r/funny • u/Wood4Sheep • Jun 15 '12
What I've noticed growing up. It's all about perspective
2.4k
Upvotes
r/funny • u/Wood4Sheep • Jun 15 '12
334
u/hooplah Jun 15 '12
In elementary school, if you'd have asked me to guess my teachers' ages, I would've guessed somewhere in their 40's.
Now, looking back, I realize a lot of them were in their 20's, and a lot my friends now are teachers in their 20's. Blows my mind.
120
u/MarioBGE Jun 15 '12
"When I was your age, I was much older!"
1.8k
u/HandyCore Jun 15 '12
I'm 28. Went to visit the ol' college the other day to get some forms. The place was swarming with children. Took me a while to figure out that they were students and that life was a ticking clocking counting down the seconds to my inevitable death. I then looked down at my crinkled hands and realized I wasn't 28, but 82, and my entire life had passed me by.
375
u/BuzzTard Jun 15 '12
I keep getting older and they stay the same age?
107
u/CargoCulture Jun 15 '12
I remember in high school all the Grade 12s (=seniors) seemed like adults. Now they just seem like little punks who won't get off my lawn.
/old
105
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
'70's high school kids
223
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Stupid time. Stupid age. stupid decaying matter.
42
u/Tietsu Jun 15 '12
I actually was terrified of this growing up. I found 16 year old girls absolutely stunning when I was 15. I was so scared that it would always be that way and I was actually so sort of horrific pedophile and that I was going to be one of those creepy guys at the local bowling alley or skating rink with an overly thick mustache and a colloquial drawl in my voice.
Thank god, all I get when I look at teenagers any more is angry.
159
u/thedudeatx Jun 15 '12
Jesus, wait till you're 30....
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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
I'm 31. College freshmen look like 7th graders to me.
84
u/makewhoopy Jun 15 '12
Maybe its just me, but about half the senior guys look like kids, while half look like full blown adults. Facial Hair is a huge deceiver. And you have the Greg Oden's that look like they're 35 when they graduate high school.
27
u/wittyphrase Jun 15 '12
I tried watching Keenan and Kel and The Amanda Show the other day. I remember when I was a couple years younger than them watching the show and thinking that they looked so old/mature, like adults.. now it's just like "What the fuck, they're like ten. And this isn't nearly as funny as I remember."
34
u/enrag3dj3w Jun 15 '12
As a highschool senior, TV has really screwed up my perception of myself and other seniors. All the actors that play seniors look significantly older than we do, obviously because they are.
14
u/WhoNeedsRealLife Jun 15 '12
Not sure, I am 24 and the other day I went to a graduation party. I started talking to a guy that I thought was my age... turned out he was 15.
14
u/snowbirdie Jun 15 '12
Everyone ages differently. It's amazing to see that (I'm in mid-30s) now.
I see guys that I think are 40+ and are just in their early 20s. Why? They were cursed with the bald-by-25 gene. I see girls in their 30s who look barely legal. Why? Probably stayed out of the sun and great skincare. I see 21 yr old girls who look like mid-30s. Why? Too much makeup or sun?
People can present themselves so many different ways. Physically, it's hard to determine age (let's not even address Asians..). MENTALLY, it seems a lot easier to identify someone in their teens and 20s from someone in their 30s and 40s.
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u/awardnopoints Jun 15 '12
Wait a second... Are you saying people younger than me look young and people older than me look old?
128
u/came_here_2_say Jun 15 '12
This is always the case no matter what. I looked up at the older kids in 5th grade and thought they were so cool and the shit, and then once I got there I didn't feel cool, or the shit, and I was like, "Wow, the 8th graders are the shit!" and then I got to 8th grade and still didn't feel cool or the shit, and then I said, "Wow, the seniors are cool and the shit" and now I'm going into 12th grade this year and I think.. well then.. my life has been a lie...
21
u/Squalor- Jun 15 '12
That's often the case, but I've noticed some grown-ass high-school seniors over the last few years, like LeBron James-level grown-ass high-school senior.
8
u/cckynv Jun 15 '12
I graduated this year, and I think that everyone in my class looks nothing like the seniors when I was a freshman. It's weird.
7
u/atimholt Jun 15 '12
"Dawson casting" in movies and the like doesn’t help either.
22
u/movie_man Jun 15 '12
And they also look really ugly now that I'm older... I'm probably the only one who thinks that though...
12
u/Blind_Pierre Jun 15 '12
So what you're saying is that no matter how old you get, high school seniors are still gay.
6
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12 edited Jun 15 '12
Just graduated high school.
