What’s Your Permanent Age?

Here’s a fun question to ask people after a few drinks: What’s your permanent age?

I’ve observed that everyone has a permanent age that appears to be set at birth. For example, I’ve always been 42-years old. I was ill-suited for being a little kid, and didn’t enjoy most kid activities. By first grade I knew I wanted to be an adult, with an established career, car, house and a decent tennis game. I didn’t care for my awkward and unsettled twenties. And I’m not looking forward to the rocking chair. If I could be one age forever, it would be 42.

When I ask people about their permanent age, they usually beg it off by saying they don’t have one. But if you press, you always get an answer. And the age they pick won’t surprise you. Some people are kids all their lives. They will admit they are 12-years old. Other people have always had senior citizen interests and perspectives. If you’re 30-years old in nominal terms, but you love bingo and you think kids should stop wearing those big baggy pants and listening to hip-hop music, your permanent age might be 60.

Another way to divide people is by asking if they live in the present or the future. I live in the future. I don’t dwell on the past. I’m always thinking about what’s next. When I sit down for a movie – no matter how much I expect to like it – I always look at my watch and imagine it being over. My mood is mostly determined by my expectations of how tomorrow will be. This works for me because I’m an optimist, and the future can’t disappoint me in the present.

Other people live in the moment. If today isn’t just right, they believe today is a bad day. Tomorrow is too far away to influence how they feel today. That’s a good point of view as long as today is going well.

Some people are locked in the past; it sneaks into all of their conversations and colors their perceptions more than it should. They spend their lives either consciously or unconsciously trying to turn the future into the past. They tend to be unhappy.

So what age are you? And do you live in the past, present or future?

Comments

[weight loss tip]

I'm in my 30's. I live in the present, learn from the past and plan for the future!

[weight loss tip]

I am in my mid 30's and life is getting faster than I could imagine. And yes, I can feel a big difference between 20's and 30's, especially the energy level. I used to be able to stay up for the whole night, but now, I really need my 8 hrs sleep to be able to cope the next day (or to look good). Oh dear!!!

My best permanent age would be 24, a new beginning of life. Full of ambitions for the society and future!

[SAR]

I'm 30 and always have been. I love to follow politics and did even as a kid. I watch the news incessantly and keep track of international events, but I also like to whoop it up at a dance club, go hiking in the woods, and hang with my friends. I skipped most of the normal teenage and 20s activities and went straight for the things a 30 year old would do.

[Divya]

I'm actually 18 but till now i can safely say my permanent age is 13.. actually just a kid but one who thinkis she's all grown up.. and enjoys taking advantage of what both sides have to offer...

Live too much in the past and in the future at the same time.. whatever it is, definitely not inthe present.. almost distressingly so... keep muddling my head up about what happened then and what will happen later.. yeesh..

[sanal]

I'd say I'm in my mid-twenties. (Actually 38) I've always lived too far in the future. Now I'm 38 and I haven't done anything to get my career/finances where I should be or thought I would be by 38. So much potential wasted living in the future. Procrastination is a hell-of-a-drug.

[forum]

I'm 30-something. Always been, always will be.

I live in the present, although sometimes I have an unfortunate tendency of getting locked into some past event that marks me for a long time.

[Matt Williams]

When I was 41 (last year) I was convinced for the whole time I was 42, as if I was waiting for something to happen. When I was in my late teens I felt like I was in my early twenties. When I was in my mid teens I wished I was a pre-teen, until I got my first Fender Stratocaster. There are no conclusions here, just observations that my analyst makes a living out of.

[Cynthia Barnes]

27. When my kids used to ask me my favorite age, that's what I said. They figured out that it was pre-kids.

[cartoonist]

Even if I was born in 76, I think I'm still a teenager. Like many people my age I suspect. Comic book geek and all that.

I think I live in the present. The past is always way behind yet I suck at planning ahead, so it's not the future either.

On the other hand, I am an optimist as well, and I tend to look on the bright side of things.

[Abhinav]

I would say I have always been 23:)

[Just4yucks]

I'm 49 1/2 with a great career, but I'm single and probably always will be. That's because I've always thought of myself as a 13-year-old boy who is only pretending to be an adult.

Yes, I am sexually aware, but the female of the species has always seemed alien to me. Not that I don't like women, it's just that I cannot understand their alien (to me at least) thought modes.

As a Buddhist, I try to live in the present. But as an optimist I do look forward to the future.

[Niqui]

My automatic answer to the age question is 21. I then have to think of my *real* age. Sometimes I get confused with 25. So that would make me a combination of 21 and 25.

I would say that it depends on my mood. Interesting idea.

[kelly]

it's a fun question, that makes you think about what biases we associate with the various decades...

another interesting thing to think about is what age your partner is. i'm 38 (and hanging on to 29), he's 42 (catching up to 55), and for us, the age differences work.

[Japie]

I think I'm permanently 38, if we're going with the time in our lives where we feel the most comfortable with ourselves.

Definitely future oriented too - so much so that I would one day like to be able to use time travel to bring my 20 year-old self into the future and transplant my present-day brain into my younger body. That way I can enjoy all the advatages of being young and energetic, without all that "troubled 20's" nonsense to slow me down.

[terry]

Is it really possible to know your permanent age without having lived it?

I've always felt myself to be older than I am. When I was in grammer school I felt older. In high school I felt older. In early work history I was planning my retirement. Now (almost retired) I'm still not caught up to myself. Maybe 101.

[Poshboy]

I am 41 years old, but I have always said I feel like a very well-rounded, urbane 27-year-old. And I have felt that way since I turned about 33.

I still go out in the evenings way too much compared to my peers, whom have all settled down, grown fat, and burdened with children and all their responsibilities. My old girlfriend wanted that life; I couldn't see the point. Or why anyone would willingly choose that lifestyle. Doing the minivan-life just isn't interesting, no matter how much one may try to defend it.

I enjoy classical and modern music, collecting antique furniture or machines, reading history books, and coming across the next interesting project (a 1980s pinball machine restoration is coming up. I get to learn circuit board repair!) And I am joining the Catholic Church in a week.

Perhaps someday I will settle down like my peers, but I really don't want to. I just don't see the attraction. Perhaps my fellow 41-year-olds do it out of fear; I'm glad I'm not that way.

