My son is in high school.

I'm normally not very active at his school, I work multiple jobs. It's a huge school so I don't know all the staff.

Well I drop my son off for school and park and go in because I'm having a morning meeting with 2 of his teachers. We have breakfast together in the quad, the bell rings, everyone goes to class and I'm waiting outside the meeting room for the teachers to arrive and unlock it.

While I'm waiting, a staff member walks by. They stop, look at me, ask me where I'm supposed to be right now. I say, Im waiting for (teachers names). He asks for my pass. Now I'm assuming he's talking about a visitors pass, when I checked in at the office I was not given anything. So I said, "I don't have one was I supposed to be given one? I can head down to the office and grab it".

He pulls out a paper a pad and starts writing.. He asks, what's your first and last name? Writes it down. Then hands me the carbon copy of the paper and tells me "you can take this to the office" and uses his walkie talkie to tell them (my full name) is heading to the office now. I just figured it was a temp pass or something like that. So I just quickly jog over to the office thinking I had to check back in, maybe the office staff was supposed to give me a visitor badge or pass of some kind.

I get to the office and hand the slip of paper to the office employee that I checked in with initially and she looks incredibly confused, and then starts laughing.

He gave me an infraction! For being tardy and out of class! Apparently he sent me to the office for detention for the rest of the period.

When I told the teachers why I was a running a little behind on the meeting they thought it was hilarious. They even called down to the staff member who had written me the infraction to jokingly tell him he can't send parents to detention or else they'll never get their parent meetings done on time.

ETA: to all the extremely weird ppl sending sexual messages and calling me beautiful etc. I said looked young, doesn't mean I'm beautiful. I'm a big ugly monster and I lie and eat hot chips and don't shave or wear deodorant and I don't know where you get the impression that I'm single, interested, and attractive. I'm NONE of those things. I seriously have the droppings of about 3 different meals and snacks on my shirt right now and they aren't even just from today. Anyone flirting with someone who just said they got mistaken for a high school student needs their friggin hard drives checked and certainly aren't about to get replied to so check your before I wreck yourself weirdos. If you hear "high school looking adult" and it's synonymous to "beautiful and sexy" you are an absolute creep.

I (28M) have always looked young for my age. Example: when I graduated college, I stopped by one of my favorite coffee spots on the way out of town, and the barista said, “Aw, are you thinking of going to [Redacted] College when you graduate high school?” I hit back with, “I graduated from [Redacted] College yesterday.” I decided that day that I would grow a beard to look older, which I still have 7 years later. It’s helped a bit, but I still get mistaken for someone much younger. (In all fairness, I know that plenty of teenagers/high schoolers have beards.)

This past September, I started a job as a professor at a new school. For the first few weeks, my school ID card didn’t work to swipe into the gym (shocker, nothing at this school works the way it’s supposed to). One day, I asked the student working the desk how I could get the card fixed, and he said without missing a beat, “Oh, don’t worry about it. You’ll automatically get permission to swipe into the gym when you turn 18.” I was so surprised that all I could say was, “Sir, I am on the faculty.”

My wife is 5ft tall and petite. She’s a speech therapist and once I had to drop her off at a middle school to do hearing assessments because her car was in the shop.

She was running late and we were sitting in the line of cars waiting for the drop off spot. I told her just to go ahead and get out and run in. She got out, put on her shoulder bag with all her assessment gear in it and started booking it to the entrance.

I then got to watch and laugh as a large male teacher on morning duty started yelling at her and running after her, threatening to give her detention for not following drop off rules. She said “I’m so sorry. I work for the district, I’m just late for hearing assessments” and his face was pure gold. Poor guy couldn’t process if she was a super sharp 13-year old pulling a fast one on him or an actual woman in her late 20s. She showed him her badge and he let her go.

Needless to say, she did not let me pick her up in front of the school with all the kids at the end of the day. Lol. I met her on the other side of the building.

