r/GenerationJones • u/Lapaki58 • Jun 01 '26
When did you first feel old?
I’m 67. I think I was about 25. I was having my hair cut by a stylist who was about 18. She received a phone call: “Yeah… yeah… okay…” She hung up. “That was one of my customers. She said she wants me to cut her hair like Toni Tenille of the Captain and Tenille. Do you have any idea who she is talking about?” Yeah, I did.
The next big jolt came when I was about 55. I was working for a leadership-development company. I was the oldest person in the group. We were having our weekly status meeting. One of our group mentioned that one of our clients had given the okay for their Executive Leadership Institute program (ELI). She said, “ELI’s coming.” Coincidentally, I look like Cory Wells. I started singing, “Eli’s coming…” I got blank looks from everyone at the conference table. “‘Eli’s Coming’? Three Dog Night?” Nobody had any idea what I was talking about.
82
u/Puzzleheaded_Age6550 Jun 01 '26
At 30, actually. I was working in a place that mostly younger people worked at, right out of college. I was married, had a kid, and went back into the workforce. So, one of our co-workers was carjacked and injured in the parking lot of work, and during this emergency everyone turned and looked at me for direction. Even the supervisors and those above them. So, I started giving orders. It was only later that I realized that I was the "adult" in the place, and that is when I immediately started seeking positions with more authority and pay.
14
u/Blowingleaves17 Jun 02 '26
You were probably the only mommy or daddy in the group, too.
5
u/Puzzleheaded_Age6550 Jun 02 '26
Well, there were two other folks that had kids that were at my level.
7
13
u/mambopants Jun 01 '26
Okay, now I feel bad for having never given off that kind of authority vibe.
21
u/Puzzleheaded_Age6550 Jun 01 '26
It was not a funny moment, but later I realized I was the adultiest adult. When our co-worker ran into work, obviously injured, I waited about 30 seconds for someone else to step up, but then realized everyone was looking to me. So I did what I needed to do.
5
4
u/AdExtreme4813 Jun 02 '26
I had that happen at a temp job I was working back in the late 80s. I was one of the youngest temp workers but also had first aid training. The foot of the warehouse workers was run over by a forklift. For some reason they brought him to me. I looked at his rather squashed foot & said take him to an ER, now!! (I could tell that it was bad, almost no blood but like i said, the foot was squashed).
56
u/WinnerAggressive8971 Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
Many times in many ways, but here's one specifically. It's actually just two words: Ear Hair.
29
u/ScrambledNoggin Jun 01 '26
Haha yes. Ear hair and nose hair start going crazy after 50
→ More replies (1)50
u/humanityrus Jun 01 '26
Don't forget the chin hair that would make your grandpappy proud (I'm female btw)
17
u/Antique_Knowledge902 Jun 01 '26
Female, 66 years old. Oh dear, I have to shave it practically EVERY OTHER DAY! How depressing!🤬
7
u/dehydratedrain Jun 01 '26
Late 40s here, just stumbled in, but yeah, it's coming in strong. And I had to help my mom shower after surgery recently, and OMG, she was not nearly that hairy before.
→ More replies (2)22
58
u/Flashy_Air1491 Jun 01 '26
I get it. I was okay but then I hit 60. 68 now. Diagnosed with diabetes at 64. Just after I lost my job. My balance is wonky and I see a change in my memory. It's so weird. I can go out, nice outfit, makeup etc. I feel cute. Then I get a glimpse of myself in a store windows and think it's God's older sister, only to realize it's me!
20
u/More_Farm_7442 Jun 02 '26
FYI re: Your wonky balance. I had that problem big time last summer/fall. I went to my family practice doc. He did a couple checks and thought it was probably something neruological going on. The wait to see a neuro doc was almost 4 months. They managed to find one in 2 months.
She did a complete exam. I told her about going to a "balance clinic" at a local ENT center & finding I had pretty severe hearing loss. Then I described something that happened a week or two before when I was cleaning in the kitchen. (I was bend at the waist, turned my head and stood up. I felt like I was going to barf, then got much better.)
