Just a Number

It's strange to me, my brother being 22 years old now. That age was pretty pivotal for me. It was one of my favorite years but also one of the worst. The good and the bad of that age both stemmed from the exact same thing. My relationships. I learned so much about others and about myself. Despite the stupid crap I got wrapped up in, I can't regret it because of how much I took away from it. I feel like I'm growing older inside at such a rapid pace, much like dog years. I took a silly quiz several months ago that said my real age is 35. My feelings for being 23 still stands.

I'm going to go on two related tangents here.

Being 23 still doesn't feel or sound as young as 21 or 22 but as I said in the linked post, I'm still the baby in the majority of my circle of friends. But now since spending my time at the hookah bar I'm surrounded by current high school students and recent high school graduates. There is still a large chunk of older customers, but since we took on a new employee [who is 19], he has been bringing in all his friends. I only just found out two nights ago how old they were. This news brought me to the realization that I chunk younger people into a large group and can no longer guess their age well. I don't really have the ability for it anymore, whereas the opposite stands for all people older than me. I found it really funny when a regular customer asked me how old I was and then told me I was old. I laughed in his face and said that it's definitely not the case with the people I hang out with. I also realized, in conversation with the new employee, that I hated high schoolers while I was in high school, therefore why I would I feel any different now. I can't stand teenagers. I feel such a funny feeling when I say that. I imagine old people and their utter bewilderment with those gosh darned kids. Needless to say, I keep getting déjà vu while growing up. I'm repeating all those thoughts that I've once heard by older generations when I was younger. Growing up is always a surprise to me.

The other related item pertains to something my brother said that I've heard myself say on a daily basis. He said that he can't date younger people anymore. I instantly laughed so hard. I'll let you in on some recent workings in my brothers life. As I may have mostly failed to express, he's been wrapped up in women lately. Despite my lecturing, he goes and does what he pleases. He found himself a 28 year old woman for some time who ended up being a crazy crazy bitch [who knew?!]. Now he's got a cougar on his hands, 38 years old. He made that statement which humors me but worries me at the same time. I continue to go on my older-sister-lecture about how age doesn't always imply maturity and that basically people can be fucked up no matter what age and insecure as well. I may not be an expert, nor do I always listen to the rational/logical side of myself, but I had to put it out there for him. Regardless, without fail I can predict the outcomes of my brothers choices/situations and he never listens to me despite that he knows I'm always right.

The other thing that makes me laugh about all this, is I'm often jokingly wondering if this runs in the family. This whole being interested in older people. There's me, my brother, and even my cousin who dated a 29 year old girl while he was 21.

What are we going to do.