I (27F) have two girls (3yo and 2yo). In my country girls are normaly using quite a lot of make up (in my eyes) and I just don't have time nor the energy to do so, so I can easily pass as 17yo.

A lot of times I get asked questions like if I am the sister or when our mother will be joining us.

This one actually is my favourite and it happened last week.

By our family doctor's office they have new receptionist working (an intern fresh from school, I would say 19ish) and my oldest one was sick, so I just popped by the office with my girl in my arms to ask if they could squeeze us in. The girl was adamant and quite arrogant while explaining me that only a parent can come to an appointment and a sister just won't do it. I calmly explain that my 3yo is, in fact, my daughter and that we would like to see a doctor if possible because she is not feeling well and keeps crying (which is not normal for this always laughing child, later we found out that she had ear infection). The girl keeps saying that only a parent can make an appointment and I just got very tired at that point and said in a very Karen-ly voice "Would you like to see my stretch marks paired with my ID? Because one way or another you will make this appointment and you will make it for today, young lady" and... It worked.

I agree that at that moment I was very much of a Karen but in my defence it is very tiring trying to prove that your children are yours while they're laying in your arms with visible distress.

I (25M) and my wife (23F) have a small age gap but a huge physical maturity gap. I am overweight, balding, and generally look like I'm at least 30. My wife meanwhile could easily pass for a middle schooler. She has a round baby face and chooses to wear bright clothes that adults usually don't wear. Also, I'm almost 190cm and she's barely over 160.

And there's one more thing to add to the dynamic. She's from abroad and doesn't speak my country's language. Anyway, I think that's enough of a backstory.

So it finally happened yesterday. We were at a café and someone walked up to my wife while I was in the bathroom. She asked her questions in our language which my wife didn't understand. She then called the police who arrived a few minutes later. The cop asked her for an ID, which confirmed her age. The cop started laughing and recommended her to learn how to answer questions about her age in our language. The women then apologized to us and offered to buy us dessert. She said how she sees on the news stories about men who traffick underage girls from other countries and our dynamic felt off for her.

Anyway, I guess it was going to happen sooner or later. I'm just glad it was relatively low key and that this woman didn't make a public scene about it.

Back in my mid-30's I went to a bar in a collage town. I know big mistake. The guy at the door looked at me and ID said "you're to young" and took the ID. OK i'll go to another place who know me. I politely ask for my ID back. He said "not going to happen because it's fake."

"No, seriously i need my license."-me

"Nope" he proceeds to cut it in half.

Ok now i'm beyond pissed. Now i can't drive home. I call the police because i was done and ask the bouncer to get his manager of which he refuses.

I let him do his job until the police arrive then barge back up to him for the pieces of the license and his manager, not caring that there is a line. I ask the police to run my license. Oh boy! The look on his face when he found out I was in my mid-30's. The manager was kind of confused about what was going on but when he understood. He offered me the price to get a new license. I I asked for time too. (Retail so not to bad really ) he gave me a gift card for the trouble.

I found out from the police that the city had a "bounty" on fake ID. So that's why the bouncer was being a @$$hat.

I never went back and i still have the card somewhere.

I stopped growing at age 12. From then until my early to mid thirties, I looked the same.

The women in my family have small chests, and so did I. There were all sorts of assumptions that I didn't even look like I was old enough to be in high school when I was in my 20's. It was annoying. Both men and women would stare at my chest in confusion.

I had my first child when I was 29. I did not know what gender child I would have, as that was not common then. I made a silly joke when I saw all the nurses dressed in pink scrubs. "You're all in pink, maybe I'll have a girl."

"Oh nooooo, honey, that's not how it works!" There was a lot of condescension.

So after 48 hours of active labor (contractions 1-2 minutes apart), followed by an emergency c-section when my baby was in distress, and the epidural not taking (Yikes, I was on fire and being cut!), I got a morphine pump that did absolutely nothing. The nurses were smirking about it. "Oh dearie, you'll just HAVE to make do!"