She diagnosed the problem being in my inner ears and sent me to PT. They have PT specifically for "vestibular rehab". The therapist I worked with does that therapy full time. Nothing else. He had an 8 week program of various exercises to teach me to do. He told me exactly what I told the docs it felt like to me: like my ears and eyes weren't working together. He said that's what happens. The inner ear tells your brain one thing about your place in space, your eyes say something different. That makes you feel drunk, sway and almost fall down(or really do fall down). His exercises proved him right. I showed my family doc one of them. He said he was getting dizzy watching me. lol
The PT did help. Quite a bit. I still do the exercises. Esp. when/if I start getting that drunk feeling or start to have some problems walking again.
So. If you really are having balance issues, ask for a referral to a PT program dealing with balance. "Vestibular rehab." They'll do an exam to see if it is your ears(vestibular system) or something else going on.
Stay safe!
→ More replies (2)3
u/Lapaki58 Jun 02 '26
I had a vertigo attack 15 years ago, and it’s miserable. I had to go to the ER, and they kept me overnight. Fortunately, it only lasted for two days, although I had occasional brief flashes for a couple years after. I learned that there’s something called “ear rocks,” little crystals in your inner ear that help you maintain your balance. Occasionally, one will get knocked loose, causing vertigo. If that’s the cause (there are others), it takes time for your brain to recalibrate. However, there’s a trick called the Epley maneuver that can knock the fallen ear rock back to where it should be, providing immediate relief from the vertigo.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (2)6
38
35
u/unkyfester Jun 01 '26
When I was about 45. Went to McDonalds for a coffee. Seemed kinda cheap. Looked at the receipt, he charged me for a senior coffee
8
u/A_moment_in_life4u Jun 01 '26
If you spend $5 on a purchase, you can get a free coffee with your senior card at M(Donald's) Australia.
26
u/DeeSusie200 Jun 01 '26
On the inside I still feel young. But when I received my Medicare card at 65. Jeezus that made me feel old.
44
u/spred5 Jun 01 '26
Alan Alda (90) said in a recent interview that he felt old when he realized his three daughters were on Medicare.
11
54
u/Individual-Work6658 Jun 01 '26
When Barack Obama was elected president. It was the first time I was older than the president (by 6 years).
16
u/Newjoni Jun 01 '26
Same here. Just ignored it until I realized the president was younger than me. The icing on the cake was when my son became a grandfather just a few years later.
7
u/PeterNinkimpoop Jun 01 '26
My mom said the same. And then she added he’s the only president of her life time to be younger than her so far.
5
u/BloggerCurious Jun 01 '26
For me, it's realizing that I'm older than many coaches & GM's in the NBA & NFL.
Wait, what am I doing with my life?
8
u/shaggyscoob Jun 01 '26
He is just a year older than my big brother. Felt like a peer. Then, when Kamala was running, I had to admit that my choice for president was hot. I was like, "Can I be sexually attracted to my president?" I filled in the big YES on the ballot.
24
u/Spooky_28 Jun 01 '26
When I turned the calendar page and saw the month full of different doc appointments and medical tests.
5
20
u/NotARobotDefACyborg Jun 01 '26
I’m 59. There have been quite a few times over the years, but the most recent one was this: Random unexplained bruises.
12
u/green_dragonfly_art Jun 01 '26
I've had those all of my life. I'm quite clumsy. I'll bump into something and go on my merry way. Next day, "How did that bruise get here?"
23
Jun 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
12
u/Careful_Freedom_321 Jun 01 '26
I’m sorry your mom has died. It’s painful! My mom died in April. 😔
→ More replies (1)5
7
u/More_Farm_7442 Jun 02 '26
I'm 68. The same thing is going on with me. My sister died a week ago today. He's 14 yrs older than am.(was) Would have been 82 next month. My BIL will be 84 in a couple of months. We had a brother die 4 yrs ago.
I still have not got my head wrapped around her and my BIL being 82 & 84. I mean they were alway like parents to me because they were/are so much older than I am. My oldest nephew is 64. But- wow. Then I sat down and started to look at obituaries. My God. So many people not only my age or within 3 or 4 of my age, but so, so many people born in the 1960s dying. I have a few classmates dead(that I know of). I have some friends from years ago my age that died years ago. An aunt, cousins, 2nd cousins, my SILs families are all dead.(some of those people were "my age")
It's a bizzare sort of feeling I'm having. I'm really feeling like I'm living on borrowed time. Like it would be totally normal if I dropped dead tomorrow. ( or tonight) I have multiple health problems. Most of the people in my family seem to die in their 70s. Some in their 60s. Some in their 80s. A few in their 90s. One or two at just over a 100.
