What does becoming an adult mean?

[Sennz0r]

Ok this'll be a bit vague for non-Europeans I guess but bear with me, the principle should be the same everywhere.

So I'm turning 18 this saturday, which in the Netherlands means you'll be a legal adult (I say legal because some things a 'legal' adult has the right to do have already been done by me and I know some things a 'legal' adult is expected to do will never be done by me).
But yeah everyone around here always says it's something momentous; you get to vote, get money from the government, get to drive a car, get to drink strong alcoholic beverages etc...
Truth is I don't really feel anything when I think about this stuff. I mean I'm not big on politics, strong alcohol, well, yeah uhm... just read the part between brackets for that. And all I can think of when I think about driver's ed is whether or not I'll ever get the hang of a stick shift.
I know this part of life comes with a lot of responsibilities as well but I can't really get a grasp on how that's going to turn out for me just yet. Maybe I have no sense of perspective or something.

So what I was wondering is did any of you feel different when you became 'adults', and what does becoming an adult mean to you? Try not to say legal sex too often, I'm actually looking for serious views from different people on this part of life, and especially your own perceptions.

 

[Rankao]

At age 18 I got sent out from the Lamplight into the wasteland to live at Big Town where I have to fight off Super mutants and slavers at a day to day bases.

 

[Jak The Great]

it means that from now on, bills will be your constant companion

 

[axia777]

it means that from now on, bills will be your constant companion

ROFL...wait...*cries*

 

[Sennz0r]

it means that from now on, bills will be your constant companion

ROFL...wait...*cries*

Ah well I guess it could always be worse..

..For instance being 26 years old and still living with your parents, like a colleague from work.

 

[crazy-j]

i dont know because i am not one....yet....

 

[Amnestic]

It means that you're finally a man. It's now time to go on an adventure to save the world from the forces of Evil and Slightly Ambiguously Evil Love Interest.

 

[axia777]

it means that from now on, bills will be your constant companion

ROFL...wait...*cries*

Ah well I guess it could always be worse..

..For instance being 26 years old and still living with your parents, like a colleague from work.

This is so true. I must count what is good in my life.

 

[The Iron Ninja]

I means nothing.

I'm still as immature as I was back when I was a teenager.
I've learnt a bit more things since then and as such can string together a more serious sentence, but that's due more to being around longer and picking up on things than some magical threshold of knowledge. Plus I'll more often than not reject the option to use that knowledge anyway.
Now friends and family keep asking me what I want to do for my 21st, since they view that as some kind of glorious age of enlightenment, and I have no clue why.
It's just an age, maturity is something you gain from your actions, not how long you've been here.

Anyway that's my ten cents (My country doesn't have any coins lower than that, sorry)

 

[Ultrajoe]

Adulthood is coming to terms with the fact that you are never going to grow up.

 

[Grampy_bone]

It means you can drink a lot of beer and stay out alllllll night.

 

[Amnestic]

Now friends and family keep asking me what I want to do for my 21st, since they view that as some kind of glorious age of enlightenment, and I have no clue why.

I think the answer is obvious: Bouncy castle.

 

[JDLY]

I guess America has upsides and downsides.
You can drive at 16 years old.
You can't drink until 21.
Either way I'm still 15.

You might here this a lot from elders but it makes sense:
Being an adult is accepting responsibility.

I guess I'll never be a full adult then.

 

[hippieshopper]

Being an adult is about doing things you don't want to do when you're not told to do them.

 

[the_tramp]

Turning 18 is coming to the realisation that everything that you can now do, you can't do very often due to money. I drink about once a week, maybe fortnight. I'm not talking going out on the razz, I'm meaning any alcohol at all.

 

[black lincon]

to quote Inara from firefly; "A man is just a boy who is old enough to ask that question."

 

[Xhakhal]

To me, it only meant that my mother stopped trying to meddle with my education. Now, school is my responsibility, and she keeps the hell away.

Other than that? Nah. You'll be able to vote.

Seriously, it has nothing to do with adulthood. Being an adult has more to do with -you- than the law or any official age. Of course, I'd say that not really caring that much about turning 18 is sometimes a sign of growing up, and understanding that it's not in the numbers.

 

[Xhakhal]

Being an adult is about doing things you don't want to do when you're not told to do them.

This is also true.

 

[mike1921]

Simply, being an adult means that if you kill someone because you played a videogame Hilary Clinton can not use you as a statistic for her propaganda as easily.

 

[ward.]

It means the old man that drives a white van and lives next door will stop trying to invite you around for ice-cream.