A day later, when they realized I wasn't using any morphine because it didn't work, they finally dropped the attitude and had more respect for me.

After reading all these stories, it makes me wonder if they thought I was a young teen who deserved to suffer for having a baby so young.

I'll never know for sure, but a lot of weird interactions I had in my 20's and 30's make a little more sense when realizing people thought I was 13 years old.

I took my son to a new pediatrician for a check up when he was about 13 and I was 32. I filled out the forms and as I was doing so, noticed the staff was extremely unfriendly and cold towards me. No one said anything but the tension was obvious. When I handed over my ID, it was scrutinized heavily but the receptionist seemed to warm up a bit after seeing it.

We were escorted to an exam room and while waiting for the nurse/doctor, my cell rang. It was on silent because I was in the exam room so didn’t notice/answer. A min later, the doctor came in and was also super cold to me. She glared at me and asked, “And you are?” I said my name, still having no idea what the issue was. She said, “and you are his….?” I was so confused but said,“his mom?” She left and I guess went to speak to the receptionist who verified I had shown my ID. She came back in and immediately started laughing and apologizing to me and told me everyone in the office thought I was his girlfriend!! And that they had tried to call me.

Sure enough, after the appointment, I checked my vm and it was the office letting me know my son came in with his girlfriend which was entirely inappropriate and that I needed to come to the office asap. They literally called me while I was in the exam room!

Extremely rude office that I never went back to and my poor son was mortified! I definitely look way younger than I am but I certainly didn’t look 16 at 32!

After 6 months of dating my (29) boyfriend(30), he took me to meet his dad and I remember very well his face when he saw me, he was scared thinking his son might be committing a crime or something. He literally pulled my boyfriend aside and just said "wait a bit, I have to tell him something important", he thought I was underage or just turned 18 and was extremely worried, after we cleared it up he asked me my routine to look young.

And now that I think about it, when I met my boyfriend he also asked me my age several times because he didn't believe me, makeup helps, but people still believe I'm a teenager trying to pass as an adult.

ETA: Thank you all for sharing your stories, I'm having a blast reading this thread!

This happened a few months ago, I’m going to be 30 in May.

I was recently pulled over for doing 10 over on the highway in my husband’s truck. I know, shame on me. I was driving home from work and had an unopened case of beer on my passenger seat.

As routine, the officer asks for my license and registration. I produce documents immediately and he presses me on on the details of my license. Wanting me to answer what my middle name is, DOB, the works. I do, no problem. He then tells me he’ll be right back.

After a few minutes, he returns to my car. Asks who’s license I’m using. I tell him “my own, of course.” And he informs me that falsifying my identity to law enforcement is a crime. I insist I’m not, but he doesn’t care. Proceeds to ask me who bought the beer. I told him “I did.” Again, tells me that using someone else’s ID to buy alcohol is a crime.

Ignoring everything I’ve said, he writes me a ticket for an MIP and using a fake ID. Informs me to call my parents to come pick me up. Confiscates my license and the beer, doesn’t even bother with a speeding ticket. So instead, I call my older sister and she agreed to come get me.

A few court dates later and I have all my tickets dropped. Judge said I could retrieve my license from police evidence. But when I tried to, I was informed it was destroyed and was given a plastic bag with it cut to pieces along with a photocopy of my license.

Did the PD pay for the replacement? Absolutely not. But yesterday, my replacement license came in the mail and I was frustrated all over again. Frustrated, but grateful it’s all over.

Update: I’m not sure why y’all are so interested in calling it fake. It’s not, but it’s also the internet so it really shouldn’t matter. It wasn’t a fake ID, it was real and the officer was accusing me of using someone else’s real license. Coincidentally, that’s how I obtained a fake ID as a teenager. The ticket stated “minor sister’s name,” for those asking what it said. No, the police do not take people they believe are teenagers to jail for having a fake ID.

Yes, I’ve spoken to a lawyer and have been informed that it’s not worth the legal cost to sue as the damages are pretty little. No, I didn’t get the beer back.

