I’m almost at the age where I should be happy when some one guesses my age is 35. And yet…no. I remember going out with my husband, not too long ago, and when I ordered a glass of wine there were no IDs exchanged or questions asked. Not unusual. Until I heard the following conversation at the next table:
Can I see some ID?
You are carding me? Really?
Sorry. I have to ask for identification for anyone who looks younger than 35.
I looked at my husband. Did I just hear that correctly? Oh yeah, his sideways smile and carefully averted eyes let me know I had.
Do I look older than 35?! Never mind. Don’t answer that.
In my head, I look 24. Really. I am frozen at 24 years old in my mind’s eye. I manage a group of 24 year olds at work. I think I look like them. I wear cute skirts and boots too! I’m young and hip! Look at me! Only I don’t and I’m not. Bummer.
Tonight I went out with a group of moms for a Girls’ Night Out. It was my first Girls’ Night Out in….oh, forever. And when I say forever, I mean I have never gone out with a group of moms before. Ever. In my life. The last time I went out with a group of women might have been when I lived in New York–and I was 24–and young and hip. Tonight was nothing like that. But it was fun.
Except for one thing:
You see. there was a waiter with a ponytail and he was…wait for it…24. When my friend sat down, the pony-tailed waiter told her she looked 16! He seriously tested her age–asking her what year she was born. Did he ask me my birth year? Or who was president when I was born? Did he ask me for ID? No, he did not. When confronted, he said he thought I was more his age, but she looked 16. Ugh.
Ok, so she is blond and Ivory Girl pretty. Crap. I just sounded old with the Ivory Girl reference, didn’t I? Next I’ll be mentioning Julie the Cruise Director and you all will be staring at me blankly. That happened. The other day at work, I made some sort of Isaac the Bartender/Ted Lange reference and was met by blank stares and chirping crickets. Love Boat? Captain Steubing? Nothing? I am old.
Maybe I’m over-reacting. People who are legally allowed to drink alcohol were born the year I graduated from high school. Of course I’m not carded anymore! But would it kill some one to pretend?
