Expiration dates
This one's going to be somewhat depressing, but I keep thinking about it. When you have a kid -- particularly a kid who's old enough to ask questions about history, but young enough not to have a solid grip on the scale of time ("Was that when you were a kid, Dad?" "No, the events I'm talking about took place in 1902, so a little before me.") -- you get used to feeling old, at least from that direction. What I'm still trying to get used to, though, is people in professions that I define as "older than me" who turn out not to be. It's almost like there's a string of milestones attached to this phenomenon.
The first one is professional athletes, but that's really no big deal. I was still in college the first time I heard about a pro athlete who was younger than me (Eric Lindros, ice hockey, if you care). Actors who are younger than me...well, there are plenty of child actors. I don't think I noticed in particular when a leading man was younger than me, although I know I'm roughly the same age as Damon & Affleck. In literature...hmm. I'm only a bit younger than Jim Butcher, and slightly older than Naomi Novik; didn't know that.
On a personal level, I don't think I've ever had a boss who was younger than me, but I've been my own boss for the past 10 years. I'm pretty sure I've had a publishing contact (that is, the person who dictates my work) who was younger than me recently, and that was a bit odd. I've had one author I know of who was substantially younger than me, which was freaky at first, but I got over that eventually, because he was a pretty nice guy. Haven't had a doctor younger than me that I know of...I think the guy who did my last eye exam may have been, but I only saw him once. What threw me off, and prompted this post, was I think I met a priest recently who was younger than me...something he said in the sermon about graduating from seminary tipped me off, but I can't be certain. If there's any profession that I think of as primarily the realm of old men, it's definitely the priesthood. So far, it hasn't worried me much, and I'm not really sure when it will. Maybe when the President is younger than me? I think I'll be OK for a while on that score.
Anybody else had a "hey, you're younger than me" moment you didn't expect?
The first one is professional athletes, but that's really no big deal. I was still in college the first time I heard about a pro athlete who was younger than me (Eric Lindros, ice hockey, if you care). Actors who are younger than me...well, there are plenty of child actors. I don't think I noticed in particular when a leading man was younger than me, although I know I'm roughly the same age as Damon & Affleck. In literature...hmm. I'm only a bit younger than Jim Butcher, and slightly older than Naomi Novik; didn't know that.
On a personal level, I don't think I've ever had a boss who was younger than me, but I've been my own boss for the past 10 years. I'm pretty sure I've had a publishing contact (that is, the person who dictates my work) who was younger than me recently, and that was a bit odd. I've had one author I know of who was substantially younger than me, which was freaky at first, but I got over that eventually, because he was a pretty nice guy. Haven't had a doctor younger than me that I know of...I think the guy who did my last eye exam may have been, but I only saw him once. What threw me off, and prompted this post, was I think I met a priest recently who was younger than me...something he said in the sermon about graduating from seminary tipped me off, but I can't be certain. If there's any profession that I think of as primarily the realm of old men, it's definitely the priesthood. So far, it hasn't worried me much, and I'm not really sure when it will. Maybe when the President is younger than me? I think I'll be OK for a while on that score.
Anybody else had a "hey, you're younger than me" moment you didn't expect?