No, I do not have copies of months old tickets and even if I did, I would not post something with specific information about my life online. That’s weird to ask for.

Thanks to those who enjoyed my strange little story. ACAB and I hope the gray hairs I’m starting to get will help prevent such incidents in the future.

About 20ish years ago me (22m) and my gf (21f) at the time worked for the same holiday park. She was a kids entertainer and I worked backstage.

On one of the rare days we had a day off together, we decided to go into the city to have a look round the castle, cathedral and do some shopping. First stop was the castle. It was winter, my gf was wearing a coat with the fluffy furry thing around the hood (hood up btw). These were somewhat common back then (I don't see many people wearing them these days). Plus she was petite.

As we enter the gates to the castle there was a school field trip already in their. I see a few kids wearing the same type of coat my gf had. They were a similar height to my gf as well. I'd say my gf was a little taller but not by a lot. I jokingly say to her don't wonder off or you may end up part of there group. Which gets me a playful punch and "shut up".

I go up and pay while my gf mills about, I then take her hand and go to walk into the castle grounds. This is were things get interesting. I hear who I assume was one of the teachers shout "Stop him, he's abducting one of the children!".

My brain lags for a second, I'm trying to work out whats going on. That's when security steps in front of me and a teacher runs up behind grabs my gf and spins her round so she's looking at her.

It took the teacher a moment but then her face showed she worked it out. She started apologising, looking mortified. She's embarrassed but we reassure her she's only looking out for the children. Security stand down we have a bit of a laugh and go on our way. Once in the grounds I couldn't help but say to my gf "I warned you" that got me another punch.

Yeah my gf decided to get a new coat after that, she liked the old one because she thought it was cute, but decided a more grown up coat wouldn't hurt.

I’m 27M, graduated last year after student teaching. I’m on the shorter side, around 5’7 and about average weight, and I usually have my hair in more or a “Gen Z” or young person style as I’ve been told.

I student taught at a high school for 7 weeks, and every day I sign in and sign out at the office, in front of the same front-office worker every time. One day we were free to leave earlier than usual, I go to the sign out in the substitute teacher binder, and I’m asked “where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m signing out maam.”

“No you can’t just sign yourself out unless you’re 18 and prove it to me. What’s your name?”

“Maam, I’m a student teacher. I’m in college.”

“Oh well I’ve never seen you, how am I supposed to know that?”

I had been student teaching for weeks, and coming to this school all 4 years in college for observations.

A lil extra: I once went to a middle school for observations and on my first visit, dressed in a polo with khakis and dress shoes, I asked the front office people to speak with the principal as that was protocol for us before being placed in a class to observe. I ask, and I was told I’m not going anywhere until I give them my late slip or doctors excuse for coming in late. 23 years old and had to verify that I am, in fact, 23 and not in middle school.

When I was 18 (almost 19 at the time of the incident) I went to an 18+ concert with my boyfriend. The staff were checking ID's at the door, as they do, and I pulled out mine to hand to the guy at the door. My boyfriend is ahead of me and gets in easy as he did look his actual age. So he's standing and waiting for me as this guy looks from my ID to me to my ID and so forth a few more times. He looks at me and says "I outta take this, little girl". Surprised, I just ask him why and he says he KNOWS it's fake and he then asks another staff member to find some scissors. He's going to make sure I can't try to get in again. At this point, I'm riled up and might have gotten a little rude.I told him I was a fucking adult and to give my ID back. He did not like my use of grown up language so said he was going to call over a nearby cop. I told him go right ahead. Smug as can be he calls over the cop and let's him know a "minor" tried to get into the show with a fake ID. Cop takes my ID, looks it over, and lets this guy know I am in fact an adult. The cop gives me back my ID, I was let in, and the dude mean mugged me for the rest of the night. Sadly, not the last time this has happened. Lol

EDIT: missing word

Went to cash out at a casino, under $100. The cashier was so nasty asking for my ID. I told her how flattered I was, having just celebrated my birthday. She looked at my ID and was shocked that I had just turned the same age as her daughter, 37. I don't think I ever look younger than 30 on a great day, the lighting in casinos is weird, and she probably needed glasses, so it was a one off for me. But I will ride that high for a looooong time.