Now if I can only find that Kate Beckinsale-like girlfriend who shares such a complementary series of thoughts. Yeah, right...dream on and enjoy that pinball machine, pal. ;)

[bbbeard]

Past, present, future?

Quite seriously, one of my favorite books is Slaughterhouse 5, because I feel like Billy Pilgrim. Billy's consciousness is unhinged, and his stream of consciousness travels back and forth in time. One moment he is a prisoner of war in WWII, another he is previewing his death decades later, then back to his suburban house years before. (I think. In truth I don't recall many scenes of the book. Maybe I haven't read it yet). I have trouble recalling what season and year I'm currently living in, when bills are due, how long I've been married. When people ask how long I've been married, I usually sayg "We're newlyweds" because that's how I always feel.

BBB

[bbbeard]

I'm fifty. But I read at a fifty-two-year-old level.

I'm a gradually-more-perfected 21 year old. Past the college drinking, not as smart as I was when I was eighteen, close enough to the teen years to feel occasional hopelessness and suicidal thoughts. My doctorate in theoretical physics still makes me feel cocky, like I'm some kind of prodigy. Still feeling unsettled and restless, despite being happily married for 18 years, with two kids. I think my wife, chronologically five years younger, has always been about 32. The difference in maturity is occasionally a source of stress. But I still feel uplifted when I'm around her.

BBB

[Flora_of_Cordoba]

Actual age 62 (no wrinkles). Permanent age 19. I was fit; in 2nd year college; a Goldwater girl; not married. I had great dreams for my future.

Currently I live in the present; wonder where my fit body went; exercise at a fitness center; divorced; a mother of two, grandmother of six; retired (early); live with 2 dogs and a cat; blog and am politically active. I still have great dreams for my future filled with hiking and kayaking.

Born in Alabama, raised in Maryland, currently live in Georgia, I was brought up on classical music, but now enjoy country. I didn't know what NASCAR was, but now am a fan. My parents didn't own a gun, but I now own four.

I think I have morphed into a 19 year old redneck whose next car will be a 4WD truck.

[fry]

I've always been 16 years old. When I was very young, I looked forward to being 16 so much! At 17, I was already nostalgic.

On an interesting note, people still think I am 16 (good or bad?). I'm 23.

[Gerry]

I was always younger than almost all my classmates. So at 14, I was 12 (actually), although I did not then see it so. By my 20's, I admired my fellows, but wondered why they were, well, 16. Figured it might be some fault with me.

I was doing quite serious work from age 21 - fighter pilot. Seemed, with few exceptions, fellow pilots were maybe 18, no matter how good they were at the business. While I was some 40 or other. Apparantly, (maybe) they played off the dangers of our work with pretty frivilous distractions. Understood. By 30, I may have been 50+, and immersed in serious books, even more so than back in school.

Unlike most others here, I've largely never thought of myself as some permanent 'younger'. But then maybe I'm just some sort of unusual person, as in some sense we all are. Since 20-30 years ago, I might be 107, but realize that may be just projection, or something.

I have a lot of very much younger friends, who never fail to to observe that I am not 'old'. I think that is because I easily fit in with 20-30 somethings. Or maybe there is something else going on (?).

Truth is that I'm 71, long double retired, and feel my age, which keeps expanding into - well - 142 (perhaps).

The question here is an interesting one, though probably not likely to yield any sort of conclusion.

The thing is, none of us is going to get out of this life alive. So use it well, so you don't realize, at 60 or 80 that you've screwed it all up. Because that's a 'bummer'.
In any case, good luck to you all. G

[bob]

how odd.
my actual age is 13, but i cannot stand hip-hop, baggy pants, and my idiotic classmates.
perhaps someone can help me determine my actual age?

[moptop]

I always believed, as long as I can remember, even when I got to my early thirties, that I was going to die in my early thirties. That was twenty years ago, so I guess my permanent age is the afterlife.

[Tantor]

My age stuck at 28 for a long time until I got old and fat and bald and became invisible to hot young babes. Now I've been stuck at 40 for quite some time now.

[Victor Ward]

I think I am 19, the age when I first started working in an office. Time has stood still since then, I am trapped in Cubicle Hell forever, but I am still listening to Pink Floyd and remembering the fumbling in the dark!

[pbjosh]

I happen to have Multiple Permanent Age Disorder (MPAD).

I am either 12 or 26 (happen to have passed 33 years on this earth so far though.....)

The Proof? I am ALWAYS carded. Most of my friends are mid 20's. Short of one women, all the girls I have dated are 21-25. I am still asked what I taking at the college and in my masters program, and if I am graduating this year. 80% of the time when I ask some random person how old I am, they say 26. Whenever I have dated somebody remotely close to my age they want to call me kiddo, even if I am the older.

Of course, my family and friends know that I am also 12. I even use that as the explanation. "Josh, why are you such a (insert profanity here)?!" "Because I am 12." "Yeah, you are." Like having a 33yo pre-teen prankster around. Body sounds are still pretty cool, giving family members wet willies or farting on them is still SOP.

Never had a name for it till now. But yes, I have a well defined Permanent Age, even if there happens to be two of them.

Josh

[Rich V]

I'm about 4...I drop the last digit of my age...so it sorta fits...love the post and many of the comments

[DRJ]

What a great post.

[Andrew Pass]

I've always said that the best middle school teachers are those people who stopped getting older in their early teens. In order to be effectiv with middle schools you really need to understand them. If you are one of them you undertand them really well. I guess this theory works so long as all middle school students are also in their early teens. But, as you can see there's an internal contradiction. I guess it doesn't work. But at least I get to point you to my blog: http://www.pass-ed.com/blogger.html

[dogwood]

I turned 40 a week ago, but people always guess my age somewhere between 28 and 32, although recently its been more the latter than the former.

Attitude wise, I'm a 28 year old and always will be. I like loud classic rock. I like to drive fast, preferably with loud classic rock blaring out the sunroof. I love motorcycles. I stay up all night and sleep in when I can. I'm an optimist, so I look to the future.

I've told my wife for years that I don't intend to grow up. My body may age and slow down, but I will always act and feel like I'm 28. Its a good fit for my personality.