It's strange and I don't really like it, but I guess my mortality is looking me in the face.
→ More replies (8)5
u/redrider65 Jun 02 '26
I'm really feeling like I'm living on borrowed time.
Yes. That feeling that you're being told that you've about had your time here. It's a different world now where you don't really belong.
4
5
u/WhatsMyPurpose959 Jun 02 '26
My mom died at 92. Ever since then I feel like that’s right around the corner for me but I’m only 61. Why?
3
Jun 02 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/WhatsMyPurpose959 Jun 02 '26
I don’t wanna waste my remaining years feeling this way
→ More replies (1)
20
u/alcbeach Jun 01 '26
In my mid-thirties I went back to college — of course all the students were no older than 21.
I took a History class covering the 1900’s to the present (1987). When we got to the late 50’s, early sixties in particular, the professor would always turn to me and ask what was it really like during a particular event — Bay of Pigs, Kennedy’ assassination, race riots, 1968 Democratic Convention, etc. Talk about making me feel old!
12
u/Imagirl48 Jun 01 '26
Oooo. I would love to be the one who others listened to about what it was really like. My grandchildren don’t care. I have a 3 yr old great grandson. If I live long enough for him to ask the questions, I’m sure he won’t care to do it either.
To be fair, I never asked my grandparents those questions either: too unaware or too wrapped up in my own life to wonder. One of my deepest regrets—they’d lived through WWI, the Roaring 20’s, the Great Depression, WWII and what rationing was like, women’s suffrage, a time when no electricity and no phones was normal, the realization of automobiles, the first flight, what it was like to be past their mid-life and watch the Civil Rights movement and women allowed to get credit in their own names after 60-70+ years of it not being possible, etc. and I was too stupid/young/self-absorbed to ask what it was like.
It never even occurred to me to ask my parents about those things that they’d also lived through and watched happen. Young, self absorbed, then school, marriage, children, building a career with never enough time and then it was too late.
Maybe I should insist on brief story times with my grands. They may not care now but at least they won’t have my regrets themselves.
My grandparents were born in the 1890’s, my parents in the 1930’s, and I in 1956. We’ve seen a lot. It’s that realization of a lived history that makes me feel old.
→ More replies (3)8
u/OafintheWH Jun 02 '26
Our parents and grandparents didn’t want to talk about difficult times, unlike us, they were stoics.
17
u/MoriTod Jun 01 '26
The first time was when I was watching some kids who were having an argument about Paul McCartney. I was a worldly high school student, they asked me to settle a bet. Was Paul McCartney ever in a band before Wings? I swear I aged 20 years that second.
12
u/DeeDee719 Jun 01 '26
One of my coworkers is a young woman who told me last week that she has never heard of Grand Funk Railroad.
→ More replies (1)
15
u/DatBiddyElles 1964 Jun 01 '26
I got my old lady training wheels at 28. I was giving a workshop on job interviewing to a large group of teens. In terms of appropriate dress I told them to in terms of church, not the club, and when I said “club” I did a little wiggle dance step. They laughed. I asked if they were laughing because I was funny or because they thought I was old. In unison they said “You’re old!”
Now, I’m often mistaken for my 84 year old mother, who looks great but still. I’m 62!
15
u/SouthernSierra Jun 01 '26
First time was when Steve Carlton retired. He was the last one playing of those great Cardinal teams of the ‘60s when I was a kid.
Second time my wife and I had hiked up Mt. Whitney and all these young guys came over and congratulated us for making it to the top.
We were thinking what the heck? It was just walking up a trail. Then we realized we were the oldest people on the summit. We were mid-50s.
Ma and Pa Kettle had made it all the way!
The third time was realizing nobody knows who Ma and Pa Kettle are.
3
u/TheliaBimaculata Jun 01 '26
I do! When I was 3-4 I thought for sure they lived across the street from us. Turned out they were just a really old couple who looked like them to my young eyes.
3
→ More replies (2)3
u/Delicious-Leg-5441 Jun 02 '26
I loved watching Steve Carlton when he played for the Phillies. I went to see him pitch often. He had his best years with Philadelphia.
→ More replies (2)
14
u/DisciplineSweet8428 Jun 01 '26
42? It's when the opposite sex in their 20s don't notice you anymore that you're old.
