See Jane Compute

Things that are currently making me feel old

Posted by Jane on April 6, 2009
(15)
More »
  • Today, as I was driving around and flipping through the radio stations, I heard a song from late in my college days….on the classic rock station. (At least it wasn’t the oldies station?)
  • I’ve recently been friended on FB by friends from waaaaay back….and they are all posting hideous photos from junior high and high school. (There should be a law against this sort of behavior.)
  • Toddler Jane’s upcoming birthday….she’ll be 2!! 2!! How did this happen?
  • I’m having to explain more and more of my cultural references to my students. Today I had to explain what I thought was a pretty common SNL skit to them, and none of them had ever heard of it.
  • I went for a run the other day….and I’m still trying to recover from it.
  • My upcoming divisible-by-5 college reunion.
  • Realizing, as I was putting together my external reviewers list, that many of the people I’ve recently met at conferences and such have been junior to me. I am no longer a junior person in my field. Huh.

What’s making you feel old these days?

(15)
More »

Comments

  1. #1 Coturnix
    April 7, 2009

    My faves are on the oldies station.

    My FB friends from childhood are posting pics from Kindergarden!!!

    Kids: 15 and 12.

    Nobody remembers John Wayne so those references are out of the classroom.

    I missed my 5-squared reunion….

  2. #2 sinned34
    April 7, 2009

    Let’s see, what makes me feel old…
    Knees that make popping sounds when I walk up stairs.
    3/4 of the way to my 20 year high school reunion (that I won’t attend).
    An extra 30 lbs of fat that I never noticed as I put it on over the last decade.
    I know next to zero current pop culture references (but I LIKE that!).
    The realization that I’m the oldest guy on my hockey team.
    The rebellious music I listened to as a teenager sounds so pathetic and cheesy now.

  3. #3 george.w
    April 7, 2009

    Chronic pain. And shutting off the car radio after Let It Be has played because whatever comes next is likely to be a letdown.

  4. #4 D. C. Sessions
    April 7, 2009

    The oldies station doesn’t play my music any more.

    The high-school classmates are posting grandkid pictures.

    My daughter is complaining about the immaturity of her students.

  5. #5 PhizzleDizzle
    April 8, 2009

    My sister went to a 90′s party last weekend. I’m old enough such that my “coming of age” decade is now a THEME for a PARTY? For real????

    I have no desire to go out and get my drink on anymore.

    I can’t crawl under desks with ease to pick up stuff I dropped.

    Sigh. I know I’m still young, but I can’t believe how much older I am than I was…5 years ago. I suppose that’s self-evident, but still :) .

  6. #6 Pseudonym
    April 9, 2009

    I turn 36 this year. I realised at the start of the semester (this is the southern hemisphere, so the school year is the calendar year) that most of the undergrads starting this year are pretty much exactly half my age.

  7. #7 Azkyroth
    April 9, 2009

    The massive sense of alienation I felt when listening to my classmates discussing their plans for spring break.

    The awareness that I’m probably the only person in any of my classes, other than the instructor, who’s actually applied for life insurance.

  8. #8 GirlPostdoc
    April 10, 2009

    Realizing that I’m old enough to be someone’s mom. And then having someone ask how old my kids were. Yikes.

    Like pseudonym, realizing that the undergrads are now exactly half my age.

    Walking down the street and noticing that older guys, guys I would have thought to be too old for me, are the ones who are checking me out. Ugh!

    Finally, I haven’t got a clue who hangs out with Britney Spears anymore nor do I care.

  9. #9 Tig
    April 10, 2009

    What makes me feel old…? Let me see…

    …the clicky ankles…
    …no longer being mistaken for a student…
    …a complete inability to stand up from a chair without having to use both hands to shove myself up…
    …people who come over looking at my CD collection and saying “Oh my Dad likes them too”…
    …craving “a nice cup of tea”…
    …when buying clothes, I look at the washing instructions before I even consider finding one in my size. If it’s not going to wash nicely, I’m not buying it…
    …students looking blankly at me when I make just about any cultural reference…
    …starting to say “when I was your age”/”in my day”…
    …realising I am now old enough to be my students’ Father…argh!!!…

    tig

  10. #10 chriss
    April 10, 2009

    I know I am old because:
    * Most of the people driving cars (including the police) look 12 years old
    * I remember the original versions of half the songs I hear
    * I get “ma’amed” on a regular basis
    * I don’t go to many arty films these days because who wants to spend two hours with people who are obnoxious

  11. #11 julie r
    April 10, 2009

    Things that make me feel old:

    Realizing the little boy I babysat during my undergrad days is now in college.

    Telling my undergad minion that “it’s time to make the donuts” (i.e. get back to work) and getting a blank stare.

    Reading blogs by faculty types who are younger than I am (I’m a first year postdoc).

  12. #12 Jane
    April 11, 2009

    ooooh, these are good!! Y’all are making me feel so much better. :)

  13. #13 Scooter
    April 12, 2009

    Knowing “the letter” is going to arrive to me in the next few months.

    What letter?, you ask.

    The one inviting me to join AARP. And YOU feel old?

  14. #14 Zuska
    April 21, 2009

    Git offa my lawn, you young rascals!

    Refilling my morning/evening pillbox every Sunday makes me feel old.

    Looking at myself in the mirror during yoga class and seeing just how unable I am to come close to any of the postures’ ideal form makes me feel old. Realizing how much worse I am at yoga – how much less flexible – than I was when I first tried it 8 years ago makes me feel really really old. N.B.: if you start yoga don’t stop for several years. Restarting is soooo depressing.

    Nearly everything makes me feel old these days.

  15. #15 strony internetowe
    April 22, 2010

    I dont listen to radio stations anymore, only my choice of music, i hate radio stations looping new songs 10 times a day!