And yes, I'm going to be a complete embarrassment to my children as they grow up. I can't wait!

[joel]

22.

I was out on my own and had great hopes for the future. The future was endless. I felt great. Life was good.

At 60 I still feel that way.

I still enjoy 22 year olds.

I tend to live in the present, enjoying it greatly, and just assume that the future will be about the same. I avoid revisiting the past. Either past events were bad and I want to forget them, or they were wonderful but now they are over. So, either way, remembering the past is painful for me.

[Joanne Jacobs]

I'm aging. For many years, I was 23. Then I realized that I was 32. That lasted for about 12 years. Now that I'm chronologically 55, I feel I should be 40 though my body doesn't agree with my psyche.

[packsoldier]

I guess I'm an old fart, because I hate baggy pants and rap music. My actual age is 38, but I prefer Sinatra to anything that's on the radio right now.

[Patrick Carroll]

Stephen Fry wrote a book called "The Liar." At one stage in the book the main character describes how different people are "perfect" at certain ages.

I think you've hit on something.

[Amy]

Wow, that permanent age thing is remarkably true. And it's weird, because I finally reached it (well, I say finally even though I'm not really very old, but everything is a matter of perspective - months are aeons when you're in grade school). Ever since I was 18, people have consistently guessed I was 26. Maybe people will keep guessing I'm 26. The last guy I dated had looked the same since he was in his early 20s, and he's 37 (everybody thought we were the same age, or maybe he was a bit younger than me... kind of creepy).

This also explains my dad: permanently 2. Just wants to goof off and play with toys. He admits it, too.

[Eyemagyn]

I've always been old enough to drink martinis and smoke cigarettes. TMy fantasies of adulthood were of world travel, intimate clubs and bistros, salons of brilliant cognoscenti. I was born too late for the Edwardian demimonde. Now that I'm 40-something with glass in one hand and cig holder in the other, I (barely) tolerate friends who are permanently twenty-something or under. "Ewww, is that Scotch you're drinking?" "What, you don't want to go to our wedding at Disneyland/Las Vegas/Cancun?" I have NEVER wanted to go to Disneyland, I was born with curmudgeo-vision that enables me to see through the facade of tackiness just like Superman sees through walls. I am cursed to be surrounded by overweight oldsters wearing Winnie-the-Pooh overalls and Eeyore sweatshirts. I am heartened by the seriousness of some of our young artists and entrepreneurs who are lionized by The Media. Their level-headedness gives me hope.

[Hoppitygibbit]

29. Permanant age - about 10, still sleep with a teddy bear, hate being alone in the dark. I live in my dream world most of the time. Past, present, future, and alternate realities.

[sharkfish]

I'm 32 permanently, but 39 actually. I live in the past. I want the times pre-911 when I was still innocent, thought America was great, and everything was going to be all right. Those were the happiest days of my life. I compare how I feel about things to how I felt when I was 32/33, to gauge my perception. I've been angry, bitchy, and mean ever since 2001/2002 or so, and I daresay depressed. I didn't come out of that until January of this year, when hope returned.

[Bradley Gardner]

I actually live in the future past. I consistantly plan my life two years ahead, so I can have good stories to tell about what happened to me in the past. I am also a collector of old photographs, music and movies (mostly 1920s and 30s), and I can't wait until technology is advanced enough to be able to store all old photographs in an easily accessible format, and all music made before 1940 is available for free on the internet.

My permanent age is 22 and 65. I like classical music and noise music, folk music and experimental rock. I hate youth but I like youthful people, I remember college nostalgicly and wish I could could putter around in my garden after I'm retired (and force everyone to respect me!)

[Jessica]

If I had to put a number on it I'd say I've got a permanent age of 32-ish. At the ripe old age of 23 I'm 2 years out of college and I already make more money than my parents (which I'm still getting used to), I have a brand new "reliable" toyota, a house, a healthily growing 401k AND a stock portfolio and I did it all on my own. I am thoroughly enjoying my 20's but I really envision myself as having the most fun in my life being a 32 year old soccer mom... for some reason I feel like my life will REALLY begin when I have little ones running around...

[Spannerotoole]

My Permanent age is 21
It is the age at which you know everything and yet you strive to know more
But this, do you live in the past, present or future bit has me stumped. If the universe is doughnut shaped like you say then the past can be also be the present and the future. This is why I cannot say which time period I live in. The closest would be the present, because there is no time like the present. The present is a gift. 21 year olds also like receiving gifts......

[dshep]

Good question. I think my permanent age must be in my mid thirties. I grew up quickly with one parent and no siblings. Mom was very ill and died when I was 18. Those types of circumstances force one to become responsible at an early age. It taught me to not wish my time away, to plan for the future and cherish the past. Some days I do all those better than on other days...

I identified with Reedy Creek’s comment above, well, excepting for the Roller Coasters. I just completed my MS degree and still feel like I have many more career options than I really do. I’m 47 for another month.

[Julie]

I'm in my mid 30's. As a kid and young adult I was always more stable, more responsible - even when I was age-appropriate, I felt it didn't fit. Now that I am older, I still maintain a younger point of view, but I'm definitely beyond the 20s - pop culture is a little bit young for me.

And I live in the future, too. Sometimes I can slip into the current moment when I travel - but still I tend to imagine showing pictures to people when I return, where souveniers might go, etc.

And I think about retirement a lot. But I'm chronoligically 50.

[Ca\\eska\\e]

As most gay men of the Western World I'm perpetually 23. Old enough to do most things legally, young enough to not worry about the future. Real age 29.8. My fear of aging made me start going to the gym about a year ago. And I am SOOO living the past. Or rather constantly wishing I woke up to see I'm back in spring 1999 again. With all knowledge of what I've done since then intact.

[Ralf Schwate]

I think I am about 15 and I live in the present (fitting to my age).

Any reason you picked the answer to the meaning of life as your age Scott?

[luxuria]

My permanent age was 17 all through my 20's and maybe even into my 30's.

But now my permanent age is 27 so maybe it's not so permanent.

[Crimson_Sky]

Oops. Forgot to answer the past or future thing.

Me? I think I live in all of the above. I have a bad habit of getting stuck in the past, which normally leads me to dreaming about how the future could be since the past is gone. Then I have a day or two where I forget about both and just deal with the present. Personally, I like the present. You can't get let down if the future dreams don't come true, and it's easy to forget about what happened yesterday.