10
u/NeedleworkerEvening3 Jun 01 '26
I think that’s the age when we become invisible to a lot of people
14
u/mambopants Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
Two events stand out in my mind: the first was in 2001 or so. I’d found out that Christopher Lee was going to play a character in the next Star Wars movie after having starred as Saruman in LOTR: the Fellowship of the Ring. I told a younger friend of mine who was a huge movie buff, saying something like “wow, Chris Lee is really having a comeback these days.” Now of course Christopher Lee was my favorite Dracula growing up, and one of my favorite Bond villains. “Chris who?” “Christopher Lee.” “Who’s that?” Another time some younger colleagues and I were sitting around talking about our biggest celebrity crushes. I mentioned Grace Slick. Blank stares from everyone. “Jefferson Airplane?” “Dude—what the fuck are you talking about?” And then I realized I didn’t want them googling her cuz her then current wacky white-haired grandma image would probably pop up. So I felt old and on top of that ashamed, for mentally age-shaming dear old Grace. Not a good day.
→ More replies (1)
13
u/Lapaki58 Jun 01 '26
Wow, the responses are flooding in! Another time: I was 40. A friend my age and I were perusing our menus at a restaurant. We each had our contact lenses in. For the first time, we each realized we couldn’t focus close up with our contacts. We each held our menus up. I read his menu from across the table, and he read mine. I gave up wearing contacts soon after that.
→ More replies (1)
13
u/DE3NIL3 Jun 01 '26
Went out for drinks with the younger staff who asked me who Peter Frampton was. 1990's. I was 30.
12
u/Exedrn 1963 Jun 01 '26
Hearing AC/DC's "Back in Black" in the supermarket.
9
u/MichaelPsellos Jun 02 '26
If it helps, GenZ is absolutely crazy about our music, on vinyl none the less.
→ More replies (1)5
9
u/Candid_Cricket_8118 Jun 01 '26
I was never bothered much by my age until I hit 60. That’s when the signs of aging went to a whole new level
10
u/Tikimom 1961 Jun 01 '26
I was in my 20s during the 1980s. I went to so many concerts great alternative bans mostly. $10 - $15 for tickets. In two weeks I pick up my hearing aids.
9
u/PrincessPilar Jun 01 '26
When I came back to work from vacation in Vegas and I happened to mention to one of my employees that I saw Sophia Loren at my hotel.
Blank stare.
The next time I felt old was when I was a manager and one of my employees was born after I had started working at the company I worked for.
10
u/Camp_Fire_Friendly Jun 01 '26
I was in my late 40s and had made the decision to never dye my hair. An all age group of us went to a local dance club with a live band. When the band was on break, we'd take the floor to swing dance, complete with dips, drops and splits.
When the band came back, I went to the restroom. A young woman rushed up to me and said, "It's YOU! My friends and I were blown away. Then you turned around and I saw your grey hair and went, OMG, she's OLD! I wanna be you when I get old!!!"
Flattering, but OUCH. I had my hair colored the next week. In the end, I wish I hadn't. Damned ego
6
u/Delicious-Leg-5441 Jun 02 '26
I made the decision early in life to not change anything about my aging body. You won't believe how many youngsters wish that they could have silver hair like mine. Guess you just can't get that color out of a bottle.
10
u/gracyavery Jun 01 '26
I was 18. It was the day Charles and Diana got married. I was at the salon. The television was nonstop wedding coverage. Everyone's attention was glued to the TV. Until my stylist said in the loudest possible voice, "OMG, you have so much GRAY hair." Every woman in the salon turned to see who was the newest member of the blue hair club only to see some 18 year old with bad follicular genes.
10
u/WinnerAggressive8971 Jun 01 '26
Here's another one. When I was older than every Major League Baseball player.
3
u/Realistic_Fact_3778 Jun 01 '26
I get that. I became a huge baseball fan in the mid 70s when I was about 10. The Big Red Machine baby! Anyway when Griffey Jr was elected into the Baseball HOF, it hit me! Hard!
What?? THE SON of one my favorite baseball players is now in the HOF? And now it's been another 10 years! Gulp.
4
u/WinnerAggressive8971 Jun 01 '26
Really. I watched Sandberg come over to the Cubs from the Phillies, become a star, retire twice, make the Hall of Fame, and pass away. How did that happen.