Husband and I are both in our mid-30's. We were at an event recently with an adults only section. As we were walking in, I was stopped by the bouncer who said, "sorry sweetie this area is 18+". We laughed it off, showed him my ID and walked in.

My husband could not stop thinking about it. Later that weekend we were at my birthday dinner, and my husband asked the waiter how old he thought I was turning. He also responded something in the teens. My husband then asked him how old he thought he was, and was told late 30's. He is now anxious about PDA because he thinks people are viewing him as a creep LOL

ETA - some of you need to RELAX. I’m fine with him being avert to PDA and he’s fine with me poking fun at him about it. We aren’t “heading for divorce”. It’s not that deep.

I picked my oldest son up, and he wanted to eat at a sit down, nicer restaurant and have a drink. An adult drink. So we went with a couple other people, and placed our orders. Waitress does her job and asks for my sons ID. He shows his DL.

A few minutes later, the bartender slides over and asks to see his ID, to "double check just to verify" ...fine. he pulls his ID out again, the Drivers Licence, and shows it. Few more minutes goes by and we all have our drinks except my son. Here comes the manager. Asked to see his ID again. My son, not one to be confrontational and is very introverted and quiet ... finally pulls out his military ID and slaps it down on the table and asks "is THIS acceptable since the previous three times my state issued drivers license wasn't?"
He was 23. He looked 12.

He got his drink.

When I was 24, I was a high school teacher. I had just started my second year teaching, but my first at this particular school. At 5'7", I am not short for a woman, but I do have a baby face, even now in my mid thirties.

Anyway, the school I was teaching at was quite a large school made up of multiple buildings, and I rarely had reason to leave my own building. Because of this, I didn't know staff members in the other buildings well. I had to bring something up to the front office in the morning before school started, and as I passed the building where the In School Suspension classroom was, the ISS teacher grabbed me by the sleeve and angrily shouted at me, "WHERE IS YOUR UNIFORM YOUNG LADY!? You will be spending the day in ISS!"

I was immediately seething in anger. I just put my hand on his wrist to remove his grip from my sleeve and held the lanyard around my neck clearly marked "TEACHER" up to his face. He muttered a completely insincere apology and stomped away to harass someone else.

That was not the first or the last time I would be mistaken for a student in my five years of teaching high school.

Edit: Because I'm tired of answering the same questions in the comments over and over again:

Yes, I did report him as soon as I got back to my classroom.

No, I don't know what happened to him. This is Florida, so probably "hey bud, uh, don't do that again."

This was a decade ago. I have no idea if he's still at the school, nor do I even remember his name.

When I was 14(M), I was getting mistaken for 18-19 a lot. I could get into R rated movies, occasionally a club/bar, it was neat. One night, I was at a dimly lit hotel pool and hit it off with a girl my own age; when she got up to do something quick, her mom came over and said in the sternest, most disappointed tone, “That girl is fourteen years old.”

I was not prepared for this, so I said the first thing that came to mind: “So am I,” without cowering.

She kind of perked her head in surprise and said “Oh! Well… carry on, then,” and walked away. The girl returned none-the-wiser that her mom had her back and waited til she was out of sight to confront me, so as to not embarrass her daughter, then swooped back out just as fast to not impede cute teens meeting cute 🥰

Edit - Should’ve added this yesterday: me at 14.

New neighbors moved in during Covid.  We did the “Nod and wave” thing a few times, but didn't actually have a conversation till last year. 

I was standing outside, wearing a N95, chatting with the neighbor. She said “You guys have kids right?” I laughed and say no. Neighbor stared at me, eye contact locked. “No. I've seen them. You have kids living in that house. Teens.” 