[Crimson_Sky]

Well, I'm 18. Since I was little everyone has always said I was way older than I am. By the age of 13, I was being called 30. When you compare me to most in my peer group, I'm the outsider. No interest in partying, drinking, drugs, the sex scene, or heavy rock music. I also don't swear. To most of my friends, I'm pretty boring. Oh oh, and I have very little interest in dating guys my age. They always have to be older, because my age is so immature to me.

When you look at all of those factors, I'd say I haven't hit my permanent age yet. Probably in my 30's, since I'm not set in my ways enough to be 40's.

The scary thing? I also really love bingo, think that people shouldn't wear those silly looking baggy pants, and instead of hip hop music I think heavy rock should be stopped before it rots my brain cells. Although, I guess there's certain kins of hip hop that isn't exactly in my liking cadegory, too.

So, what am I? 30's or 60's? At this rate I'll be in a rocking chair telling the "When I was young.." stories within 10 years. No, wait, already done that one. Can't remember how many times I've said "I remember when I was younger and such and such happened" to my mom recently.

Sincerely,
Sarah

[lindy]

This is a good question. I found this intersting because I am also forty-two. Wouldn't it be nice to see the future and know that forty-two is the best time of our short lives. I know this has been one of the best and worst years of my life. Let me explain myself...I have just filed for divorce after a twenty-three year marriage.On the flip side of that, I have met the most wonderful person I could ever want to meet. He is the love of my life and we are getting along very well. If I had it to do over again, I would have waited to marry at an older age.

[c-ya]

My permanent age is somewhere in the 20-25 range. I was more comfortable with adults as a child and the first time I really enjoyed my life was in my early 20s. I am actually 45 but still think of myself as 20s.

My husband has always been an old geezer. He is actually 49 but his permanent age is about 70.

[Evie Rose]

This is, for me, a much-needed and much-appreciated post. I've NEVER acted my age. I'm too busy thinking and waiting for my classmates to grow up to act my age. I do things for fun in my free time--and I actually do like video games--but I take everything all too seriously, think too much, and am way too smart for my own good, according to everyone else.

I remember being in kindergarten and feeling like I was fenced out somehow. Not that I couldn't play with the other kids and all, but that I was really just watching these scenes through some misty haze, that I didn't quite belong. I remember finding everything intruiging, as well.

I spent third through fifth grade feeling like a total outcast. I was constantly pretending to be someone else as I went throughout the school day. I couldn't stand it otherwise; I loathed myself too much. The persona I assumed was always a bit older than me, more talented than me, more skilled than me, prettier than me, and more popular than me. I lived in my head. I wondered why people felt so inclined to write "F**K" on the walls or playground equipment. I had few friends--my one true friend had gone to a different school after second grade, leaving me very alone. I'd have all kinds of daydreams that I'd someday walk into the building, an entirely different person--an entirely perfect person.

Middle school--sixth through eighth grade--wasn't any better. I always felt inferior to my classmates, but also smart, in a shy sort of way. I hated to talk because I was so afraid of saying something "stupid." But if I heard someone supply the wrong answer, I'd be sure to correct them if I knew the right one. There was no doubt about that.

High school improved in terms of the people around me. Finally, some people were beginning to pull their fingers out of their noses! I was still constantly thinking and pondering. Then, after a therapy session, I learned more about myself than I'd ever thought possible. I was an extremely empathetic and perceptive person, I was very, very intelligent, I had a very low self esteem, I had a knack for helping people, and, as I'd heard many, many times, I was very, very mature for my age.

My brain works in ways, I think, that most people's brains never will. I knew I thought differently since I was in elementary school. I knew there was something "weird" about me, anyway. Friends come to me for advice, and somehow, I always know what to say, and somehow, I DO know what the hell I'm talking about, despite never having actually been through what they'd been through. The perceptive/empathetic description was starting to make sense as soon as that started happening. It's also what allows me to write from the perspectives of characters whose situations are not mine, whose ages are a decade or two ahead of mine.

In a web community I'm active in, where I give plenty of advice to people, even those ten or more years older than me, I've definitely been credited to having lots of "wisdom." I don't know where this wisdom comes from, but I suppose it's there, nonetheless. When I asked some members what they'd think my age was had they not already known, the lowest guess I received was 19--from someone who didn't know me well yet--and the others were mostly upper twenties, or even thirty years old! One girl my age said that I seemed like a mother to all the people in the forum, constantly supporting them and offering up advice.

To be honest with you, I'd LIKE my permanent age to about 14--I was cheated out of being a kid, too busy hating myself to be stupid and make mistakes. I have a feeling that my maturity isn't going to go much elsewhere, either, and I like feeling mature for my age. Another one of my choices would be something like 22 or something of the sort--wouldn't quite be out of college yet, but I wouldn't stick out so badly.

My permanent age probably is, though, about 35 or so.

I can look at friends and their parents, and I can see things they do and say that just make me want to scream at them. I see parents screwing up their children's lives, screwing up their spouse's lives, screwing up their own lives; and even as a teenager, I feel like I should sit them down and talk to them. I feel that the advice I give to my friends is just as credible when given to an adult, and if one is going through a hard time, I don't see why they can't accept support, at the very least, from someone younger than them.

Some teachers, for example, are very open to opinions of younger people, and don't act snooty when they have objections to make or don't agree. These teachers are also usually good at picking out which students are mature, and they take the advice by the words that are spoken, not by the voice that speaks it. Others are horrid at listening to kids, and believe that they are forever inferior to adults and that "When I was your age..." bits are actually worth something. "Times have changed; move on" is the only advice I have for these folks.

I always feel obligated to support and comfort people who are sad or are going through hard times, be they four years old or sixty-four years old. I'm very happy when adults can accept support and comfort from younger people; okay, maybe the majority of teenagers don't know the meaning of life, but just about all of them have hearts.

So, a teacher rejecting sympathy from a student, for example, is the equivilant of kicking the dog just because you're pissed off, or, slapping your kid across the face for little reason other than your frustration, and then never explaining or apologizing. It's rude and it's cruel; even if you don't like what someone has to say, if you know that all their intentions are good, you've got no reason to act that way. You ought to be happy that you've got people who give a damn at all. Sympathy, even if it fails, is a nice gesture, nonetheless, and should be taken as such.