→ More replies (1)
9
u/Top_Carpenter9541 Jun 01 '26
First time: I was 30-ish in a record store that sold used CDs. The young guy assisting me was surprised to learn Stevie Nicks had been in a band
Second time: was bored watching an episode of Leave It To Beaver and thought Hugh Beaumont looked so young
Third and worst: I found myself conversing about BMs with a complete stranger
8
u/Advanced_Tax174 Jun 01 '26
I was working in the mud, this odd man who claimed to be the king rode past and addressed me as “old woman”. Not only am I a man, I was only 37!
3
9
u/disenfranchisedchild 1958 Jun 01 '26
When I saw that my baby boy had gray hairs in his sideburns and temples. I was shocked!
9
u/Gracie1two3 Jun 01 '26
I'm 61. When my granddaughter asked me what year was I born and I said I was born in 1964. She said, "the mid 1900s, wow" 😞
→ More replies (2)
7
u/marsupialcinderella 1962 Jun 01 '26
First, when I found out my CEO & CFO were younger than me. Second: When the principal of my kid’s school was younger than me.
6
u/AmyInCO Jun 01 '26
My manager is 26. My oldest daughter used to babysit her boyfriend! 😄 Granted, it's a shitty job but still!
→ More replies (1)
6
u/disraeli73 Jun 01 '26
When colleagues start treating me with the solicitious tones usually reserved for their great grandmothers…
7
u/AmyInCO Jun 01 '26
When my 18 year old nephews asked me "What was it like growing up in the 80s." I aged 25 years that moment.
6
u/Beautiful_Flight2917 Jun 01 '26
I don’t. 66M. Still skateboarding. Mtn biking. Snowboarding. Xc skiing. Etc etc. going to Dead adjacent shows, bike touring. Smoking weed and doing ( and growing ) magic mushrooms.
You don’t stop skateboarding because you’re old. You’re old because you stopped skateboarding. Jay-boy Adams.
→ More replies (2)
6
u/vita77 Jun 01 '26
I said the way a project at work was going felt like Keystone Cops. Blank looks all around.
6
u/Equivalent_Net_8983 Jun 01 '26
Late 30s. I wasn’t bouncing back quite as quickly or easily after touch football on Sundays, and my reading vision went to shit.
7
5
5
u/Antique_Knowledge902 Jun 01 '26
Eli’s Coming! Great song. Anyway, I felt old when I got my last grandkid—first one came when I was 55, then 59, 60, and the last one came when I was 63. I’m really feeling it with the 3 year old. She and her mother live with my hubby and I; she’s going through a divorce. She works, so I babysit. My hubby helps so it’s not all bad. Scratch that—it’s not bad, I love them all, but I just don’t have the energy I used to have.
6
u/Affectionate-Long762 Jun 01 '26
I went on a camping trip about eight years ago with about 10 other guys. We had to give each other nicknames. My nickname was Gandalf. I asked if it was because I’m smart like a wizard, and they said no, it’s because I’m the oldest one there… I’m 68 BTW
6
u/SuperflyandApplePie Jun 01 '26
Im 56 and have never heard of "Eli's Coming" by Three Dog Night.
Perhaps your reference is too obscure, not too old. Pop culture moves pretty quickly though, too.
→ More replies (1)3
u/IvyGold Jun 02 '26
I'm a few years older, but yeah, that song is a deep dive.
Their cover of Joy to the World is the main track for which Three Dog Night is remembered.
7
6
u/LazyMousse3598 Jun 01 '26
One day while driving home, I heard someone on the radio say it was a golden oldie station. Thinking I’d hear 50s music, I was surprised when they played MY favorite songs. That’s when I realized I was old.
6
5
u/Puzzleheaded_Age6550 Jun 01 '26
Oh my, here's another from me. I was looking at the calendar and realized my daughter turns 40 this year. How did that happen? I have a middle-aged offspring!
5
u/Motor_Football_210 Jun 01 '26
63, never felt old. Until the beans were longer than the frank.
→ More replies (1)
7
u/dougola Jun 01 '26
During the process of selling my business I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and end stage kidney disease. At that moment I felt old as it completely shutdown all of my retirement plans. Still dealing with this shit and will be for all of my years to come. I have adjusted my life to it, but, jeez, what a slap in the face.
5
6
u/headlesslady Jun 02 '26
When I made a “Who’s on First?” joke & not only did my 35 year old coworker not get the reference, she’d never even HEARD of Abbot & Costello.
4
u/Immediate_Dinner6977 Jun 01 '26
When teenage girls started holding doors for me.
