"God I'm old" moments

[Carnagath]

So, Greek guy here. When I was called to do my mandatory military service at 28 with a law degree in my hands, I spent a month being yelled at by 20 year old practically illiterate sergeants who thought they were the shit. I was then stationed near my country's border in the middle of nowhere near a river of mud with mutated mosquitos that ate me alive within 48 hours until my face was unrecognizable. I realized that if I wanted to stay alive I would have to spend every day covered in military-grade bug repellant, which looked like machine oil and felt like glue. I also had to make a torch every week, carry my bunk bed outside and burn the iron railing to get rid of tiny, invisible bed bug nests in order to avoid getting my whole skin covered in little itchy craters that WOULD get infected.

But I was okayish with all that. The final straw was during one of my guard shifts. I was at my post, about 50 meters away from a Turkish soldier who was at his own post. He suddenly disappeared for a while and came back with a watermellon that he found somewhere, sat down, pulled his combat knife out and started cutting it. Somehow, his CO saw him, came out of nowhere and proceeded to punch him, throw him down and kick him in the stomach for several minutes (yes, they are allowed to do that in the Turkish army).

When he left, the soldier stood up looking confused and disorriented, but after a while he picked up his watermellon and just stared at me. I stared back and said nothing. Then suddenly he started approaching me. He hadn't drawn his weapon, he just had his knife on one hand and the busted up watermellon on the other. I froze. He kept coming. I screamed "HOLD" as fiercely as I could, but he wouldn't stop. At around 10 meters I drew my rifle, armed it, aimed at him and screamed "HOLD" loud enough to taste blood on my throat. He kept coming. It was too late to use the radio to alert my base and wait for orders, I had to fire a warning shot in the air. I did nothing, I just stood there, frozen, aiming at him. Finally he got near me. We looked at each other. Slowly, he cut a slice from his watermellon with his knife and offered it to me. I stayed absolutely still and he just set it down on the ground next to me. He stood there for a few seconds, grinning at me with blood dripping down from his nose, then walked back to his post.

I did not report this to anyone, because I had fucked up and would probably face military court and an extra year of service if I did. I spent the rest of the day shaking, and the next 5 days without sleep until I collapsed and spent a week in the infirmary. This was the point when I realized that I am way, way too old.

 

[cerealnmuffin]

These kids on the public bus were talking about an old game system. They were talking about the clunky huge cartridges and how the graphics looked like garbage. One of them said, "I can't believe anyone could play that thing back then. It is so old." Up until this moment I assumed one of them discovered an atari or even a regular nes in their old siblings bedroom. That was then they mentioned the console's name: Nintendo 64. I still have a working nes from when I was a kid..... I'm late 20's if anyone was curious.

Also remembering the struggles of dealing with dial up and a world where only evil businessmen had giant cellphones makes me feel old. At least it is now safe to ask what the time is without having someone saying the groaner 'Time to buy a watch durr durr durr."

 

[svenjl]

I'm 33. I started watching The Simpsons when I was 14. I remember no Internet, DOS, VHS, cassete tapes, fall of the Berlin Wall, Fine Young Cannibals etc. Oh, and my eldest son is starting school this year. AND I feel really guilty noticing attractive women around 18-21 years old. That sucks.

 

[Rusman]

When I feel like shit after drinking.

Oh god this! I remember those time when I could drink the contents of a pub/bar/club in a night wake up the next morning go to college/work and feel fine just to do it all again that night.

OT: Any time I am shopping I start feeling old. Moaning about kids on the loose, complaining about the price of thing "Bah, in my day bread was 90p a loaf. Now look (there's no one with me, I'm usually yelling at strangers, another sign) £1.50. ONE POUND FIFTY! This countries going to the dogs... I blame Cameron"

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

Two decades is a long time, yes? Well, I have been alive for roughly two decades. Therefore, I am old.


Also, a teacher once taught me how to use a floppy disk. Yeah. A fucking floppy disk.

 

[foriamclever]

Been having them a lot lately, but in regards to gaming: the first console that I had as a child was Bally's Astrocade. Also, if you're not at least 30, you do not get to talk about feeling old. If you're feeling old at 18, or as in one comment 15 (which by the way I have tattoos older than you) something is seriously wrong with your outlook.

 

[robot slipper]

... hmm .. because I remember that I used to do this to load a game:

1) CGA
2) EGA/VGA
3) SVGA

Followed by this:

1) PC Speaker
2) Adlib
3) Sound Blaster
4) MIDI
5) No Sound

Followed by this:

1) Keyboard
2) Joystick

Or even, sometimes, this:

3) Paddle

This!! And reading it made me think, "aww those were the days!".

Also: Walking into town on a night out and seeing girls dressed in practically nothing and thinking "Tsk tsk, she must be cold, I'm glad I dressed sensibly."

That, and yesterday I found myself admonishing my little boy for leaving food on his plate because "there are starving children all over the world!!". Yeah, the slow realisation that you want to be a cool, young mum and instead you end up sounding exactly like your own mum.