Well, I've gone off on a bit of a tangent. Just a taste of my mind and its constant musings. I suppose I'll stop wasting space now.

Oh. I forgot to mention my real age: I'm 16.

I appear young for my age, apparently; I've been mistaken for a middle schooler too many times to count now, and this is late in my sophomore year. I'm 5'4", but I suppose some of my facial features and my tiny build are the things that throw people. My speaking voice is actually rather low.

I never feel it, though, I swear--my age, I mean. (I went off on another minature rant--always diverting myself, I swear...) I was born an adult, just like some other people said they were. I was born an adult in a baby's skin, just waiting for the body to shape and fit the soul it encased.

[Gabe]

My permanent and actual age is 55. I've just reached the point where I'm old enough to be interesting in politics and voting. I am future oriented

[gerry]

You should try asking a life insurance company your age. If you give 2 companies your actual birthday you will always get 2 different answers. Go figure!

[Randomscrub]

I'm exceedingly amused by this post, because I'm a 22-year old college student whose friends have been contending that my permanent age is 47 for years...

[Stan]

My actual age is 47, but my permanent age is about 32. Especially now that I have two little kids. I love them, but sometimes wistfully think of the pre-kid days. So I suppose I live in the past, but I fight that.

Had a better body back then too....

[mai]

My permanent age is 23. Still young enough to party like you did in college. Pretty broke, but with no one to spend your measly entry-level income on but yourself. Your whole life is a world of possibility -- not sure what your career will be, who or if you will marry, what city you'll live in next year.

Clearly, I'm future-oriented. ;-)

Also, I'm 22. So almost ideal!

[Rich]

16. Past. Now leave me alone, dad.

[Harley]

Permanent age is 70 - and I live in the past. I would like to escape the past, but somehow I can't seem to find a way.

[Bulbboy]

A boy in my school always seemed about 60. Now I know why.
He became a bank manager funnily enough.

I am 31 with a permanent age that shifts between 7 and 15, I think. Lately I've been buying old toys that I used to have on eBay, using the excuse "It's to paint them".

I'm generally optimistic, live in the past, and feel I have the body of a 60 year old. One day I might grow up.

[Don]

Mine must be somewhere in the late 20's early 30's. I've been old enough to think "kids these days! I can't believe their parents let them out of the house dressed like that!" for a while. I'm still young enough to hope I get to backpack around Europe some time, and I like to just get together with my friends and drink sometimes. Actually, my parents still do that (the drinking with friends part) every month or so. Maybe they're that age too.

[Don]

Mine must be somewhere in the late 20's early 30's. I've been old enough to think "kids these days! I can't believe their parents let them out of the house dressed like that!" for a while. I'm still young enough to hope I get to backpack around Europe some time, and I like to just get together with my friends and drink sometimes. Actually, my parents still do that (the drinking with friends part) every month or so. Maybe their that age too.

[Almost Lucid (Brad)]

I'm a hip and active 45, and present oriented. (real age is 31).

I mostly let the day's activities determine my mood, although my body has every right to overrule that with fatigue or sickness. I'd say I have 90% good days, which also corresponds with my happiness quotient raising or lowering 10%.

I've been low the past couple of weeks but have full expectations that I'm heading for a great run of happiness.

[j_major]

l`m 24, but l'd love to be retired. picture this:
*a check in your mail but you don't need to do anything.
*your kids don't need you and
*you live in a place with great weather. nice!

[Rebecca]

I ask people this question all the time, but I just say, "How old are you in your head?"

I'm permanently 17. Too young to be legally responsible or vote, but old enough to drive and earn money. (My body is 44.) All my kids are mentally older than me, even the one who is 15.

I live in the present. It makes things difficult sometimes because I tend to not plan ahead very well. :)

[CLB]

I was always more comfortable around adults as a child, rather than other children. My permanent age is definitely that of an adult. I think I was born in my 30s!

I will say childhood is more fun the second time around as a mom. :)

I live in the future, but at times become nostalgic for the past (especially when looking at old photos).

[Dmitry Z]

Excellent new way to look at people! Thank you!

Future-dweller of 36, 34 biologically

[perm42]

Is it possible to define your permanent age negatively? I hated being a teenager: all my friends had a great time with girls and booze, while I wondered about my fate of being a misfit. I hated being 30: I got an immediate depression on my 30th birthday, that I didn't get over until exactly a year later. 31 is definitely better than 30. So is 29, so 31 < 29 < 31. My twenties were just fine, by the way. After reading Douglas Adams, somewhen in my 30's, I started looking forward to being 42, and after becoming 42, celebrating it with a t-shirt with 42 written on the back and 'So long and thanks for all the fish' on the front, I've stayed 42 for a couple of years. I guess I will stay 42 for a long time to come.

[Sal]

Permanently 16. 15 is too young, and 17 is a quite awkward number. I costantly live in the future. And I am a born optimist. The world may end tomorrow and I probably would wonder why everybody in the planet is playing hide-and-seek.

[CatLand Creator]

Scott, u r cool. I'll be a five year old, a fifteen year old and a sixty year old- at the same time. I still sleep with a stuffed animal. As you can tell from my name, it's a cat. I can't stop dressing like a slob,(quoted from my mother),and according to my friends, I am long-winded like a 60 year old.

[Mirky]

So thats your take at the eternal question? Not bad.

Ive thought on that q back at school. I thought I was born to be early 30s. Most people around me agreed...

My mother keeps calling me grandma, but thats cause shes a forever teen and thats the age where, say, 33 is OLD. ;)

/biological age 22/

Id say I live in the present. If you cant touch it it doesnt exist. Makes hard to get motivated this way tho. Im kind of jealous of people who can live in the future.

[Joelle]

I would have to say that my permanant age fluctuates depending whether I am in a good mood or a bad mood.

If I am in a good mood I can be as young as 6, facinated by simple pleasures and energetic and happy. If I am feeling normal I am about 30, reasonable, calm, responsible and motherly (this is also what I consider the ideal age, old enough to be taken seriously but young enough to enjoy it). If I am in a bad mood I am about 60, cranky, bitchy and complaining about all my ills and how silly kids look in baggy pants listening to crappy music.

