Reality check aisle 3
 

While at work today, I was discussing the lack of communication going on that day with a co-worker. Another example was pointed out to me and I said "WTF?"
At that point, our 18 year old secretary asked if i knew what that meant, to which i replied that I did as i spend an inordinant amount of time online. Her reply was that she had never heard "an older person" use that phrase before.

I turn 45 in a month but I don't consider myself old by any means. Then I realized that, to her, I am old.
(I actually felt bad for her as the rest of the staff, who are all closer to my age, razzed her for a few minutes en masse.)

What was your last reality check?

to the twentysomethings on this board, it may not seem like much of a reality check but wait, your day will come. :)

I have seniority over people much older than you in my work, and they are all more than up on internet culture. 18 year olds are usually quite niave, anyway.

My wake up call was realizing that if I get into Berkeley in 2009, I would likely be close to 30 when I finish my MA and pass the bar.

45?? You probably reek of icy hot and geritol....:thumbsup:

My last reality check came when I realized that 22 is way too young to stick with a job I hate and risk serious lung damage simply because it pays well.

Yeah, your first mistake was listening to an 18 year old at the workplace. She's probably less than 3 years outta underwear that sport logos on the ass.

...

It's okay, Fotzlid... we might be younger than you, but we're still cranky old bastards on the inside and that's what counts most, right?

...

I realize I'm "older" every day when I wake up and go to various classes and sit down next to a kid that's the better part of a decade younger than me.

I get a lot more out of college than they do because I had to work for it and I didn't get it right after high school.

I try not to kick my own ass about how my life time line seems so far behind "everybody" because it isn't really true.

My last reality check was last year, when I had braces put in...and realised that when they came off I'd be 30. Braces and 30...lol

lol yes


not me. i have access to the good stuff.

she's a good kid, didn't mean it maliciously. one of those open mouth insert foot moments.

same here when i went back to school, only it was a bit more than a decade difference.

I realized the same thing going back to college a year after graduation, when I was paying for the classes myself and going out of interest rather than requirement. It's amazing how fast "maturity" can sneak up on you.

Heh. Had a similar moment with one of our young cashiers at work. Me and a co-worker (both around the 40 mark) were talking about this and that when a young 20~ish cashier asked about the conversation. It was clear that she wasn't old enough to follow, so just for fun, I asked her how old she was when the Space Shuttle exploded. Her reply was "That was just a few years ago, I was about 16". That's when my friend asked her "No, no, no, the FIRST shuttle....." We both had a laugh about it, she was a little embarrassed, and when it calmed down, she learned a little history.

Example #1: Over the summer I bought a new Rap CD at Best buy. The cashier rang up the purchase and said, "Are you sure you want to buy the explicit version, is this for your kid?" I was 30 at the time. Young BASTARDS!!!

Example #2: My younger sister and I are five years apart. We went to a party together and some idiot asked her if I was her mom. Btw I do not look old enough to be a teenager’s mother let alone a twenty something’s. After I ripped him a new one, I calmly left to renew my gym membership.

No reality checks needed here. Most think I'm much younger than I am.

I stay close to my twenty-some daughter and the second batch of kids I had when I was "older". They keep me young and tuned in, maybe because I never forgot what it was like to be a kid. :hmm:

Ahem. At least so far. :D

my last reality check was about 45 seconds ago,

when i realized that im too young to be hangin' here with you old fuckers :p

i kid, i kid.

At 51, I'm much too old to hang around with you young shits.


Last week, as a result of a corporate reorg, I did the full retirement thing. 30 years, pension, the works.

My daughter won't let her husband ski with me, she's afraid he'll get hurt. Neither daughter will ride on the back of my motorcycle, something about scrapping footpegs on mountain curves. Yet, I am officially a retired person.

Oh, I retired on Thur and started my new job on Fri, this retirement crap is highly over-rated.

Don't remind me. I need braces right now as I squandered away years of my youth by not listening to my parents or my orthodontist when I had the chance. I can't say though when my last reality check was, I don't really pay them any attention.

I have reality checks every day. They keep me young ;)

Realizing you have close to a million dollars in liability and you have your two kids sitting on your lap is a nice reality check.

But really I'm sliding into middle age quite nicely. I got all the groundwork done ahead of time, so now its salad days.

When I got laid off so they could hire someone younger that they could pay less.



I'm only 27. That's just fucked up.

They didn't appreciate your gangster style.

My reality checks are a little backwards from what you're talking about. I'm only 21, but I tend to feel like I'm getting old. Every once in a while something will happen and remind me how young I am.


Like when I realize I'm the youngest person at my job.

My bad. I forgot about that. Wake-up call, yup. When I was 40ish I had left a job, sure I'd find another. There was a lot of age discrimination out there. It took me close to a year to find a half-decent job. And I mean half. :rolleyes:

My twenty-fifth birthday. All I could think of was that it was an entire quarter of a century. That made me feel damn old.

Next time this happens just say "Boy, I was listening to explicit lyrics when you were still sucking on your momma's titty"

with age comes wisdom.


that is why I would ask you a question before I ask that 18 year old secretary.

and appreciate your answer more than hers.

Last wakeup call:
when i realized that I'll finish my phd when i'm 30, if i'm very very lucky.

Word! :thumbsup:

The biggest reality check for me, was when I had to take that
first breath of air,
instead of amniotic fluid,
so far.....

..

with age comes experience...which may or may not translate into wisdom