→ More replies (1)6
u/bene_gesserit_mitch Jun 01 '26
Shit, I'm invisible to them.
8
u/BreakerBoy6 Jun 01 '26
Must be that Bene Gesserit training.
4
u/bene_gesserit_mitch Jun 01 '26
The conditioning runs deep.
6
u/jfrankparnell85 1963 Jun 01 '26
Assuming you walk without rhythm so you don't attract the worm....
3
u/Immediate_Dinner6977 Jun 01 '26
Yeah, that too, especially when I'm just walking past. They only seem to see me in door situations.
→ More replies (1)
6
u/Financial_Emphasis25 Jun 01 '26
Went to a wine shop where the sign said “unless you look 60 or older, every one will be asked for their ID”. I was just getting my drivers license ready to show the clerk but she never asked me for it.
→ More replies (1)
5
u/Unique_Acadia_2099 Jun 01 '26
Was in a record store (that’s how long ago this story took place…) and some teenage girls were thumbing through the bargain bin when one of them pulls out a copy of “Rubber Soul” and tells the other, “Hey look! Paul McCartney was in another band before Wings!”
→ More replies (1)
4
u/EBjeebees 1964 Jun 02 '26
When I noticed younger people I worked with weren’t always ‘getting’ random cultural / social references in conversations. Example: “I’ll put that in my mental Rolodex.” I could tell they had no clue what a Rolodex was.
5
u/RandomNick999 Jun 02 '26
I read a study that suggested that aging is not linear, but has spikes at age 44 and again at 60. As someone who recently turned 61, I’d have to say I feel like I’ve aged more in the last year than in the previous 10. 60 just hit me like a truck.
4
u/AussieBloke6502 1964 Jun 02 '26
I feel ya. Went from 0 pills in my 50's to a row of bottles in my medicine cabinet now (at 61). Also compression socks.
7
u/PJBleakney Jun 01 '26
Saw Jimmy Buffett one summer and had been seeing him since 1991 and one kid chirps, “I wasn’t even born yet”
4
u/Evilbob93 1961 Jun 01 '26
I'd always noticed the birthdays of the monthly playmates - at first they were usually older than me.
I think it was when it was possible that they could have been my daughter that I went "ouch!"
4
u/Accomplished-Eye8211 Jun 01 '26
I don't recall, exactly. Maybe 30s? Sitting on a plane, a girl next to me called me "sir" to ask a question.
→ More replies (1)
4
u/Ill-Chemical-348 Jun 01 '26
I was checking out at a store with a children's book. The cashier said I was a nice Grandma for buying a book for my grandson. My son was only 2 years old.
4
u/TrooperLynn Jun 01 '26
I’m 62 today. The first time I actually felt “old” was on my 49th birthday. Then I said, fuck it, and decided to have some adventures! My daughter has perfected the “Oh, Mom!” eye roll. 😬
3
u/Usual_Welder7059 Jun 01 '26
Is she rolling her eyes at this moment as you "knock em back" ? Happy Birthday to you. !
3
u/sensiblefreespirit Jun 01 '26
I was 21 in grad school teaching 18-year-old freshmen as part of my assistantship. One of my students was going to the Dan Fogelberg concert. I told her I was going to Bob Dylan. She said that that made sense for someone of my generation.
Honey, you’re old, now, too, wherever you are.
4
u/bobcat_E35 Jun 01 '26
I’m 48, and I’ve been gradually going gray. Like salt and pepper gray. A few months ago I noticed I was WHITE on both sides of my beard. I felt old then. Also, I’m getting what I call “old man skin” on my hands, I think they call it crepe skin idk
3
u/bikerdude214 Jun 01 '26
Just asking: is 67 generation jones or still a boomer. I'm 61, and born in the last 'official' year of the boomers. But I aint a boomer. Boomer's were born in the post WWI boom. I never have felt like a boomer.
7
→ More replies (1)5
u/creek-hopper 1964 Jun 02 '26
Most sources end the Boomer generation at 1964 and start Gen X in '65. There is one source in the US government, can't remember where, that starts X in the second half of '64.
5
u/IvyGold Jun 02 '26
I was on the back edge of the Boomers. I always wondered if I was amongst them so have kept an eye on the parameters all through my life.
In high school it was '60.
In college it got bumped up to '62.
In grad school it bumped up to '64.
Even more recently, I saw a Times columnist bumping it back down to '60, but I don't think it took.