I am currently 28 in physical age, and in my 30 stage for age and attitude. I tend to live in the present which affects my mood and swings my age randomly throughout the day.

I have always had friends physically older than I and thought always that it was because I was simply more mature than my compatriots, however now that I see your permanant age theory I can see how this has affected my relationships. When I am with my friends I can easily see what their PA is, and this explains why some days I feel more comfortable with one friend who never left childhood then the next day find him immature and ridiculous.

I would have to say that my old biddy stage and childhood stage are aberrations which manifest solely when I have a strong emotional reaction to stimulus. So my permanant age would most likely be 30...this explains why I never understood my fellows in school.

This makes me feel quite a bit better, so right now I am very satisfied in my life, living in the present is good.

[Bernardo]

Alas, I have always been a reader of this blog but never commented...

This time, however, I couldn't resist...

I CAN'T BELIEVE ONLY ONE OF YOU MORONS HAS SEEN THE LIGHT ON THIS POSTING! :-)

Scott is forever stuck at 42 because his twin borther Douglas ADAMS has discovered 42 is the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, just as our Scott.

Look if you're curious: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Answer_to_Life,_the_Universe,_and_Everything

[Cliff]

One way to tell your permanent age is your dreams. How old are you in your dreams. Are you usually the same age in your dreams for most of your life.

For example, when I was a pre-teen, in my dreams I was in the 25-35 age range. When I was in the 25-35 age range my dreams were in that range also. Now that I am closing in on 60 my dreams are still in the 25-35 age range. Works for me.

[Jenn]

Permanent age is 34, past-oriented

[John]

Funny. I have always called it my "target age," and it has always been 42 for me as well. I welcome the bliss of being early-middle-aged and not worrying about the bullshit that I did in my early twenties or the stress of going to graduate school continuously in my late twenties and early thirties.

It's refreshing when you look at things like this I think. J

[Tormod]

I'm 24. Easy. Done with college. Not done playing. Still "peaking" at sports. I'm surprised how easy that question was for being so ridiculous.

I'm confident that at least my daughter will outgrow me sometime in her teens. She's four years old as of now.

I think that this is because I sort of found a steady beat there. I have difficulties relating to certain episodes prior to that. I don't think all my pieces had fallen in place.
I didn't feel this before I was 24. But I sort of stopped dead in the water there.

I was born in 1974, though.

[Littlecat]

6, present

I love to play. I'll get obsessed with something kids would do/like (knitting, sculpy, care bears, MLP, barbapapa, ..) and have lots of fun with it until my attention is attracted by something else. I do try to take my responsabilities and plan things into the future, but spending _today_ in a great way is very important to me.

I'll snap out of this state once in a while, and do something adult like the laundry :)

[Himanshu]

Scott, do you realize that off late you have suddenly started making so much sense and have bought meanings to your posts. No ia m not saying i dont enjoy the other posts, i love your blog man. All i say is that your posts for th last 3-4 days are very meaningful. Way to go.

As for me i think my PA should be 30. ANd like you i too look forward to tomorrow rather than cribbing about the past.

[Blåbb]

All right, explain what you mean, Scott. How old you would like to be or how old your character appears to be?

[DaveP]

The same as the answer to the Universe!

[AJ]

im 31 by the way i forgot to mention it maybe it becuase all the things that i was suppost to do when i was in that sort of age i just missed out on and my mind wont let me get passed it till i have had all those experiences who knows

[Neep]

I've been 2 1/2 for ever. I didn't even have to think about this one. When someone asks me my age, that's normally how I respond. I have the mentality of a two year old, but a mature two year old.

Time wise, I live in the present. The immediate present. Which means that I can have a crappy day, and still be happy. As soon as the crappy part ends, as soon as my boss stops yelling at me, the day is better. When you don't remember the past, and aren't worried about the future, it's much easier to enjoy the present.

[AJ]

I have pretty much been aorund 18/19 all my life i have an outlook appropriate to that age im relatively imature with the arogance opf youth and a sence of fun appropriate tothat age unfortuabntly this seens to anoy almsotany woman i go out with as they tend ot be older than me lol but woh knows. im not sure what i live in but i know thatr i went from beingthe most relaxed shilled out person you ever knew to bening a paranoid wreck when i started majorly to get involved with g/f's and that funny how these things change us.
i rememvber a thing you did a bit back about mild supper powers mine is that im almosty always right about 95% of the time i have worked out. when i ventuare an oppinion im damn sure its right. this is more of a curse as people tend to resenrt you and think you are just a smart arse also this doesnt work when i am directly affected by the result or when i tell a woman as they will undoubtably make me question myself.

the problem with this is that you genrally see how often you end up thinknig the worsed of people and they end up doing exactly that.

but thats the problem due to my perminant age i just havent learnt to keep it to myself and i never will lol

[Cyrus]

Definitely 29. At least this year.

Cyrus
http://blogging4burgers.blogspot.com

[Sayantan Sen]

biologically -- 24
Permanently -- cant say
future oriented...

[LA Guy]

40, about the time I had enough experience and money to really enjoy life. I'm always looking forward to the future because the past has been so good to me.

Incidentally, having nothing to do with your question, but for some reason your post reminded me that I use to take some delight in the belief that I have outlived Jesus.

I was raised Catholic and taught he was 36(?) when he died. Obviously there's no way to know, http://xrysostom.blogspot.com/2006/02/jesus-age-at-death.html but at 48 years old I think there's a pretty good chance I've already got a decade on the son of God.

In your face Jesus!

[Chad H]

I'm Like that song....... 18 till I die!

[Steph]

It took me a while to think of what my permanent age is. I came up with 25. Up till I reached 25, I used to live in the future, and dream of it - always wanted to be independent, earn money, be an adult. Around 25, life was going great. Since I crossed it, I have done little to dream more and bigger. Consequently, I have been living in the past. Now I am 30. I still feel 25 in some ways. Some weeks back I realised that was causing me problems in many walks of life. It's time for me to push up my permanent age to 40 and start living in the future again!

[Vinny]

Permanent age: One-year-old. That feeling you get when you see your first ever birthday cake! Ok, now I need to eat a cake...

