I'm clearly too old for this.

via.

I'm not exactly 30. I'm in the middle of my twenties, give or take.
But after last night, I realized that I'm getting old.

I sort of knew this.
For instance, when I get off the couch after sitting for an hour my legs barely stretch out and I make inappropriate jokes about arthritis.
When I don't wash my face at night, I swear I see a wrinkle the next morning.
I need my eight solid hours of sleep or I can't even function the next day.
I have a full time job, bills to pay, and I no longer feel joy in getting the mail.
And while most of those can be remedied with a gym routine, a daily vitamin, and paperless statements... that's not all.

You see, it's becoming more common that when I go "out" places --
I meet more and more people who are younger than me.
I imagine this is a normal occurrence.
I mean, as you grow, others grow but at different rates than you.
So you figure you'll always be younger than some, but that means some will always be younger than you.
Get it? Okay.

But this wasn't always the way.
I remember being 21... 18... 16, not too long ago,
and it seemed like anyone I met... was always older than me.
Now suddenly, years & years have passed... and I didn't even see it happen!

Well, last night I begged Sean to take me to a concert.
I haven't asked him to take me to a show since the last time this band played in the area... two years ago.
And we didn't end up going back then because I got sick.

So, we drove the hour drive that it takes to get to Rhode Island from our house.
Drove around for 20 minutes to find parking, only to walk to the venue and find out that the show is sold out.
SOLD OUT. What? I didn't even know that was possible.

The doorman immediately tells us that if we meet him outside in 10 minutes, he'll get us in.
Uh, excuse me? Is this some sort of illegal deal? Because I want out.
But... Sean agreed. I'm standing there thinking, "great, all that gas wasted getting here.."
Meanwhile, Sean's planning on meeting this stranger in what will probably be the last 10 minutes of our lives.

It turned out less sketchy than I originally thought.
But I'm pretty sure we had to pay an extra four dollars.

Once we walked in, it hit me once again.
These people are all younger than me.
No wait, these people are all kids. Like aren't even of legal drinking age.
And I felt old. Too old.

I watched them stage-dive,
next to the sign that said "NO stage-diving".
And I was worried for them.
I saw the girls who were barely dressed, or wearing certain clothing items,
and I felt like saying "you'll regret that in 10 years".
I stood and listened to the band playing,
and a person kid passed me... and said "excuse me, ma'am".
Uh, excuse me?
You've got to be kidding me.

I can't even talk about the fact that I was out until 1AM,
and couldn't even get out of bed this morning.
For real.

Now, this doesn't happen to Sean.
He can go out, stay out, not sleep, not eat right, and still go out, stay out, not sleep, and not eat right.
It's the weirdest thing.
And I hope this trend doesn't continue for our lifetime.
Or he's going to be doing great, full of pep & life,
and I'm going to be the sore lady in the corner being called "ma'am" and falling asleep in the booth.
Oh, wait, that's apparently already happening.