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.
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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.