Just a minute ago while sorting this months bills I had another one of those “omg I’m actually an adult!-moments”. Even though I’ll be twenty-five in a month I’m still having trouble seeing myself as a grown up. I live on my own, I have my own income, I pay my own bills, I can get into the pub and I can buy my own booze. I do my own laundry, I do my own cooking and I do my own grocery shopping. I’m allowed to get married and have a driver’s license, I pay taxes and I’ve already voted in three official elections. But still I really don’t feel all that grown up because except for all the responsibilites and advantages my age has given me I’m still the same person as I was when I was eighteen. Sure I’ve matured and changed in some ways but the difference isn’t that big. I’m a mature person when it’s required but I’m also very in touch with my inner child (and teenager) so I still do all kinds of crazy shit and I still live the life of a young person.

I see some people my age who seem desperate to appear grown up. They dress conservative, do conservative things and just can’t let go of things and just have fun. I’m not like that because I know there’s probably going to be a time like that aswell, some day. But not now. I’m still young enough to be able to sit in a park and drink alcohol and play drinking games with my friends without it looking too strange. A twenty-something person doing that is just looked upon as perhaps a bit trashy but still young enough to get away with it. A thirty or forty-something person doing the same thing is often looked upon as a tragic probably alcoholic person. Twenty-something people playing hide and seek in the garden are perhaps a bit immature but still young enough to get away with it. A thirty-something person doing the same thing without his/her kids is looked upon as weird and probably retarded.

Us adults talk a lot about how great our childhood was and how we wished we wouldn’t had been in such a hurry to grow up and instead enjoyed being kids a bit longer. Why don’t people talk about the teenage years and twenty-something-years in the same way? Because that’s a unique time aswell. In ten years many if not the most of the people my age will have kids and houses. They’ll have a lot of responsibilites and everytyhing will be different. I really don’t want kids and a house but I’ll probably be a different person too in some ways. And I won’t get away with the things I do now. That’s why I’m not desperate to appear all that mature right now.

Oh and a funny thing. I have the advantage of not looking my age anyway. During the festival someone guessed I was seventeen. Most people think I’m a little bit older though. Like nineteen or twenty. People actually think I’m as much as eight years younger than I actually am! As long as I have my ID on me (which I always do) to prove my age if nescessary I think it’s great looking young. Not to mention cheap. Half price youth bus tickets ftw.