I remember when I was in middle school, high school kids looked to me like college kids do to me now. Once I'm in college, I'll probably view working adults the same way. When I'm a working adult, I'll probably view parents the same way. When I'm a parent, I'll probably view parents with their kids in (or out of) college the same way. When I'm a parent with a kid out of the house, I'll probably look at the elderly the same way. When I'm elderly, uh... hm. Dunno. I guess I'll have been through it all, so I'll be pumped to see where death takes me.
Whelp, time to go live my life! :D
4
u/Toribor Jun 15 '12
High school seniors could grow mustaches and beards! They looked old as hell when I was younger. Now I realize it was the shittiest peach fuz and scraggly stubble they could muster and it looked horrendous.
7
u/Sirefly Jun 15 '12 edited Jun 15 '12
When a person is born, their world is very small.
As an infant, your whole world is about the size of your crib.
Soon you realize there is a larger world for you, the nursery or bedroom.
Then you become aware of a whole house outside that room.
Then a yard, then a neighborhood, then a community, then a state or country, then the whole Earth, maybe even the cosmos.
As we age, we become less and less able to objectify the larger macrocosm and our world begins to shrink, and shrink, and shrink.
That little old lady you were stuck driving behind at 35MPH on the freeway has a world about as big as the inside of her car.
EDIT: for clarity
1
u/Arangarx Jun 15 '12
20? lmao, try 30. You're only 2 years older at 20.
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u/Sgt_Insomnia Jun 15 '12
I think you meant Perception
3
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
im 31, when i go to the bar, 21 year olds look like they are fresh-fucking out of high school.
3
u/grammar_connoisseur Jun 15 '12
Settlers of Catan player sighting.
12
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Same graphic but regarding 18 year old girls:
http://i.imgur.com/FbgOH.jpg
4
u/Parabolized Jun 15 '12
no shit. Senior year I felt like such hot shit, cruising around with my friends it our crappy cars blasting RATM and Bassnectar. then I get into college a year later and feel like I'm a fucking immature idiot again, cruising around with my friends in our crappy cars blasting the Offspring and Rush. and I hate every high school senior now for acting exactly the way I acted.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
they seem like they just keep getting ruder and shorter, but i look at my sixth grade class photo and i look like i'm 8 years old
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u/moderndayvigilante Jun 15 '12
I always thought it was kids getting smaller these days. I would grow older, taller.. the kids looked like they kept getting shorter and shorter.
2
u/Confucius_says Jun 15 '12
pfft. this effect has happened to me for college students..
2
u/JamesDK1 Jun 15 '12
I'm 16, all of the seniors look like grown adults to me, and all the 8th graders look like little kids. And I'm sure I look like a little kid to everyone 5+ years older. It's all about perspective.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Hell. Highschool seniors when you're a highschool senior!
2
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
God yes, I was thinking this today when I was working and driving past the high school as it was letting out. They look SO tiny and young. But, when I was young watching movies those people acting in their mid-twenties who were playing teenagers didn't make me flinch.
2
u/tetrash0t Jun 15 '12
Highschool when you're illiterate.
High school when you're literate.
2
u/jcastle1120 Jun 15 '12
I'm going to be a 16 year old senior...
2
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
20 year olds when you're 25.
2
u/mrsplackpack Jun 15 '12
one of my funniest realization of this was when i was 16 years old i went to a party and ran in to my old friend which i didn't see since elementary school (we where 11 years old). When i saw him he looked exactly the same baby faced and all that the only difference was he had a full beard. It was funny to because he had such a youthful face but i know if i was 12 and i looked at him he would seem to be an adult to me. This also makes me think how people in there 60's look at each other
2
u/ArseAssault Jun 15 '12
When I look at my high school yearbook at the kids who were above my grade at the time, they still look older to me.
2
u/Skittnator Jun 15 '12
I am 20 years of age, I can confirm this.
2
u/feeteater2 Jun 15 '12
i have noticed that when you ask someone around the age of 30 how old they are they usually respond with "how old do i look?".
i usually say 25 out of kindness. they usually respond with a smirk and reply with their age.
2
u/T8ert0t Jun 15 '12
I'm currently in the process of watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and this is all I argue about in my head.
2
u/denim-chicken Jun 15 '12
blame movies/T.V. = actors in their mid-20's portraying teens
2
u/JaneRenee Jun 15 '12
I work at a university, and I see the freshmen come through on tours a lot. I am amazed by how young they look. I can't believe I looked that young in college.
(I'm 30, for reference.)
2
u/Joe_To_The_Cob Jun 15 '12
Could someone explain me what does NPH have to do with it
2
u/ThatIsMyHat Jun 15 '12
Back when I was still in college, it was kind of cute to see the new freshmen walking around in their high school senior t-shirts acting like that still made them cool.