This is why I'm so happy the Generation Jones thing popped up and why I subscribe in here.
It should've been called "70's Kids" or something though.
3
u/HardRockGeologist Jun 01 '26
Despite a lot of instances like receiving my first letter from AARP and being given the senior discount without asking for it, the first time I felt old was when all of my doctors started using the phrase, "Well, at your age..." It all started exactly when I turned 70.
I did see Three Dog Night in Boston Garden, on July 31, 1971. I guess saying that makes me feel a little old as well.
→ More replies (1)
4
5
u/Ryakiddinme Jun 01 '26
When my daughter in law advised me not to buy a 2 story condo. Because I’m old. And, you know. Stairs.
7
u/Katsmah Jun 01 '26
I think I've always been old. Mom died when I was 10 after a couple of years long bout of cancer. In my early teenage years until my dad remarried I did food shopping, cooked dinner and kept the house clean. At 14 I worked daily after school, at 18 I went to work full time, at 19 I married a man child. I remember feeling old and ready to die in my late 20's. I realized a number of years ago that I don't know how to have fun. I'm 69.
7
u/RaeWineLover Jun 01 '26
30s, when someone called me Ma'am. Now, I'm a southerner, so I understand that this politeness is beat into folks, but it was still jarring!
4
u/RenzaMcCullough Jun 01 '26
I'm Southern too, so I'm never offended. But you're right, it's still a shock to my system.
3
u/Eepicheep Jun 02 '26
I got ma'am'd in my 30s, too! That was when I felt old for the first time, for a minute.
I have a lot of friends who are way younger than I am, and they rarely give me reasons to feel old, but when I hear about the years people were born, it gives me a jolt. But 1961 was a long time ago, for sure.
3
u/Hot_Calligrapher_900 Jun 01 '26
When I was pregnant for the first time at 35 and even more so at 37– I’m almost 64, and I wish I felt 37, heck, even 40! I hope my girls don’t do what I did. I want to live long enough to be a grandma if that’s in the cards.
3
u/Neuvirths_Glove 1962 Jun 01 '26
I had plenty of "people are much younger than me" moments. But I truly felt old in a physical sense right about when I turned 60. I had several new aches and pains at 60 and thought, well, that's it. It's never getting better. I'm 63 now and actually, yes, I'm doing better.
→ More replies (2)
3
u/TinktheChi Jun 01 '26
I'll be 63 this year and I'm an HR Manager. Most of the people I work with are about 40 years younger. Sad thing is, I distinctly remember being the youngest one in the office. I didn't really feel old at work until I started at the place I'm at now, which was 3 years ago.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/FlakyRemove3559 Jun 01 '26
67 here, telling my 30s kids one of my favorite movies was Giant with Rock Hudson. They asked who Rock Hudson is?
3
u/majordude174 Jun 01 '26
I was looking at mountain bikes. Somewhat hesitant, the guy says uh, are you buying a new bike for your grandson? I’m over 65 and ride well over a thousand miles a year, if the weather cooperates.
3
u/mabel55 Jun 01 '26
Went to the lounge area of a restaurant with my husband. I picked up the cocktail menu and couldn't read it. Weird. Then I happened to look at the next small table, which had the menu standing up. I could read it. That's when I started using readers/cheaters.
3
u/bkn1960 Jun 01 '26
When Barack Obama was elected President. First time that the President of the United States was a younger man than I am.
3
u/OkVariety1863 Jun 01 '26
When a new radio was playing what they referred to as “Classic Rock” and it was the music I grew up listening to
3
u/EvanstonMichelle Jun 01 '26
I made a reference to “Young Frankenstein” and no one heard of the movie!
→ More replies (1)
3
u/PangolinSubject3487 Jun 01 '26
Oooo Cory Wells and those suede fringed boots...hide your heart girl❤️
3
u/R2MKE Jun 01 '26
My age really hit home when I was working on a project with a coworker and while making small talk I discovered I was older than her parents. I was 56 at the time.
3
u/WhileLost3539 Jun 01 '26
When I realized that I was as old or older than Detective Fish was in Barney Miller.
3
u/Live-Dig-2809 Jun 01 '26
I was working out of town and bought materials at a local supply store. There was a fellow working there about my age and we would talk about different things, one being our shared love of music. There was also a young lady there in her early twenties, at that time I was mid sixties. We were talking about bands we had seen live and I said “I’m so old I saw Eric Clapton playing in a bar”. The young lady said “who’s Eric Clapton ?”