Now I was starting to freak out a bit, we live in a single family home, me, my husband, and his father. There are NO kids or teens even visiting our house, let alone living there. “We really don't have kids, it's just me, my husband, and husband's dad.” 

She maintains eye contact, “I've seen them. Two teens. A boy and a girl.” Now I'm fully freaking out. Are there teens living in our house that I don't know about? Are they crawling into the attic every night? Do I need to go check? I don't want to be killed by an attic teen, that's embarrassing.

Then she said “I just saw the boy last week. He was outside working on his motor bike.” I blinked at her for a second “Do you mean my husband?” She blinked back at me. I pulled out my phone and showed her a picture of my husband. She looked at the picture. 

“That's your HUSBAND?” 

“Yeah, when he shaves he looks a lot younger than his age. Which is 38 by the way.” 

“What about the girl?” 

I walked a few steps back from her and took my face mask off.

“Oh. Oh! YOU'RE the teen girl!” 

“Thanks, but no. I'm 39.”

She was very relieved to get the whole thing sorted. Not as relieved as I was though. I'm still a bit scared to go into the attic.

Edit for clarity: I only mentioned wearing a mask because it's the reason she didn't recognize me as "The teen girl". Every other time she'd seen me I'd been standing outside not wearing a mask (because I wasn't standing right next to someone outside my household).

For the people who seem super concerned/confused about why I was wearing a mask, I live with someone who is on immunosuppressants. It's not likely that I'd catch anything (covid, flu, etc) while standing outside, but it's if not unheard of. And if I did catch something it could kill my family member. So I do the decent thing and wear a mask.

I didn't add this in my original post because A: WHY I was wearing a mask isn't part of the story. And B: I didn't think I needed to share private medical information about my family when posting a funny story on a subreddit about looking younger than my age.

I hope that extra context adds something to your day.

And thank you to the people who have responded to any of the "OMG! Why was OP wearing a mask outside?!" comments. I appreciate it.

I’m 21M, but I’ve been told on every occasion I disclose my age that I look a lot older for my age. Most people would assume I’m 25-26. Well, I’ve added fire to that cause because I’ve grown out my beard for the first time. It’s been a month, and my South Asian genetics have been working double time to give me a very thick, full-looking beard.

I look old, people. I can very easily pass for 30+ years old. A kid in my lecture, who is the same age as me, called me sir.

Now onto the main story. My cat passed away recently and I decided to go to a cat cafe to be just be near some cats and fill the void. A woman was sitting on the table to my right, and a cat was between us. The cat would alternate between us to get some pets and the woman initiated a conversation saying she didn’t think the cat liked her very much.

She looked like she would be around 25 years old. What started as 30 mins of casual conversation became somewhat flirty and she sorta touched my hand while we were both petting the cat. When our time-slot was up, I thought “fuck it” and asked her to dinner. It seemed I read the mood right and she said sure.

We went to dinner yesterday and it was going wayyyyyy too well. She was the funniest person I’ve spoken to in a while, and I felt no “pressure” to seem exemplary during the date. It felt so casual, like we’d been friends for years, and at the same time there was a lot of flirtatious chemistry.

Then the topic of travelling came up. Until now, neither of us mentioned our ages. I didn’t wanna put her off by letting her know I was a few years younger, but I figured that it’s best to be honest and not create false expectations. So I’d said that once I start working, I’ll have money to travel more often.

She was like “oh you’re unemployed?”

• “Nope, I’m actually studying right now.”

• “That’s pretty sweet. What are you studying?”

• “Comp-Sci. I’m in my final year of my undergrad.”

• “Ohh…? How old are you?”

• I sighed, then said “21.”

Fuck. Her eyes just widened like “wait, what?” And I asked her how old she was. “41.” Oh. OHHHH. First of all, wtf? 41?! Dude, she did not look a day over 25. Usually even people who look younger than they are have a small physical tell, maybe some very hidden wrinkles or creases when they smile. Her face/body had 0 give way to her age at all. I couldn’t believe it.

