In a world of 19 year olds, I feel OLD

I know that 29 is not that old. I know 30 is a death sentence. I do.

The problem is the 10,000 students I go to school with. They DON'T know these things.

I am in this speech class, for example, and we had to give a speech about "a nature event". So I talked about how we had a bazillion trees in our backyard when I was little. And how Dad built us a suspension bridge between two of those trees (as part).

(Okay, speech is going well, but there's confusion here... WHY would Dad build this? Right.)

"My dad built this for us after we went and saw-"

That's when it hit me. Hard.

"I was old enough to see the Indiana Jones movies in the theatres. The first time they were released."



Up to this point the class had been helpfully avoiding eye contact (I think we find it's easier on the person up front). All of the sudden there was a lot of pairs of eyes staring me down, amusement shining in them all.




So yes, I'm not as old as a lot of people. A LOT. The whole baby boomer generation comes to mind. But age is kind of a framework thing and I am stretching the frame of age around WSU. Not single handedly but definitely helping. Or making it worse. something.



Also how I know? Ashley's teacher said something about MacGyver the other day and I called her on whether she was actually old enough to know what she was referencing. (This was NOT because I walk around drawing attention to myself but because she slightly mocked the kids for not getting the reference)

Then the assistant teacher and I talked about Mr. Belvidere (?), Punky Brewster, Benson, and Webster. Just as I was solidifying my resolve to make a call to AARP, she mentioned some other "awesome" show I'd never heard of.

Her framework is about 17 years wider than mine.