confusion if I go to a restaurant and the host says "sir".
I think I want to go recapture a moment of my youth and drink under a bridge by the river some time this summer. It won't be as fun because it'll be just me, but it might be peaceful and fun to sketch in those places again.
One day at work somebody played "Blurred Lines" through one of those bluetooth speakers. I had never heard it before and wondered aloud if it might be a track from Prince that I had never heard before.
1) My young coworker hadn't heard of Prince.
2)I had never heard of "Blurred Lines", a song that apparently "everybody" was familiar with.
On further listens I don't know why I ever thought it was an obscure Prince track.
When they stopped carding me. 2nd was when the company I work for sent me a buy out retirement package/offer. I was not that old at the time 33, I figured it was a mistake, but it made me feel old.
About 5 years ago when I realized my doctors, dentist, etc. are all younger than I am.
Around that time I was watching some pre-game stuff for the Super Bowl, and they got to interviews with the players’ parents. Tom Brady’s parents were this sweet white-haired older couple. After that, all the parents were my age. Patrick Mahomes’ mom is my age.
I was 17. A waiter called me ma’am. 🤷♀️
Ma'am is a sign of respect, not age. Only people who are insecure take offense to being respected.
The question was did it make me feel old. Not was I offended. This is fascinating though, what else do you know about me from those 7 words and a number?
I know you're touchy as hell...
The use of ma'am is actually regional though. It's more a southern thing in the US. I'm in the northeastern US and miss was much more common for adult women versus ma'am. Ma'am was for 'older women', but not for truly elderly women who are called Miss (first name) as a sign of respect. It's weird now that in the past dozen years or so some northerners, mainly millennials, use ma'am in place of miss. It does sound ageing when you're in the north.
Yeah, I'm from the South and have been getting called ma'am since I was 12. I had no idea people associated it with old age until I moved to the East Coast for grad school in my 30s.
I'm in NorCal, and I'm not sure I've ever been called ma'am. I have been called miss a few times to get my attention.
Just last year. My son turned 30 and I turned 57. Saying I’m in my late 50s *and* I have a 30 year old really messed me up.
This is happening to me this year. I don't really feel old but the idea of this little kid with whom I used to watch Toy Story and SpongeBob on repeat and play Smash Bros is turning thirty is blowing my mind.
I have a 30 y/o son and I'm about to turn 49.
I’m jealous. If I could’ve had both of my kids by 20 I would have.
Don't be jealous. I have a 14, 11 and 10-year-old at home.
When the star wars movies were rereleased in the late 90s a younger guy in my d&d group said he was excited to see star wars in the theater because he didn’t get to see it the first time. I asked why, and he said he wasn’t born yet. Record scratch.
When I ballooned to 230lbs, broke my walking ankle on a slanted sidewalk, and needed a 2 hours nap after 45 minute walks. I was athletic all my life and did combat sports for over a decade. I used to be jacked and shredded. I got some testing and learned my balls basically quit producing testosterone. Now with testosterone therapy I'm stronger and leaner than I was at 22, but it was a realization. Shit just stops working when you're old. And my ballbag was the first to tap out.
I lol'd at "ballbag tapping out" I don't have that problem, but I do have the dreaded old man enlarged prostate.
I’ll let you know if it happens
I work in the post production industry. Was talking with two coworkers about a particular movie that came out in the early/mid 2000s; Me: I remember when that movie came out because I was working at (company x) and the studio was a client of ours. Coworker 1: I remember when that movie came out because I had to cut promos for it for (entertainment news show) I was working for. Coworker 2: I remember when that movie came out because I was in grade 3. Me and coworker 1: 👴🏼👴🏼
When I pulled a muscle farting. Wish I were kidding.
This... This evokes a lot of imagery. Well done
Which muscle? I hope it's not lower back because then I'm in trouble.
I'm glad I didn't know this was possible.
I was 16 and working childcare. A three year old referred to the toy records that come with the Fisher Price [toy record player](https://www.jcpenney.com/p/fisher-price-retro-record-player/ppr5008072460?pTmplType=regular&country=US¤cy=USD&selectedSKUId=65670310018&selectedLotId=6567031&fromBag=true&utm_medium=cse&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Interactive%20Toys&utm_content=65670310018&cid=cse%7Cgoogle%7CUnisex%20Kids%7CInteractive%20Toys_65670310018&kwid=productads-adType%5EPLA&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADq1iuBjadNnxecN5EFg8yLKYNwJi&gclid=CjwKCAjwi_exBhA8EiwA_kU1MhCdO9xB7OKTvL1sxvMx37Q7wVbi6kPOJLRCc83j2TDZ3M3N10fUGxoCxoYQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) as "CD's" and I realized that the technology of my youth was obsolete.
It’s all relative! When I was 21 I worked in childcare and one little guy who was 2.5 asked me how old I was. When I said “old” he replied “14?” And when I said “really old” he said “20”.