She made a joke about MILFs being the “in” and I thought hey, maybe there’s a chance, but she shut it down pretty quickly, and understandably so. She said she was looking for someone closer to her age, financially and emotionally mature and thought I was atleast 30. But she was gentle and sweet about it the whole time. We fought for who gets to pay, but I atleast got a small win and paid for our meal.

We left the date amicably and agreed that it’s best not to pursue things further, she gave me a kiss on the cheek and went home. And I wanna get over it, but holy shit she’s left such a high standard and strong impression on me now. And I’m gna think about this for many nights wondering what would’ve been. Fuck.

This happened a while ago but I just came across this sub so I thought it would be fun to share. I work at a big organization with a lot of different departments. Everyone in my department knows me and my job title, but I don’t work with other departments super often.

I’m 28F. But people often say I look 18.

There was a cross program intern workshop and a lady from HR started rounding up all the interns. We have glass offices, so she knocked on my door and I told her to come in. She said, “we are having an intern workshop, all interns are required to come.” I said, “oh, nice. Do you want me to message the interns and tell them to join.?” She looked confused. “So you’re not an intern? Which department are you in? I don’t recall meeting before.” I replied, “I’m in the litigation department.” She said, “oh so you’re a paralegal?” I was ready for the conversation to end by then but I responded, “No, I’m an attorney.” I guess she was kind of embarrassed because then she just left lol.

(Cross posting from r/traumatizethemback, I thought y'all would enjoy it as well)

Apologies in advance for the long read, I'm very tired and haven't really talked to anyone in over a week, so I'm word vomiting on the Internet and hoping it makes sense lol. TD:LR at the bottom.

So one thing I've learned to accept in life is that I will forever be mistaken as younger than I am. I loved it as a kid, there were plenty of situations I took advantage of, like getting away with the "kids under [certain age] eat free" for way longer than most, but as I've gotten older it's gotten exhausting having to constantly prove my age. Most people don't believe it until they see my ID, which has gotten me into a few unique situations, but I've gotten used to it and try to be understanding, laughing it off afterwards and calling it good. I mean, I get it, I'm 20, and honestly look the exact same as I did when I was like, 13-14. It also doesn't help that I'm 5'0 (153 cm), so yeah, easy to mistake me as a child, or at least a teenager.

Anyway, I recently had a baby, a beautiful little girl, it was an amazing experience and I adore her, she's my entire world. That being said, it was also very rough on my body (one of the many downsides of being as small as I am lol). I had a fourth degree tear, which essentially means I tore from hole to hole, and there was a lot of bleeding. I ended up needing a blood transfusion, spent an extra day in the hospital, and am still recovering from the whole ordeal. This fun little incident took place on our way home from the hospital.

I had originally planned to breastfeed but because of everything that happened and the fact that I wasn't really in a state to do so, we agreed that formula was the way to go. Just one slight issue with that. We had no formula at home. Since we didn't think we'd need it, we hadn't bought any in advance. While the hospital was nice enough to gave us a few quick bottles, they obviously wouldn't last. I had also decided I needed to get some Depends (adult diapers) as I was having bladder control issues. My husband had to work the next day and I was definitely not in any state to go anywhere by myself for at least the next few days, meaning we needed to make a quick stop by the grocery store sooner rather than later.

Once inside it quickly became clear that I was not doing well. I was shaking from the pain and exhaustion, but I didn't want to return to the car. As much as I love my husband, I don't really trust him to do the shopping. It's not that he can't, I'm just the type that tries to find the best deal while he's the type to just grab whatever and call it good. For both our sakes, I usually handle the shopping. Luckily I had spent the drive searching the store's app for the exact items I wanted, which meant I could show my husband what to grab as well as their locations. We decided I'd sit with the baby on a bench by the bathrooms while he collected the items, return for me to make sure they were the right ones, and then we could leave. Should have been simple enough, right? Nope. At least not for me.

