CULTURE/SOCIETY: Dialogue on Whooping Teens and Getting Older

This blog is taken from comments sent back and forth between me and zuhn to one of her blogs.

ZUHN (excerpt from her blog): Two: The whooping teens. These are the youngsters (I include the 20 and 30 year old who still live with momsy and popsy) who drive down in their parent's SUVs with the windows rolled down no matter the weather with offensive rap lyrics blasting and whoop. Stop with the whooping. And girls, stop encouraging the whooping. Evolve. And stop drinking in the car. Although I suppose such a long drive from the 'burbs, you do get kinda thirsty. And don't pee on my streets. How 'bout I come and pee on your leather seats?

ME (excerpt from a comment): As for teens, give it up. They've been whooping downtown for DECADES! It ain't ever going to stop!

But you are absolutely right about peeing on the streets. I'll join you in peeing on their leather seats!

ZUHN (excerpt again): As for the whooping teens, I really don't get it. I was never a whooping teen so I know it can be done! Does this mean I'm getting old?

ME: You're not necessarily getting old. Has a high schooler called you "ma'am" yet? (I'll never forget the first time one called me sir! "I'm not a sir yet!")

But you probably are getting OLDER. And that's not a bad thing.

I never understood whooping either - even when I was in high school. Like a girl's going to go, "Oh, come here, you big shouter! That really turns me on!"

Though I must admit I get a guilty pleasure when the young girls whoop at me when I walk home after working late, but then I'm a recently divorced 41-year-old. I need the ego boost!

ZUHN: I was on the plane this summer and the whole time they kept calling me ma'am. I'm still not sure what's so great about getting older. I can now rent a car without paying underage fees, but I swear the day I turned 25, I started getting heartburn!

Young girls whoopin' at ya, eh? Not too shabby!

ME: 25! My heartburn didn't start until I was 35! You better take better care of yourself!

I wouldn't take too much stock in a stewardess calling you "ma'am". They're paid to do that.

Well, to quote Pete Townsend, "We can't pretend that growing older never hurts." (Might not have that exactly right.) But getting older isn't without its benefits.

You can get away with certain things you couldn't before. And you get a certain amount of respect for just having made it this far in life.

If I didn't include the fun I have with my daughter, I'd say my youth was more entertaining. But I still have fun, and being a dad - even a fortysomething dad (talk about being exhausting) - is pretty cool. Shouldn't do that in your youth!

Hang in there. The best may not be yet to come. But there's still a lot of fun on the way!

ZUHN: Thanks, oldermusicgeek. I'm sure you're right and that the best is yet to come. Actually, I don't like being young much, but having grown up as the youngest in the family, amongst our group of family friends, and even now I'm usually the youngest one when we go out, I do miss the honorific of 'young'un'.