Uncool & 2 Old 4 School

She: Damnit! I can't be seen in these coffee shops anymore... I don't like it. They make me feel... So much older...

Me: What the heck! You're just 22 years old, woman!

He: Ha ha ha...

She: I mean, you see these 'kids' all over the place now and they seem so full of life, drinking underage, exploring sexuality... And stuff...

Me: Well, you have a warped sense of the term 'full of life'... Because, it certainly is not what you miss doing, rather it's just being jealous of never being able to do any of those things...

He: Huh?

She: True, I've never been adventurous or impulsive, but something about these kids makes me feel like I'm incomplete... And no, it isn't a philosophical argument about a glass being half-full/half-empty shit. It's just the lack of ever thinking, 'Hey! I could do this!'... And now it's years too late...

Me: Do you at this point of time really envy these kids? The 15 year old girls with weirdly thin, weak and frail bodies and pants way too low? Or the guys with starter caps and jeans that are just begging to be pantsed?
And you really need to define 'years too late', because from where I stand, I know that you can still get into a nightclub without having to try to act cool, or even sit morosely at a secluded seat at a club, or even tire from dancing for 10 minutes straight.
It isn't the ability at question here. It's the choice...
You'd much rather be a different person, choosing maturity, over being one of the minnows...

I mean, look around! These kids are a new generation by themselves. Gone are the days when a generation gap lasted about 10 years, because it's now not more than 4-5 years...
And every generation has a faithful pack of lemmings, each one trying to look like the other, Every one of them patronizing a washed-up rockstar, looking scruffy just to get noticed and with no regard for hygiene or well-kept hair...

It is NOT a conspiracy. The only reason they're all around you talking about how cool they are, is because they probably are... You just choose to discuss other things at the same place, with like minded people. Why does that make you feel angry or left out?

So what you need to tell yourself now is, different is not necessarily bad... It's just a phase...
And you really ought to leave the worrying about aging when you're almost 40, and please make sure I'm nowhere near you by then.

He: Heh... Yeah. That's what I meant to say...

(At this point, you'd naturally expect sense to be driven home, while worry takes a momentary trip to incognito... Alas, it isn't just a question of what you're talking about, but who you're talking to as well...
And you realise that when you made friends back in the days, you weren't as wise.
And in that select group, are people who just want to be heard, with no regard for what you have to say.)


She: Ah yes... I understand...
Oh my God! A whole bunch of school kids just walked in... I'm never going to enjoy a coffee at one of these places ever again... I mean, I just feel soo...

Me: Don't say it!
What the heck!
You're just 22!!

Damn! Never again...