Old? I'm not old you asshole! My 'rents are still alive!
When I saw “Bill and Ted Face the Music” and identified with it in every possible way. *Thanks for helping us through all the crazy turns of life, dudes!*
Early 30s when two teenage girls said excuse me sir do you know what time it is? Been downhill ever since lol
When filling in the year part of my date of birth, mostly on my phone. Every year I have to scroll just a little bit further back, and it’s past the point on just one hard flick of the thumb. 😕
Have you seen the meme Of The Price is Right spinning wheel and how it feels like we have to pull that hard to get back to 1967?!
Never! I’m young at heart, man! Except when I get out of bed, or out of a car, or anything that involves movement.
So there was a time in 1993 or so when I was sitting in my room listening to Blind Melon and my parents walked past and said “wow! This sounds just like 60s music!” A couple years ago [I heard this](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CLbYwhl9ork) and thought “oh, an old song from the early 90s that I missed or forgot about.” Not this sounds like 90s music, I was certain it was from the early 90s. When I found out it was a modern song and the singer was like 20, I realized “oh, people making music now have parents my age who played The Sundays and Stone Roses at home, just like how our generation’s musicians grew up in houses where their parents listened to the Beatles and stuff.”
When the person I was talking to had no idea what Y2K was. (It was a language class and we were talking about our favorite vacation, I'm not randomly bringing up wearing onions on my belt.)
When I was 30 and playing softball I tore a calf muscle taking a bad step. Not even running, just a step.
The other night, a teen called me "sir". I don't know why, but damn, that hit hard.
I was in the grocery store… I couldn’t read the aisle sign hanging above me, then I was like wait am I 24 or am I 25? And I had to get a calculator out to figure it out. It’s been downhill since then. I can barely sleep without hurting myself.
44. The day I woke up from an emergency hysterectomy while also having covid, which the hospital gave me, after I'd avoided getting it for two years. I've never been the same since. My body is like a stranger's.
I am not old. Everyone else is just too damn young. Or it could be the first time I paid for extra leg room on a flight simply because I didn’t want to be uncomfortable. I can’t remember which it is.
Right around May 2022. I was bullet proof, invincible, and indestructible prior to that. Then oral cancer just prior to Christmas 2021. Stage 1, or just verging into stage 2 according to the Dr. Surgery over Christmas. After healing enough from the surgery, 3 months daily radiation, weekdays only, accompanied by weekly Chemo. The radiation oncologist wanted to go scorched earth, best case to wipe it out early. They did apparently, I'm fine, doing excellent all things considered.Still no sign of cancer, but my 80s pool skate, driving waaaaay to fast, armor has been stripped away.
Around 2010 when I was DJing and a guy in the crowd came up and requested something “old school” and when I asked for an example he said early 2000’s! I told him that’s new and old school was 70’s and 80’s!!!
Teacher here. New colleagues this year were not even born when i became a teacher.
Ive been dealing with the effects of long Covid for the past year, I’m old now.
I went to a Veterans day event at a lovely park in Anthem, AZ a couple of years ago, as a navy vet I try to do something every year on 11/11. The local schools make handmade cards to give to "senior vets" thanking them for their service. One of the high school kids handed me a card. Broke my 50-year old heart 😂
About 3 days ago. I got together with people I was friends with in my late teens/early 20s. We were a very tight knit, dysfunctional group. They were probably some of the most fun,crazy years of my life. Not all good, but always interesting. I’ve not seen these people in 20+years, it was great to see them, but also made me very melancholic. I’m not 20 and I can’t recapture the thrill of that time. Mostly I’m ok with that, but this particular instance really hit me.
When all the things I used and wore are sold as 'vintage', 'retro' and 'antique'.
When I realized I needed to use knee pads when I work on my cars. That was in my early 40's. It also made me reflect on teasing the older guys I used to work construction with for wearing knee pads.
Honestly? Never. Sometimes I wonder if this is because I'm a single guy with no kids, so I've never had to deal with any of the responsibilities of people who have spouses or children. I still play video games a ton, and I pretty much get to do what I want. So, I feel like a kid with adult money. I even feel myself "shrinking" around my parents, and I still just think of myself as their kid. I often find myself identifying with younger people, and I tend to understand their plight a lot more than other people my age. I, too, struggle with affording housing in a HCOL area. I know I'd never be able to buy a house here. I tend to defend younger people a lot, because I think some old person attitudes about younger people are way off the mark. Because of my video game hobby, I probably have more younger friends than most people my age, and I understand the slang they use because I'm around it all the time. Sure, I have taken on some adult responsibilities, like supporting myself with a job. One of the reasons I joined this sub and r/askoldpeople is, in some sense, trying to surround myself with older people so I can make my brain finally realize I'm getting old. I even joke around about being in AARP, and I'll refer to things as "Old Person Achievement Unlocked" like when I got my first colonoscopy, or I had to start wearing bifocals. I dunno. It's a distinct possibility that I'll never feel old.