[Moz]

Love the question. I suspect I'm about 25, given that that's how old many people seem to think I am (or act). Unfortunately I'm 38 and feeling my age a bit - I don't heal so fast as I used to and don't have the stamina or quick recovery I used to have.

I'm also future oriented, pretty much. I'm not sure that's so important, but I also suspect it's tied to optimism - a future oriented pessimist would possibly not survive very long.

[Kiwiataahua]

Nominally 36, forever 28 - some maturity mixed with youthful idiocy.

I live about a year in the future. Whenever I have a birthday the new age doesn't affect me because I've felt like I was that age already.

[Helen]

I'm permanently a teenager, though I'm actually 51. I love loud rock music and slobbing about watching the telly.

My daughter has a permanent age of about 30, which means that she tells me what to do a lot. It's SO unfair.

I live in the present, which I think makes me lucky. I'm happy most of the time.

That was a really interesting blog.

[Steve]

I remember when dilbert comics were consistently funny [Sorry scott - it's true]. Those were the good old days.

[Chris]

I guess that I have a permanent age of early twenties. But I have discovered an unusual fact, everybody I know stays approximately the same age they were when I first met them. To me that is their permanent age.

[SudeepBhaskar]

I concurr and have maintained for a long time now that I am getting younger (I have looked everywhere and cannot find any shred of proof that I cannot) so everytime anyone asks me I tell them that I am now 31 years old and I plan to get younger till I am 21 years old and then swing back to about 30, get younger again till 25, essential move like a pendulum till I settle at 27. I guess you could say that is my permanent age (I am 35 now).

[krishna kumar]

i have two personalities. in mornings personality1 is around 40 years old.. very sure of what its doing... ambitious... looking into the future... always planning to do something in the evenings in the free time after work.
by evening to late night.. its personality2... who is no more than 23... has no idea of what he's doing... doesnt take orders from anyone even personality1... looking to relax.. have a beer type... this one doesn't look anywhere - no future or past...

this way i can get no work done at all!

[Ceris]

My permanent age? Middle age, aka 40-50 years of age. I was always told growing up that I had an old soul and when I was in high school and did acting, I was always cast as the father figure or old man in a play - no matter what the play was. The only time I wasn't cast in the father figure role was when it was a twin part and myself and another guy auditioning were the two who looked the most alike. So yes, I would say that everyone does have a permanent age. I guess that despite my young age (21), my permanent age tends to show up in my writing choices, such as in my blog (see my profile).

-Ceris

[Chris]

I'm not sure, but I'd say probably late teens/early 20s. However, I am the exception to the "past people are unhappy people"! I'm usually only unhappy when I'm forced to live in the future (or a really crappy now), though I make sure I prepare for the future anyway.

[Kevin Gibbs]

Can your permanent age be flexible?

I seem to alway be thinking "in five years i want X and Y to have happened"

Change the X and Y now and again also, when a certaing goal is achieved.

So as i am 31 now, my permanent age is currently 36, next year it will be 37.

[Mohan]

I think right from my high school days I have always wanted to be in mid 50's/early 60's. Having just retired from work, kids have grown up, no responsibilities, all the wisdom of having led a successful life, in pretty good health and generally advising the world at large how things should be. And yes, I live in the past and I *am* perpetually unhappy. Unhappy with all these new technologies, unhappy with globalisation, pollution, capitalism, you name it and I have a grouse against it.

[Wendell]

It would be equally reasonable to say those living in the future tense their whole lives are, although perhaps optimistic, also largely unable to be satisfied. Being content with the present and enjoying the satisfactions of the past are also deeply gratifying qualities. Perhaps more so than always looking at your watch wondering "what's next?"

America is defined by this need to see what's on the next channel. It's part of the yearning that seems to have given us so much consumerism, but leaves us unable to be satisfied with all our toys and experiences. It has yielded a society deeply-indebted at every level and yet craving new experiences like a jaded hooker that's seen it all before.

Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. I wonder what's on comedycentral.com...

[Arby]

Age doesn’t matter if you’ve got the right attitude about life. There are lots of youngsters that act way too old and serious for their age. It is kind of freaky to see a precocious 5 year old dance and sing on a stage dressed like they were a grown up and sad too, as they are skipping their childhood.

Whatever the causation for me to be on this planet as a human being, divinely created, evolved, alien castaway or otherwise it is an incredible privilege to be here, So it is incumbent on us to cover and experience as much of this life as we can. What a wonderful story is the history of our developing civilization with incredible ancestors that struggled before us. Who are we and where did we come from?

Be a creature of the present, know everything that is going on around you today, miss nothing, enjoy your contemporaries and learn all you can about the present, even the good, the bad and the ugly.

Why not look as far into the future as possible? Even peer into the universe to see the light from stars so far away that they only existed a billion years ago. Space is where the human race is headed as the earth becomes unable to support our species. Be a futurist to glance at what is in store for us. Some science fiction turns out to not be so far-fetched.

So, when we leave this orb, hopefully after a long and happy life, we can say we did not squander the privilege of being here. Try to live life to the fullest. Celebrate the past, embracing the present and looking to the future. Go out kicking and screaming wanting more. Not a bad way to go.

[Crazycardfreak]

I've just turned 23, but I'm always working toward goals that I hope to have accomplished by 25. Goals being getting my degree, getting married and leaving the nest. I'm very much in the present. I don't think of the past much, and consequently I don't have interesting stories, since stories are from the past, the past being something I don't try to dwell on.

[Lymonhead]

I'm 30 now. I'd imagine my permanent age is probably around 32 but I tend to live in the present now.

Good one. I was actually talking about this last night at dinner.

[DML]

30.

And I always concentrate on the future (though I certainly remember and learn from the past)

[Hollywood_Freaks]

78
Future

In human years:
23
Present

[Nicki Lagrange]

i always come in late on these posts, so it surprises me that no one (as far as i can see) has made the rather obvious links between "permanent age" and political outlook.

Left/Right Liberal/Conservative etc

I don't think it'll be as simple as the younger your permanent age the more liberal/left you are - although that may be be the general trend - but there would be obvious exceptions. For example, if your mental age was about 2, i'd say you probably were a fascist at heart and dreamt of living in a dictatorship with you in charge.