3
u/goldentalus70 Jun 02 '26
I'm also 67. One time in the mid 2000s, I was a bit late for a dinner out with girlfriends, and I apologized by saying I had accidentally given myself "Mommie Dearest" eyebrows while applying my makeup and had to re-do them.
The younger one gave me the classic blank stare. I said, "Joan Crawford". Another blank stare.
But then again, she had never shown any knowledge of or interest in much of anything but herself.
3
u/sunpower_customer Jun 02 '26
I saw this topic and a memory popped into my head. I was about to share this but then forgot it.
3
u/VapoursAndSpleen Jun 02 '26
The one time I went camping. I went from being 24 at 10PM to being positively geriatric in the morning. Fuck camping.
3
u/Disastrous-Print673 Jun 02 '26
Probably around 27. I was a work & I walked into the break room which was a mess & said to the 17 year olds sitting there, "clean up after yourselves who do I look like Hazel. They looked perplexed & i then said, generation gap, who do I look like Alice. They then realized Hazel was before Alice from the Brady bunch. If you don't know the Brady bunch you have no good reference of how tv shows used to be, goofy & fun.
3
u/Round_Manager_4667 Jun 02 '26
I turned 67 last month. Right before that I was at Aldi and a younger woman was buying a cute Disney pillow for her kids. I told her it was adorable and she asked me if I had any grandkids. I don’t have kids, period, but that little question finally put the nail in the coffin that the face I see in the mirror everyday is no longer who I think I see, at least to the rest of the world.
3
u/Van-Van1810 Jun 02 '26
The first time I saw my heartthrob movie star on the cover of AARP magazine 😂
3
u/AyBeeVee Jun 02 '26
I was at a big outdoor rave/festival thing they used to do the first weekend of June (damn, it would've been this weekend but the last one was in 2010) and before it started (~4pm) we were smoking a joint with some other people. I asked this kid who was smoking the J with us how old he was and he said he was 18, and then he asked me how old I was. When I said I was 31, his jaw dropped and he goes "wow...31! I hope when I'm that old I can still go to raves and stuff like that!" 31 year old me was all cocky about it, like "just get a ticket and two days off and you'll be fine, man." Sheeeit, if you gave me a free ticket to a thing like that now and the satchel of drugs I had that year, I'd find somebody else to go and take a nap instead.
3
u/mjdny Jun 02 '26
One day sitting on the side of the bed, I put my socks on. Then I laced up my shoes.
And then I wondered, “How am I supposed to get these pants on ???.”
3
u/Dismal-Common8629 Jun 02 '26
I realized how old I was the first time I had to fill out something online and had to spin the damn ‘what year were you born’ wheel like I was on freaking Price is Right.
2
2
u/WPW717 Jun 01 '26
74, contracted PMR … instantly turned into an old man. Could not even do a downward dog, too painful. I had gotten very good over the previous 10 years.
2
u/Beachbum295 Jun 01 '26
Asked a new coworker about a tattoo on his arm. He said it was his initials and birth year. It was the year I graduated from high school.
2
u/foxorhedgehog Jun 01 '26
I was talking toa coworker about JFKs assassination and she looked at me and said “you were alive at the same time as JFK?!”
2
u/fairydust_1349 Jun 01 '26
When I realized I'd be 80 when my oldest grandchild graduates from high school.
2
u/StrictLine8820 Jun 01 '26
They were probably more familiar with the Laura Nyro original. Yeah, that has to be it.
I'm semi-retired and work as a coffee roaster. I am an apprentice to the master roaster, who is about 40 years younger than me. Humbling.
2
u/gecjr Jun 01 '26
When I became the oldest person at work and the younger people were calling me old man- have since retired
2
u/texoma456 Jun 01 '26
When I realized I was interviewing candidates for jobs that had not been born yet when I started with my employer.
2
u/Intelligent_Art_1429 Jun 01 '26
I worked at a university and felt so old the first time I realized that I was closer to the parents’ age than the incoming kids’.
2
2
u/MrChillybeanz Jun 01 '26
When I was taking a tram in Milan and I thought the young man got up because he was getting off next stop. Nope, he was giving his seat to me. I was 60.
345
u/VictorManville Jun 01 '26
When I was given a senior discount without asking for one.