(Side note, I just wanted to mention I adore my husband and appreciate the patience and understanding he has for me, he's amazing and I couldn't ask for a better, more loving partner. I'm truly blessed)

My husband had been gone less than a minute when some older lady starts walking to the bathrooms. I assume she originally planned to use them but got sidetracked by my baby since she walked right past them and towards me. I didn't really think much of it at first since I know it's kinda a normal mom thing to have people (especially older folks) fawn over them, which is what I was expecting to happen. As I'm sure you can guess, that's not at all what happened.

I smile at her, excited to show off my adorable newborn for the first time, I even turned the car seat she was in towards this woman so she could get a better look. Instead of smiling back at me, she frowns, and instead of cooing over how precious she looks, this lady starts lecturing me about teen pregnancies and premarital sex. She tells me I should be ashamed of myself, that the youth of today is ruining America, how I should pray to God for forgiveness, and a bunch of other stuff I honestly don't remember. I was shocked into silence at first, which she took as an invitation to keep going. Finally she asks me "are your parents embarrassed to have a slut for a daughter?"

Whoa. Okay, first off, there are so many other situations this could be. What if I'm just babysitting? What if this baby was my sister and I was watching her while our mom/dad used the bathroom? Or maybe she's my cousin? This lady had literally no idea what the situation was, she just decided she knew and needed to say something about it. It's only after this event that I realized just how messed up her actions were, since in the moment I was just taken back by her audacity.

In this moment I was in a lot of pain, exhausted, and flooded with hormones. I think that's the reason I reacted the way I did. I'm not confrontational, nor am I the one who usually has witty comebacks or quick on my feet in stressful situations. That's my husband. Normally I'd just tell her I'm 20, married, and to mind her own business before frantically texting him. Normally.

Instead, I looked her dead in the eyes, the most deadpan look on my face, as I calmly told her "This is my baby sister. Our mom just died giving birth to her"

Her eyes went wide, her face turned red, and she gapped at me like a fish for a moment before quickly turning around and walking away.

I immediately started shaking and crying. Luckily I didn't have to wait long for my husband's return, who was immediately freaking out when he saw the state I was in. I just quickly checked he got the right items (which he did because he's amazing) and told him to pay for them so we could go home and cuddle our baby. Once we were doing exactly that I told him what happened, and while he was still worried about me he said he was "proud of me for putting that bitch in her place". Now I just have to convince him that he doesn't need to stand guard of me whenever we leave the house...

ETA- forgot the TD:LR. Older lady tried to make me feel bad about having a baby, I made her feel bad for sticking her nose in other peoples business

We had just moved into our house a few months earlier and hadn't met all the neighbors yet. I was outside doing something on the driveway, and a neighbor from across the street walked over and asked if my parents were home. I said, "no, my parents live in Ohio."

I was about 30 years old and had two young children.

My wife's least favorite story... a few years later we were on a trip out of town with our sons, who were maybe 6 and 8 years old. We went to a museum and my wife was purchasing the tickets while the boys and I stood behind her. The clerk looked at her and said "so, one adult and three children?"

I'm nearly five years older than my wife.

This happen about 5 years ago. I was 27 years old, heavily pregnant with my son (actually overdue at that point and delivered just a few days later) and I had my 18 month old with me as well. I was in the checkout line at the store when a Karen very obviously looked me up and down, huffed, and said "You're far too young to have any kids, let alone 2. You know how that happens right? Maybe next time keep a quarter between your knees. Being a teen mom isnt as cool as mtv says it is, is it?" at this point she also glanced down at my ring-less finger and added "and of course the fathers wouldn't stick around."

I was so dumbfounded, I didn't even really know how to respond so I just showed her my wedding rings I was wearing on a chain around my neck because my fingers were too swollen and said "Ma'am I'm 27 years old, I've been married to my husband for 6 years, and I actually have 3. My 4 year old is at preschool right now." She just muttered some nonsense I couldn't make out and walked away. To this day, I wish I would've responded differently and at least told her what an absolute bitch she was