Age... it's just a number, right?

[EmeraldKitten]

I have a question.

A couple weeks ago, I was cutting this man's hair. My friend had stopped at the shop and was waiting for me to get off work.
I'm 21, she is 18. She asked me a question, then walked away.

Would you like to know what this man said to me???
"Is that your daughter?"

HELL NO! Was what I wanted to scream, but I contained myself, and just said no. He said, "Oh." like he thought I was lying.

Later on, after my friend and her dad got a rip-roaring laugh out of it, they pointed out that the guy probably thought I was just a middle aged woman that hung out with teenagers, lol. Which is funny, I'll admit... but I'm not sure how to take that!


So okay, that's fine.

Well. Monday. I was cutting a total different man's hair, and my boss lady's son came over to get my car keys. He'd left his wallet in my car when we went and got lunch.
So I hand them over, making jokes about how I didn't trust the sitation.

You wanna know what this guy said to me????

"Is he your son?"

FUCK NO! Was what I wanted to scream, yet again I just said, "No, he's the boss lady's son."
That son in question in 17!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know what the deal is, but if one more person thinks I'm old enough to be the mother of a 17 and an 18 year old, I'm gonna poke them in the eye with my scissors. LOL.

I know I look older than what I really am, but holy shit!

Next time I'll reply with, "Yeah, I started when I was 3."

Oh, anyhow, my question.. lol.
Has this happened to anyone else?
I mean, a lady at the store when I was buying beer thought I was 30, but this is different, lol.

What would your reaction be?


Discuss.

 

[tolyk]

Well, I've never been asked if a teen was my child, but I have had my age mistaken most of my life, due to my premature grey. The funny thing is, people who get to know me at all are always shocked when I say I have kids. First they think I'm older, then they are shocked to learn I've produced offspring.. This just makes me feel like they think I wouldn't be attractive enough to impregnate someone

 

[Just-Legal]

When I was fifteen someone thought I was twenty two.

I'm currently twenty, most people peg me for twenty six.

Don't worry about it hon, ppl are blind *hugs*

 

[hydrex]

Men know squat about womens ages. Sometimes it isn't the age, it's the maturity they see.

 

[impressive]

It's just a number.

However, when you reach your 40s and get carded while buying beer -- it's also a rush.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Are you having alien babies???

 

[tolyk]

Are you having alien babies???

Again???

But actually, that would be me.. You see, I'm an alien.. according to the US Government at least..

 

[logophile]

No one ever knows how old I am. Never have been able to tell.

I'm short and I guess my face still looks really young.
But I have all kinds of gray hair.
I started getting into bars at 14 with no ID.
Now that I'm 32 I still carded everytime I try to buy a beer.

No one believes that I'm old enough to have kids.
But I have been asked if I was the grandma-to-be at a number of births.

It's a number.
I'm sexier now than I've ever been.
I'm fully in my body, living a full life.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

This hasn't happened to me, but my boyfriend has gray hair and even though he's only 46, people are constantly trying to give him senior discounts. When people see us together, sometimes they assume he's my dad because I'm sixteen years younger. It makes me feel young, but I know it gets on his nerves. No one has asked if our son is his grandson, thank god.

 

[impressive]

I'm sexier now than I've ever been.

Absolutely!

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

It's just a number.

However, when you reach your 40s and get carded while buying beer -- it's also a rush.

Or going into the adult store, lol.

 

[Op_Cit]

I wouldn't worry about it.

Age appearance has been sinking over the last fifty years or so. Look at movies from the forties/fifties and you'll see that every leading lady would pass for a thirty five year old today (and most of them were early twenties).

The result is that if you don't have that babyfaced look that is so common these days amongst twenty somethings, you are taken for someone in her thirties.

Think on the bright side: These were probably standard male flubs made while they were trying to find out if you were attached, in preparation for a come on....

Trust me, I'm a guy and I put my foot in my mouth all the time.

 

[elsol]

I feel exactly the same way that I did when I was 3.

It's really disconcerting... sometimes I wonder what's wrong with me... I still see as vast a future ahead of me as when I was 16 and just out of high school.

Maybe it's the college atmosphere... I should stop hanging out with kids.

Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[Weird Harold]

Oh, anyhow, my question.. lol.
Has this happened to anyone else?

No, you're not the only ones it happens to.

I could give you a whole novel about the times my elder daughter was mistaken for much older than she actually was.

Her problems began when the breast fairy came to visit when she was about eleven or twelve and was exacerbated by her mature atittude.

Th worst case was when a sightly inebriated co-worker at a "shop party" barbeque accused her of having a phony government dependents ID that made her younger. She was fifteen at the time, and he insisted she had to be at least 21.

From the time she was about 13 to the time she graduated from highschool (when her friends started catchig upp to her maturity) she was routinely mistaken for my wife, the choir teacher, her sister's mother, her mother's sister, and had her age estimated at anything from 25 to 35.

Her reaction -- especially in the beginning -- was the same as yours; an urge to do violence to the idiots. She eventually began to see it as a compliment to her maturity but it still bothered her a bit.

 

[oggbashan]

Older? Younger? It's perspective...

When I was 7 I was banned from a playground for under 12s. I was too big to be under 12.

