Age.
I was at a dinner party on Satdee night, a fine affair with much wine and food and even music. T'was a splendid way to spend time but one conversation has perturbed me. One of the ladies was waffling on about something or other and the subject of age came up, or rather it didn't as said lady claimed she has never revealed her exact age to anyone, not even her doctor.
This struck me as the daftest thing I had heard in some months.
'Don't you think he ought to know?'
'No', said she.
And that was that.
But it got me thinking. She is not alone in this, I know of at least two other folk-women-who are super hella coy about their age, always shaving off a couple of years here and there.
But why?
What's so terribly wrong about being the age you are? When did it become shameful? What's so great about being in your twenties that a body might cling to it as though drowing in a rough choppy sea of higher numbers.
Pretending to be younger than you are, I'm against it!
This struck me as the daftest thing I had heard in some months.
'Don't you think he ought to know?'
'No', said she.
And that was that.
But it got me thinking. She is not alone in this, I know of at least two other folk-women-who are super hella coy about their age, always shaving off a couple of years here and there.
But why?
What's so terribly wrong about being the age you are? When did it become shameful? What's so great about being in your twenties that a body might cling to it as though drowing in a rough choppy sea of higher numbers.
Pretending to be younger than you are, I'm against it!
Labels: Age. People.
posted by fatmammycat at 9:27 a.m.
29 Comments:
I totally agree! I think this is utterly ridiculous and don't understand the point of it all.
This brings to mind another age comment I heard last week.
I think it was Billy Connolly who said to Elton John on his 60th birthday that "when you reach 60, you should start lying the other way around. Instead of taking a few years away, you should pile them on - tell people you're 89 and everybody will go 'oooh you look so great'."
Good advice I thought.
I will be telling people I'm 50 from now on!
Oh, and good morning and good Monday by the waty :-)
W - A - Y
I am nearly 42. Which means that I am nearly the answer to life, the universe and everything. Now isn't that just great?!?! The world is my soft, squidgy, mollusc thingy.
So how old are you then?
34, although I'm feeling about 134 this minute. Morning all. Hope you all had rockin' weekends.
I've been up and down all night with the wee ones for one reason or another (it's 4am as I type this). I feel likr I'm 132 exactly and I look as young as I feel too. In fact, if someone were to insist I had a little lie down and a lightly boiled egg I would happily succumb to my age.
Before my wife and I were married, I had to drive her mother to the hospital to collect some test results. While we were waiting she had to go to the loo, and while she was gone, a nurse handed me her chart to bring in with her to the doctor. Printed on a label on the outside of the file was both her name and date of birth. I then felt it was my duty to text my then fiancee the information, since she had no idea how old her mother actually was!!!!
I'm pretty sure I did the right thing. The mother-in-law is still talking to me anyway!
fellow blogger who thinks it best to remain anonymous!
It's a bit mad isn't it?I mean it's either a couple of years and it makes no difference whatsoever or it's such an outrageous lie that no-one believes it anyway.
I'm a fellow 34yo (35 in June) and although I feel like I've aged an eon or two in the last 72 hours i couldn't care less who knows what age I am.
In fact I wish it was more obvious as you have no fucking idea how liver bite inducing it is for an Irish person to be asked for ID at a bar/restaurant.I ask you lads.
Harumph, I never get asked for ID, even when I WAS too young to go to places I was never asked for ID.
Sam, what's up with the bairns? Tummy trouble? Nasty coughs? Hope it's nothing too horrible.
I seem to have bitten my tongue in my sleep. Either that or I was stung by a scorpian- and that seems unlikely. I'm talking lith thith.
I am totally in favour of lying about your age! My mother has been lopping 10 years off her age since she was 40, now that she is 56 she has started lopping 15 years off. She thinks the maximum age a woman should admit to is 43. I thinks it's going to be very difficult for her when I reach 43! I will have to pretend to be her sister.
Why, she's a veritable Catherine Zeta Jones.
My father-in-law was adopted very young, and has no idea what his real DOB/age is. He'd love to find it out, but there's no way to. He thinks it's funny the way some people do their best to hide their age.
More like Goldie Hawn! Seriously though, doesn't Catherine Zeta look great, and Sharon Osborne. And folk do write off women over a certain age, so I can understand why they don't wish to be pigeonholed. Look what's happened to poor old Moira Stewart and Anna Ford. I notice Melvyn Bragg is suddenly looking 10 years younger, his hair is no longer grey, but a nice warm brown. And Tony Blair - he goes from grey to brown to a sort of streaky brown/blonde!
Gosh Kav, how very odd. I can't imagine how strange that must be to not kow ow old you are.
Shebah, have you seen Mizz Streep in The Devil Wears Prada? She looks dynamite. There's a whole lot ot be said for grooming as a woman gets older.
Today, I feel a thousand. Shouldn't have opened that second bottle of beaujolais.
Is it just a woman thing? I don't think I've ever heard a fella refuse to divulge his age. In any case, my kids badger me constantly about my age so it'd be hard to keep secret.
"what age are you dad?"
"I'm 38 Ois".
"what age are you today dad?"
"still 38 Oisín"
"when I'm 10, what age will you be?"
"I'll be 43"
"and when I'm 30, what age will you be?"
"63 Ois"
"and when I'm a grandad, you'll be dead won't you?"
"yes I will Oisín, thanks"
Oh Andraste, I feel/share your pain. We were gadding about yesterday and had a 'few' scoops too many too.
Connor, that's so funny. And I do think it is a woman thing, but I find it odd as hell. I cannot fathom why it's a bad or negative thing get older. Doesn't it happen to everyone?
Fuck's sake. I thought that 40 was the new golden age; growing into confidence, sexual peak, old enough to be a Mrs. Robinson, all that malarkey. Why would anyone want to be in their twenties?
I'm 25. TAKE THAT, FOGEYS*!
*PS: Take That are fogeys.
Gary Barlow scares me.
He's even worse than Deirdre Barlow!
My mum has lied about her age since she married my father who is three years younger than her. I am the eldest nosiest child and I found out the truth when I was about 12 and snooping, finding her birth certificate and then being sworn to secrecy by said mama. So next year we will be celebrating her 60th even though she is really 63. Told my siblings her real age a couple of years ago and you'd think she'd had an affair they way they went on. One sibling was even heard to say that she felt cheated!
My mum used to knock 10 years off her age until we worked out she must have got married when she was 11. She said she'd done it so that we wouldn't worry about how old she was. Apparently when she was 4 or so she remembered asking her mother how old she was, and when the reply came that she was 40, my mother had burst into tears, crying "your so old, you're going to die soon!" She didn't want to traumatise us in the same way. That was the excuse she used, anyway.
Beezer, that is really bizzare. So you all have to sing Happy Birthday and stuff, knowing she's already turned sixty? Does your dad know? Why do you all have to keep up the story? I mean if you all know.
Kim! Haw, a likely excuse.
Oscar Wilde said, "A woman who will tell you her age will tell you anything"!!!
Someone I know was born in June but thinks they were born in September - family secret - another premature Irish birth!!! I've often thought of spilling the beans, especially when they read the wrong horoscope etc... but I haven't the heart.
He'd love to find it out, but there's no way to.
Cut him in half and count the rings.
I'm 22, by the way.
In dog years maybe.
There is never a time when i don't get asked for id...26 in 2 weeks time but everyone still thinks im 16! it's so annoying.
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