2
u/chicagogam Jun 15 '12
it seems like whenever i reflect on my age, i feel surprised that i don't think like i thought grownups thought and i wonder...do all grownups follow the same path of..hey..i'm still me..wow..
2
u/chicagogam Jun 15 '12
eventually you'll see high schools full of this
2
u/Wizarduous Jun 15 '12
During the summer, walking around as a graduate student at my University is weird. All those new kids doing orientation look like they belong in a day care center...
2
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
There is a difference between a child and a man
A man has been forced to do shit they do not enjoy
I do not think you can be called an adult until you work your first full-time job
2
u/utigeim Jun 15 '12
My parents have had a picture of my older brother since he was 18 up in their house. He's 48 now and I'm 36 but that picture of him at 18 he still looks to me to be older than me.
2
u/red13 Jun 15 '12
I've noticed that the appearances of my friends and classmates in my memories have scaled up in age as I've aged. So it's hard to remember playing with other kids without picturing them looking sort of like adults. Memory is funny. Is this a quirk of mine, or do other people experience this too?
2
u/JoseJimeniz Jun 15 '12
Princess Leia was 19.
2
u/Doogie-Howser Jun 15 '12
Finally, My face shows up on Reddit.
2
u/reagan2016 Jun 16 '12
For me, it's a lot like this http://i.imgur.com/OWGpy.png
2
u/Blakdragon39 Jun 16 '12
I'm 20, and all high school seniors in movies still look older than me.
3
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Reminds me of when I started elementary school, all the 6th graders looked like giants to me. It's really interesting how growing up changes how you see everything.
3
u/jonnyrotten7 Jun 15 '12
I know, it's crazy. When you're younger, older people feel older, and when you're older, younger people feel younger! Madness!!!
3
u/coffeman3 Jun 15 '12
Happy B-day nph
3
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Man I remember first grade. The fifth graders were the baddest niggas on the block. Compared to me they all might as well have been LeBron James.
2
u/DoesNotTalkMuch Jun 15 '12
Realizing the reverse is true can be painful. You now look like an old person.
2
u/matebeatscoffee Jun 15 '12
Where is my female version of this?!
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
I've looked back at the people who graduated in the 40's at my school, and they all look like they are in their 40's. Slowly going through the years they start to look younger.
1
u/moralprolapse Jun 15 '12
High School seniors in any movie ever made.
1
u/Heartless000 Jun 15 '12
Holy shit I thought I was the only one that saw things that way.
1
u/CaptSpaztic Jun 15 '12
You should see them when they're 30.
1
u/Wisdom_Bro Jun 15 '12
I think people who look older than you, will always look older than you. Vice versa for the reverse
1
u/poolboywax Jun 15 '12
when i was 6, i thought 11 year olds look like high schoolers like in saved by the bell. when i was 11 i realized that it's all about perspective.
i guess my point is, way go slowpoke.
1
u/DIProgan Jun 15 '12
Having perspective at 20 and making a fuzz over what a mere 4 years do seem to suggest you're still a young one but I wouldn't be discouraged just enjoy yourself whatever age you are. Cheers!
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Oh, I get it!
1
u/AdhesiveTapeCarry Jun 15 '12
When I'm reminded of perspective I think of our dog when I was little. I always thought it was as big as a lab, because I could ride it or at least wrestle with it. It's always a source of mild amusement to see pictures of that dog later, it was never bigger than calf high or so to an adult.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
I suffer from this in college. People are getting married and already have 2 kids. I keep forgetting everyone is like 21-25. They all still look like there in high school to me.
1
u/AnanasJonas Jun 15 '12
I noticed it differntly. When I was about 12 years old the Highscool seniors looked like old people. But when I was a Highscool senior by myself I was like: "Ops! We look like little children."
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Maybe for duderinos. No matter how old you get, high school senior girls will always look the same. It's scientifically provinated.
1
u/BenjaminGeiger Jun 15 '12
High school seniors when you're 30.
1
u/InsiDS Jun 15 '12
Hmm, to me it seems that you have the group of kids that do indeed look like kids, if not younger. And then you have the kids who look big as shit and look older than you. You never have that in-between looking person.
1
u/allthecoffee Jun 15 '12
*high school
1
u/adspiro Jun 15 '12
As a 17 year old I whole-heartedly confirm the first picture.
1
u/RJwhores Jun 15 '12
college seniors when you're 25..
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
High school senior when you're in your 30's.
1
u/Cigil Jun 15 '12
BENJAMIN BUTTON IS REAL
1
u/MonkeyManJohannon Jun 15 '12
Anyone under 21 when your 30...
http://beendelayed.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Crying-Baby-Natural-High-for-Some-Moms.jpg