What a lifeline this post has been for me! Over the last year or so, for the first time in my life I've started pining for how I looked in my mid-thirties. Ten years ago, I never looked at photos of myself in my early twenties and longed to return to that that era. However, now I'm bothered. But, I completely agree with you - it IS stupid and we all age (differently) and we should accept it and manage it how we see fit.
Honestly, the oddest or most annoying aspect to having a head and face full of grey hairs is having (I'm assuming) straight, grumpy men strike up conversations I don't wish to have. I know when at rest, I could be masculine-seeming and straight-ish presenting, but these men see me and assume I belong to their cantankerous salt & pepper brotherhood. I was at the laundromat and a youngish female was asking for dollar bills so she could do her laundry. She had a pair of beats headphones hanging around her neck. This prompted this contemporary to turn to me and complain, "Huh! Askin' for money while she's got a pair of $300 headphones around her neck! The nerve!" All I could muster was a matter-of-fact, "Maybe those were a gift from a friend or family member?" He disappointedly looked at me but still irritated, moved on. Several incidents like this have happened recently, usually revolved around poverty. I swear I never got requests to engage with shit like this in my 20s or 30s. Maybe it's all in my mind? Maybe I should start wearing a sparkly beret?
That is fascinating about the grumpy straight men and the assumptions they make about you ("cantankerous salt & pepper brotherhood" is a great phrase). That must be so annoying. I'm in favor of the sparkly beret!
And yes, it must happen to all of us, realizing all of a sudden that we don't look like we did in our 30s and lamenting it. I think there's a lesson in it, though -- in ten years we'll look back on ourselves now and think about how great we looked. So we should always just assume we look great.
I've usually been realistic and level-headed about aging; most of us had older relatives when we were growing up, no? When I was twenty-two I was at the beach with a bunch of gay male friends and they were bemoaning how old they looked. I remember thinking, "In ten years you'll be complaining you wish you looked twenty-two." That and they were going to be up for some big disappointments down the road if this is how they're handling their prime young adult years.
That cling wrap link! What a find!
What a lifeline this post has been for me! Over the last year or so, for the first time in my life I've started pining for how I looked in my mid-thirties. Ten years ago, I never looked at photos of myself in my early twenties and longed to return to that that era. However, now I'm bothered. But, I completely agree with you - it IS stupid and we all age (differently) and we should accept it and manage it how we see fit.
Honestly, the oddest or most annoying aspect to having a head and face full of grey hairs is having (I'm assuming) straight, grumpy men strike up conversations I don't wish to have. I know when at rest, I could be masculine-seeming and straight-ish presenting, but these men see me and assume I belong to their cantankerous salt & pepper brotherhood. I was at the laundromat and a youngish female was asking for dollar bills so she could do her laundry. She had a pair of beats headphones hanging around her neck. This prompted this contemporary to turn to me and complain, "Huh! Askin' for money while she's got a pair of $300 headphones around her neck! The nerve!" All I could muster was a matter-of-fact, "Maybe those were a gift from a friend or family member?" He disappointedly looked at me but still irritated, moved on. Several incidents like this have happened recently, usually revolved around poverty. I swear I never got requests to engage with shit like this in my 20s or 30s. Maybe it's all in my mind? Maybe I should start wearing a sparkly beret?
That is fascinating about the grumpy straight men and the assumptions they make about you ("cantankerous salt & pepper brotherhood" is a great phrase). That must be so annoying. I'm in favor of the sparkly beret!
And yes, it must happen to all of us, realizing all of a sudden that we don't look like we did in our 30s and lamenting it. I think there's a lesson in it, though -- in ten years we'll look back on ourselves now and think about how great we looked. So we should always just assume we look great.
I've usually been realistic and level-headed about aging; most of us had older relatives when we were growing up, no? When I was twenty-two I was at the beach with a bunch of gay male friends and they were bemoaning how old they looked. I remember thinking, "In ten years you'll be complaining you wish you looked twenty-two." That and they were going to be up for some big disappointments down the road if this is how they're handling their prime young adult years.