 

[thahat]

I tried to explain Wi-Fi to a five year old and he did it better than me. And I'm fuckin' 15!

then sir, i regret to inform you, you got served. XD
but chear up, they might know some thing more naturally then you, but if you delve a little deeper. the new generation is cleuless about the background stuff. show them dos and they wil go...thats it ? a black box with NOTHING ?

 

[Loves2spooge]

When I went to the store and some kids outside asked me if I could buy beer for them.

 

[BlueMage]

I now find myself faced with being parent to a young cat. And I've held parties that didn't get shut down for noise.

I feel old.

 

[Bvenged]

I feel old just thinking that I can drive, am largely independent, pop on the shop driving home to buy bottled beer at then end of the week, can easily live alone, am already in debt so-to-speak and am responsible for every single one of my actions; getting grey hair is just around the corner for me as well!

I turn nineteen in 27 days, my final year as a "teenager" OMGWTFBBQSAUCE I am getting old! *weep uncontrollably*.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

I'm still considered young by most of the population (I'm about to turn 26 if you were curious) but have been feeling old lately. I thought instead of complaining about kids being in my yard, I'd hop onto this new-fangled internet thing and see if others have their own old-feeling stories.

So a bit ago, I was playing tennis with a buddy of mine. We've played a set by now, so I'm warmed up and looking for a win as he just beat me. I go to pick up a tennis ball from the ground when I get a spike of pain in my back. I didn't seriously hurt my back, but I had to stop playing the game because I bent over and hurt myself...

So in tribute to my upcoming 26th birthday, does anyone else have a fun story about feeling old? Yes, you ancient 30 year old's can also participate as long as you don't complain about the music in here being too loud...

You create a topic about being old on the day I turn 31?!? How very dare you, sir!

Well I'm onto you and your conspiracy...

OT: Every time I hear one of my favourite childhood albums getting played on the radio only for the DJ to say something like "And that album is 20 years old this year" will always make me feel old. Incidentally, 'Appetite for Destruction' is twenty five years old this year. How's that make everyone feel?

 

[Soxafloppin]

When I look at the release dates of certain , Starfox Adventures and Sonic Adventure 2 for Example.

Or when I look at what Age I'm half of.

 

[FabiotheTurtle]

When I realised kids these days don't know what 'dial-up internet' was, and they've never used anything older than Windows XP.

But honestly, that's a good thing

 

[Fertro]

I'm 17, and to put it simply, I love cars. About a week ago, I was overtaken on the road by a cherry red Mustang, beautifully restored, looked as if it was fresh off the line (They're not very common in Australia). As it rumbled past me, instead of thinking "What a beauty", I thought "Jeez, that would cost quite a lot to fill up". It's nothing major, but it's not exactly what somebody who couldn't give a fuck about the petrol shortage and rising prices usually thinks.

 

[TITAN59650]

I'm only 23 and I feel old as well, some of the reasons are here:
* I remember the spider-man and batman animated series being awesome, kids shows now are terrible
* I remember spending more time blowing in the the cartridge/console of the NES than playing it
* I Remember how awesome the graphics and idea of 3D was when the N64 came out and thinking not sure if it can get better from here
* Older movies like the original batman's, Jurassic Park, LOTR, Star wars were all state of the art and now they look awful
* I get knee pain when it's cold out
* I see kids with no respect for authority or police and think I would have got smacked for that.
* I remember when gas was $.80 a liter not $1.19
* I use to get paid $6 for minimum wage and how much you could buy for $20 in a store
* When I see snow I think that is going to be annoying to clean off my car and terrible to drive in, not how fun snow is

 

[Neverhoodian]

A few years ago I was discussing cartoons kids watch nowadays with one of my coworkers. She told me that her nephew had no idea who Foghorn Leghorn was. Quite frankly, I was stunned.

There's something, ah say there's something kinda "yyyyeeeeeeeh" about a kid that doesn't know who Foghorn Leghorn is.

Spoiler: In case any aforementioned kids are reading this post

I also feel old when I mention records, casette tapes, VCR's, floppy disks, or MS-DOS. I find myself having to explain what these devices were more and more often nowadays. I also get the occasional horrified expression when I mention how I used to have to go to a library to do research instead of looking it up online. Hell, I remember when I had to use a card catalog to find the books I wanted. That really confuses the young'ins.

Finally, I can't help but feel a bit annoyed when someone disses a game's graphics because it "looks like an N64 game." First off, the game in question usually looks nothing like an N64 game. It's typically more along the lines of a PS2/Xbox/Gamecube title, which still looks damn impressive to me. Also, you're implying that N64-era graphics are bad. Kid, I remember when those crude, serrated polygons rocked the world back in 1996. Come back after you've played a few Atari 2600 titles and tell me if the game still has poor graphics.

 

[Aedrial]

The 90's were 20 years ago. That gets most people.

 

[R3VOLU7ION]

Can I switch this to "God, you're old" moments? I have parents you wouldn't believe.

I might believe what happens with your parents. My parents have to call me to the living room to 'fix the tv after I broke it' when I just have to change it from AV2 to AV1...