Age

[wenwilder]

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids?

If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions. "How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!"

You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16!

And then the greatest day of your life . . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . . YOU BECOME 21. . . YESSSS!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk. He TURNED, we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40.

Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 . . . and your dreams are gone.

But wait! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime.

And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!" - By George Carlin (Thank you Jim Series for the information!)

[Greyhawk]

The safest answer Wen is, I am as old as my tounge and a little older then my teeth. That way I don't turn, push, hit, pull, or reach anything.

Greyhawk

[rocky1]

I just envisioned at least three birthdays flying past, staring at my monitor trying to figure out how this relates to Jello and Ghosts!

Wasn't it you that started that last little thread with comments to the effect that "Tomorrow Never Comes" and thus we have no birthday, and we are born today, and therefore we never get any older?

Rocky

[tertius]

Don't forget the cultural aspects of determining age...

When asked for age, in the US, most say "I am nn years old", filling in the number from the last birthday (taking into account the variations described by Wen above...).

In England (and maybe the rest of the UK?) "I will be nn years old", filling in the number for the upcoming birthday.

The Chinese have their own way of calculating age, and I'm afraid I don't understand it well enough to try to explain it. (Any member of Chinese extraction, please do explain it to us!)

How about the rest of the international membership--how does your culture calculate and respond to the answer to the question: "How old are you?"

[sightings]

If we consider an individual to be an "adult" at age 21, and we live to age 75 with vitality and vigor - given modern medicine and nutrition, then there are 54 years of adulthood. Taking half of our years of adulthood (27) and adding this to 21 means that we have arrived at the half-way point of our adult lives at age 48. Just something to think about when you are "feeling" old. Bill

[Ralyn]

When I turned 29 I decided to start going backwards and stay on hold at 25 Ex. when I turned 31 I was 28 for the 2nd time (amazingly most people never caught the words "for the 2nd time"). I continued this manner until I was 26 again. One day as I durring an interview it was brought to my attention that I had the wrong age according to the year I was born. I forgot how old I really was!! I decided then to grow old gracefully. Last Sun I turned 39--I think I'm staying on hold.

[redcircle]

If we consider an individual to be an "adult" at age 21, and we live to age 75 with vitality and vigor - given modern medicine and nutrition, then there are 54 years of adulthood. Taking half of our years of adulthood (27) and adding this to 21 means that we have arrived at the half-way point of our adult lives at age 48. Just something to think about when you are "feeling" old. Bill

Hence the midlife crisis between 40-50

[redcircle]

I'm looking forward to 25 for my car insurance to drop. It's really expensive to have a car that the insurance company considers a sports car.

[compumonster]

The nice thing about getting older is you know for sure that your needs are lessening and the struggle is shortening every day.

[thiefware]

Age is relative. People think that 30 or 40 is getting over the hill. If we could live 1,000, 5,000, or 50,000 years, people would say 400 years old is very young.

Mind-wise, we're just beginning to get a little wisdom and smarts, but barely at least for some people. Seems we don't start to get wise until we reach our 60's. By that time bodies are breaking down, and minds begin to stop growing (for many people anyway). It's really sad--Don't wanna get old.

Various scientists are puzzled as to why the human body and mind doesn't keep living on forever.