This is something my
girlfriend said last night when we were
shopping in the
Trafford Centre. A slight modification of a line from
Friends -
Ross: "I always knew I would be having a baby but I never realised that the baby would be having me."
This is something we have talked about before, and it is a bit worrying. It happened around the same time last year. You hit 20 and you're no longer a
teenager. My little brain started running 'round my head shouting "ohmigodohmigodohmigod......". What about all the things you're allowed to do when you're a teenager that your not allowed to do when you're older. Between the ages of 13 and 19, the expected behaviour seems to be going out and partying until you're so
tired/
drunk/
stoned/
all of the above that you can't stand or even function. Or similar things, a bit extreme but you get my
drift. It wasn't that much of a
panic, it just made me think a bit more than usual. We (me and all my friends turning 20 at the time) all decided that we we're the same people and we've partied just as hard as ever (although we are 3rd year at uni now so - within reason)
Now I'm turning 21, I'm starting to think I'm still the same person but this is the last milestone birthday I'll have until I'm 30. Not only that, this is when think of you as an adult in their heads and don't just say it. You have a big party, and you're accepted into the real world. The one where you have to work, pay taxes and start a family. I know this isn't what's going to happen. I've lost count of all of the 30+ year olds who party more in a week more than I do in a month. This is the point where I have to think of these things and not just go 'thats for the future, I'll leave it for now'.
Perhaps I'm just a product of society and the media. All those magazines and TV shows that tell me that I can only be happy when I have my own car and I'm driving into The City everyday in my nice suit and spending my weekends doing the garden. I don't want to grow up, I want to run around in sprinkers like I'm 5, party like I'm 18, drink like I'm 17. I don't want to have to be responsible or reliable or anything like that.
I just want to be me!