Getting older is a very strange experience, for anyone reading this who hasn’t already gotten far on that journey. Your perception of yourself changes so slowly that you don’t always notice that you are now officially “old.” It’s more like one day you’ve gone too far to turn back, and you realize it because your ligaments have torn apart or teen music sounds strange and wrong.
Redditor u/Beast-Emperor forced everyone to confront their mortality by asking on r/AskReddit, “When was the moment you realized that you are not young anymore?”
If you read this list and recognize a bunch of these moments, there’s a serious chance you may be an old. If you don’t, you’ll be able to get a pretty thorough checklist fo what to look out for. It can’t be avoided, but at least you can keep track of what’s happening.
1.
When I had to start scrolling to find my birth year when registering for something online. —kaozzbender
2.
When I got really weird about the neighbor kids playing on my retaining wall —69schrutebucks
3.
After my parents died. No safety net anymore. —squeeeeenis
4.
I was watching a rerun of Friends and realised the characters were younger than me. —DarkNinjaPenguin
5.
When a pack of teenagers were laughing and having fun outside, and I got really frustrated at the noise they made. —Witchfinder_generaI
6.
When I flipped on an oldies radio station and heard songs I could remember being new. —Sleestak714
7.
When exercise became mandatory instead of optional. —zomboromcom
8.
The school I teach at had a spirit week last year. One of the days was Meme Day, where kids were supposed to dress up as their favorite “Vsco girl or E-boy.” I have no idea what either of those things are. —caesar____augustus
9.
I tuned into the local pop radio station and couldn’t recognize 5 songs in a row —Kocollab
10.
I was lying on the floor and had a hard time standing up. WTF!? Also, I now burp sometimes unexpectedly. —dabuku1