When I was 21 I had grey hair on both temples. People thought I was over 30 until I had a crew cut and the grey hair was less noticeable.

Now? I don't look a day over 3,000.

My middle daughter aged 13 thought that anyone over 30 must be middleaged and over 50 must be senile. Yet she thought her grandfather at 85 was 'young' for his age. Even at 95 he was taken for his late 70s. He used to tell me that his internal mental age had reverted to being 25 so that he could fantasise about the young nursing assistants... but he knew that 75 year-old women were too young for him. Their memories didn't match with his. The music of his youth had been different from theirs. They remembered the 1930s. He remembered the early 1920s and the missing generation that had died in the trenches.

There is a large gap in the UK between those born during the war and those born after. The older ones remember rationing, bomb sites, unexploded bombs, real privation and conscription. The younger ones' memories start in the 1950s when life was improving continuously.

Policemen look young to me.

Og

 

[EmeraldKitten]

I am glad I'm not the only one this happens to! lol.
Not that I thought I was.

After the first guy said it, my stepmom said, "Oh, men are stupid. They don't look."
We had a good laugh over it. Then later I thought that men do look. I'm a woman, of course they look, lol. Later, she revised her statement.

Anyway, people have always guessed me as older. I remember school supply shopping before I started 7th grade, and the clerk asked if I was starting my junior year.

I was in beauty school at age 18, and people guessed me anywhere from 23-27.

I don't get carded for alcohol~ actually, since I turned 21 in June, I've only been carded twice, and I buy it often, lol.

I don't mind that people guess me older... I think it's amusing.
But when people are thinkin' I'm old enough to have a 17 and an 18 year old, there's a problem there, LOL.


Most of the time, I conduct myself as a mature adult. It might not come through on here, but in real life I am.
(I have to be. The people I work with are 31, 34, 39, 40, and 73. LOL.)

Oh! My grandma is 59, and my mom is 41, but most of the time people think they're sisters, or think that my grandma is my mom. They both look younger than what they are. Hopfully, once I hit 30, people will stop thinking I'm twice my age, LMFAO!

Anyways, I was just curious.
Thanks for playing guys.

 

[espeteroh]

I'd say you just ran into a couple of idiot guys, they exist in rather large numbers unfortunately. Ignor them and move on, they aren't worth the space in your head.

 

[snooper]

... "Is that your daughter?"...

I recently remarried and my wife is some ten years younger than I. The best reference so far was when a railway booking clerk started off speaking to her by saying "Your grandfather..."

... Policemen look young to me.

The time to worry is when the policewomen start to look attractive.

 

[EmeraldKitten]

I recently remarried and my wife is some ten years younger than I. The best reference so far was when a railway booking clerk started off speaking to her by saying "Your grandfather..."

The time to worry is when the policewomen start to look attractive.

Oooooohh, that's a rough one.
That booking clerk is just a dumb shit, lol.


The day before the first guy asked if my friend was my daughter, lol, her dad had gotten asked if his 5-year old nephew was his grandson.
Well, her dad is 48. He could have a 5 year old grandson. That isn't so out of reach, lol.

I laughed long and hard over that one.... he's decided that I was deserving of the question, LOL.

 

[Guest]

I've been mistaken for my Dad's wife more times than I'd care to mention. He was only 22 when I was born, though, and he does look young for his age. It pisses my Mum off more than either of us.

 

[NoJo]

I've been mistaken for my Dad's wife more times than I'd care to mention. He was only 22 when I was born, though, and he does look young for his age. It pisses my Mum off more than either of us.

I wish I could say the same, but my Dad was 43 when I was born.

 

[gotwood49]

you're not alone

Hey, Kitten, it works both ways...

I used to always get carded, because I looked much younger than my actual age. When it stopped, I was really bummed!!

Now that I've turned 55, the first thing I wanted to do was go and get the senior discount at a restaurant, so my wife took me to Bob Evans. As luck would have it, I didn't like any of the 4 (four!) items on the 'senior menu'...so I got something regular. Bummed again! I was just so ready to whip out my driver's license when the waitress questioned my age!

Don't worry about the comments. There are pros and cons to looking older (or as I like to refer to it, more mature) than your actual age...people trust 'older' people more, they feel more secure around people they think are older...

...of course, this is coming from someone with the oppposite side of the problem, but my feeling is, once they get to know you, age is irrelevant, and so are your looks...beauty is within! Be comfortable with who you are...

 

[eric shawn listo]

When I was younger I was always mistaken for being older. Got me plenty of underage booze.

Now, I'm often thought five or so years younger than I am. That maybe because I have young children. Sorry, Joe.

At any rate, except on rare days, I don't feel my age. Which is what counts.

 

[lucky-E-leven]

I have been mistaken for my step-father's wife. (Him: 50 - Me: 27)

Last week I took the middle child (9) to the Aquarium for the day and the girl working the Stingray Touch Pool asks if we're sisters.



It never gets under my skin, but I don't think Vella would've been too pleased at the question. That'd make her my *gulp* mother.

~lucky

 

[ElizabethWest]

I was carded at a bar a few weeks ago. I am 36.

And they weren't carding everyone...