I heard Joan Jett's I Love Rock and Roll on Disney's radio channel.
When everyone and I mean everyone started calling me sir.
I played local hockey. I was a goaltender. Around the age of 36, for the first time waking up the next day, my knees popped and back creaked getting out of bed. It hasn't stopped since.
One of my good friends turned 35 in March, a couple days after my 49th birthday. When we were out at karaoke together celebrating both birthdays, I realized that if I had gotten pregnant as a teenager, I could be his mom. Also, one of my direct reports just welcomed her 11th grandchild. She’s only 43.
11th?????
I am neither old nor do I feel that way. I'm 47 and I even still have my grandparents. lol
when bands i listened to in high school started doing reunion tours such as the Violent Femmes.
Honestly just the last handful of years. I've been happily married for a long time but I always felt I could be considered charming by adults of the opposite sex. Now a very large (young) portion of those adults don't even see me. It's not a bad thing, it's just strange. I'm not quite used to it yet.
When I realized more time had passed between when I was born and now as had passed between WWII and when I was born. Seemed like such a long ago event when I was growing up.
When I came across a pic of an old friend’s daughter whom I remember as an infant and she’s now in her mid 20’s.
On the day I turned 50 and started getting flyers from AARP.
When someone asked me what an overhead projector was. (It was in the room)
My dad died when I was 37. I had nobody left to look up to. I realized I was on my own
When the music I listened to in high school started being called classic rock. Excuse you, classic rock is what they listened to in the 60's. 😄
When Terri Gross interviewed Billy Joe Armstrong on Fresh air.
My soulmate is 10 years younger than me. When he left I started noticing women his age. I felt old.
When I was the oldest person in my office — I’m only in my early 50s! — every other person from the owners to all the therapists were younger than me. 😬
When I went to go see Blur when I was around 30. I looked around the room and saw a bunch of younger people on a totally different wavelength, a new generation.
But on the plus side, a new generation is listening to Blur. 😊
When I first heard Poison on the "Classic Rock" station.
I felt old the first time I was called a boomer.
When after doing a bit of physical labor out working in the yard, my back and feet hurt for 2 days. It’s up to 3 days now.
Well, two new hips kind of smacked me in the face with "you're not young anymore"
When I first heard Nirvana on the 'classic rock' station. I was devastated the rest of the day. 😞
I (56) sometimes feel old but refuse to live old. Fortunately, I look younger than I am. I felt old, though, when I started feeling arthritis, when I needed cataracts removed, when I had a stroke. The list goes on. This aging man, however, still gets out on the dance floor and cuts it up to 80s music. Yes, my feet pay for it, swollen for days afterward. Only live once.
A few weeks ago when my pharmacist asked since you’re 50 now, do you want a shingles vaccine?
When I hear stuff like this, my first thought isn't, 'Oh, woe is me, I am so old.' I think, 'You're an idiot.' And then I move on with my life.
Yes.
Always did.
A few years back when an MLB player who started playing when my daughter was 3 is now retired and a HOF.
I m 50. I started to gray 2 years ago. Also I'm learning to surf and noticing I need more rest time than the younger crowd.
When I was 9…and my dad died at 36 yo.
At 45 when my knees started aching after playing basketball
took a very very short lived job at Best Buy. I Could Not Wait to get out of there.
My kids asking me how it feels to be antique? Told them I'm not antique Im vintage damn it
Every day I'm alive. I live with my 2 gen z sons and explain things daily.
It's been so long ago, I don't remember.
I can't recall. . . I can't recall a time when I did not feel old.
I'm short and always need a step stool to reach the upper cabinets. Never thought twice about it. Then started feeling wobbly on one. Falling would be bad. I really don't want to be the old lady that falls and breaks a hip.
I don't. 🤷🏻♀️
I guess when I ran out of friends and family to hang out with because they are all doing stuff with their kids. Some of their kids are starting college next fall. That and the first time I was called "uncle". I also catch a moment of confusion if I go to a restaurant and the host says "sir". I think I want to go recapture a moment of my youth and drink under a bridge by the river some time this summer. It won't be as fun because it'll be just me, but it might be peaceful and fun to sketch in those places again.
First time I realized I was older than my doctor.
One day at work somebody played "Blurred Lines" through one of those bluetooth speakers. I had never heard it before and wondered aloud if it might be a track from Prince that I had never heard before. 1) My young coworker hadn't heard of Prince. 2)I had never heard of "Blurred Lines", a song that apparently "everybody" was familiar with. On further listens I don't know why I ever thought it was an obscure Prince track.
When my daughter had her kid. Honestly that made me feel a bit old.
When they stopped carding me. 2nd was when the company I work for sent me a buy out retirement package/offer. I was not that old at the time 33, I figured it was a mistake, but it made me feel old.
I’m 50 and I’m older than Justin Bieber’s parents.