Things My 24-Year-Old Self Does That My 16-Year-Old Self Would Have HATED
The title kind of says it all, doesn't it? When I was younger, I had big, romantic dreams about living an unconventional life, every moment writhing with electricity. No bourgeois mundanity for me! Now that I'm a bit older, though, I not only partake in but flat-out enjoy the following stodgy old codes of behavior:
Talking about the weather. All the dang time. It's not even so much that I appreciate the value of being able to trade banal pleasantries with strangers all day. At some point, I just became genuinely fascinated by weather. (Next stop: Metamucil.)
Contributing to my retirement account. Forget all the fancy electronics and designer shoes my teenage self dreamed of. No purchase can match the pride I feel when I read personal finance articles about starting retirement savings in your 20s and think: "That's me! I do that!"
Bargain shopping. 'cause, hey, a girl wants fancy electronics and designer shoes sometimes.
Gently prodding teenagers to be more respectful in public. I deal with a fair amount of teenagers in my work, and I always thought I related more to them than to people my boss's age. Until, that is, the day a teen came in to use our phone, then bolted out the door without a word -- leaving me to shout "You're welcome!" after his quickly retreating form. The scornful look he shot me is exactly the one I would have given myself at that age.
Eating my veggies. Turns out veggies are AMAZING when they're not boiled for eighteen hours straight. No offense, Mom.
What parts of your adult self would be unrecognizable to you as a sixteen-year-old? And isn't it nice to settle into that great bourgeois expanse of middle age?
Posted by TKOG from Not That Kind Of Girl.
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13 comments:
My sixteen year old self would kill thirty-something me for the horrible crime of living in the 'burbs and staying here because I'm worried about the type of public school my kids will go to. Oh yeah - sixteen year old me would kill thirty-something me for even having kids.
Good lord, what was it with parents over cooking veggies? My mother did that too, and sadly they were even usually canned veggies. Which practically don't count as veggies at all.
I love the weather as a topic so much, that I live and die by the Weather Channel. LOVE IT.
Also, what is it about parents who over boil vegetables? Gray is not a color for something that started green.
I eat veggies all the time now. Salads are my thing. My 16 year old self would be like *$%# that! lol. The bargain shopping too. It's driving me nuts but mommy doesn't give me allowance anymore. But I'm soo much more happy I'm 25 then 16. Whew!
Dude, I follow multiple money blogs to tell me how to save up money and also take pride about the starting retirement in your 20's (I'm 26). Also after reading your blog I say dudes way more often.
However 16 year old self would give me a high five if he saw that 26 year old self ate cheeseburgers all the time (cause they are delicious!) Thank you cycling for keeping me not obese with cheeseburger input.
@Jason: Granted, our only point of interaction is this comment, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say: I like everything about you.
oh, i've got a TON of these:
wearing j. crew clothing. my teenage self would denounce me as a total prep these days.
the whole marriage adventure. (no need to get into that here - suffice it to say that THAT was a mistake, and 16-year-old me was right.)
drinking coffee every morning. i was a little bit of a purist back in the day...
Oh, gosh. 16-year-old me would kill 20-year-old me for...well, I don't quite know yet. Not getting my entire wardrobe from Salvation Army? Going to my second choice college? 16-year-old me was 100% sure I'd be a virgin when I got married. (Har!) But, thus far, all of those choices have worked out for me in the best ways possible.
@TKOG Protip: Turkey burgers are delicious and much less conducive to a wider waistline. However I somewhat negate the low fat turkey when I put avocado and bacon on it. Yum.
My hair is brown. (Boring!) I no longer listen to Nirvana. (For shame!) I am "business casual" personified every week day and I never leave the house in "lounge pants." (Sell out!) Oh, also - I took out my nose ring. =P But if you ask (the 26-year-old) me, my 16-year-old self was an immature, angsty douche. I mean, you should see the poems I wrote ;)
16 year old me would be appalled that I listen to the music played on most radio stations. She'd be horrified that I don't go to many concerts any more and that I hate my job but enjoy my life with a house to take care of a cat and a long-term boyfriend.
Ok I don't think she'd be horrified at the Boyfriend part. The rest of it though.
16 year old me would kick my ass upon learning I grew up to be a teacher. A teacher! The enemy! And even worse, that I married at 21, and married an accountant. What can I say? Grown up me likes stability. I'm not ashamed to be boring.
I got married, I wake up before noon (and often even before 8), I wear J. Crew Matchstick jeans and LOVE them and I haven't worn anything with spikes in at least 8 years. 16 year old me would have shit fit if she knew...
16 year old me would be stunned that I gave up a succession of cool jobs in the music industry to now work a blah job that I don't even want to talk about.
She'd be pretty stoked that I married an amazing man who shares my love of Mike Patton and limes though.
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