[JO]

"Life begins at 50."

[squawkbox]

Permanently 15. I enjoy blushing and breaking out in pimples in the presence of the opposite sex. I have been doing a bad impression of a grownup for 20 years.

[Saskia]

I check this page sporadically, usually when something else is pressing like studying for an exam. Happily I stumbled upon today’s chapter and find there is someone else in the world that has a permanent age. I thought I was the only one.

I have always been 30. Not sure why, but as a child being a kid never felt right, and I knew I wasn't a teen or a twenty...but thirty was perfect for me. Fit like a glove.

As to living in the past/present/future, I think I do a little of all three.

[Paul]

Okay people, I have to step it up and defend the video game industry. Here's some news for you: Playing games isn't an immature pastime. Average age of a gamer is 33 years old, and it's rising approximately a year each year. Average age of a game buyer is 40 too. (http://www.theesa.com/facts/top_10_facts.php).

As an industry we constantly struggle with the impression that "video games are for kids". No they're not. That's why I'm making a mature title targeted at a person in their mid-late 20's. That's the target market. But when my game comes out and some wingnut buys it for their 12 year-old because "games are for kids", even though it says 18+ on the box, I'm somehow the bad man. The ESRB rates games for a reason, use it as a parenting tool. Because I'll tell you one thing: I'm not thinking about what you do or don't want your kid doing in a game. My game should never be in front of them in the first place.

So that was a bit off topic, but I just had to get that off my chest. As it stands, I'm guessing my permanant age is about 33, and I'm always looking one day ahead.

[Bytesage]

ageless, in a 3rd dimension of time ...

yeah, I'm out there :-p

ok maybe 19, and future + now - I take the long view.

- Loki's Razor, "The most bizarre and unlikely story or theory will be believed, accepted as fact, and spread virulently crowding out reality despite ample evidence to prove reality."

[Kiran]

isn't this straight from George Mikes "How to be a guru"??

[TrevOverT]

It is a natural that your permage is 42 as that was the answer to EVERYTHING in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and when I was 42 I was reading and watching it. Stands to reason I can't be anything else either.

[Scott Sobel]

42 sounds good to me as well. And, I live in the present. But, the real question is:

Did you get your age from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?

Dang, just noticed that at least two people beat me to the HHG reference. Oh well. Could be worse, I could be Marvin's age.

[massy]

I am permanently about 70. And not a spritely cheerful 70 either. Always thinking of the past alway complaining that the world is going to hell and this generation is taking it there (which is my generation). Music was better when I was young, people were nicer, governments knew what they were doing, you could trust the police, could walk down the street at night.

My favourite hobbies are gambling watching TV and complaining. I tried all that young people stuff -partying, box socials... well what is kids do these days? Didn't like it. I read National Geographic. Books written pre WW2. I could go on.

Sad thing is I am actually 28.

[Tony]

my coworkers call me "forever 14".....I guess I feel about 16-17.....always. I also do tend to long for my past...and yes I am often unhappy

[Billy B]

I live my age (63), the day, the moment, don't get locked into any one age. On the other hand, I am ageless, omnipresent. And I find this current age of mankind to be a pain in the ass.
Billy B

[Scratch]

I used to live in the future but I made myself stop.

What was happening is that most of the time the future did not unfold the way I had imagined it and I was very disappointed.

Even when the future unfolded in a good way, just not the particular good way I had imagined, I found it hard to deal with.

So now I try to live in the present, which also has it's disadvantages for me, but at least I can enjoy good things that come along.

[Faust]

Technically, I'm sixteen, but I've been 27 for as long as I can remember.

[kolanda]

I was born old and I knew it. My peers just didn't seem interesting enough to be important to me when I was at school. That was probably why I never got picked on, I just never cared enough about their opinions to respond...
I will always be 33 which as a 15yr old seemed very old but now I am 35 I imagine it will seem younger and younger...
I live in the present to an extent but I am a planner and think about the future a lot. I see today as an opportunity to organise myself for tomorrow.

[Simon]

I'll be honest, I thought that this post was bullshit until I read this:

"When I sit down for a movie – no matter how much I expect to like it – I always look at my watch and imagine it being over."

That's the way I've always thought, but I've never been able to put it into words. If I'm having a great time in a nightclub I'll look at my watch and think about how long it is until I'm leaving. I might think that it's a shame that it can't last longer, I might even wince when I realise that it's not long until we're leaving... But everything in my life feels like progression.

I'm 25 and I think that if I have a permenent age it's some place between 25 and 30. I've always wanted to be older, but these days I feel comfortable. I like the idea of advancing another few years and getting more job security and responsibility, but I don't like the idea of reaching middle age.

[Veronica]

Currently 16, permanently 65, and future oriented. Teenage boys should pull their pants up and act civilized, and parents need to raise their children to mind their manners and respect their elders. Freestyle dancing is okay, but organized dancing like swing dancing and waltzing is much better.

[DWH]

I'm 14 and far into the future.The first time I took an internet class I crashed the computer because it could not keep up with me.I'm very impatient when it comes to technology.

[Troy]

Early 30's (Actually 26). Which tends to cause much confusion for the brain expecting be somewhere I wont be for a few more years.

Definately future orientated. Always looking to the future, the past is something I dwell on occasionally but I continue to look ahead.

[Adonai Elohim]

I'm permanently 12. When I was 12, I knew I was stuck on that age. It's an nice age to be stuck in. Surrealism is allowed, basic sexuality is present, as are the fundamental rules of logic and science.

I keep forgetting the past even though I really try to remember things (and write down as much as I can) and when I try to think and act on the future things keep blurring and my focus shifts to something like going for a run at the beach or playing around with a new piece of software.

So that probably means I live in the here and now.

[Clark]

My permanent age is about twice my current age, so ~37. I just can't wait to be out of school and into the work force where I can do something productive (I'm very much like you in defining myself by my accomplishments, something which I can't do in school) and have a family and be reasonably well established.

I definitely look to the future. When you said the movie thing, I knew right away what you're talking about, I always try and guess what's going to come next. Or when I'm listening to someone lecture, I always know what they're going to say next, just half a second before them. I would really piss off my high and middle school teachers I didn't like by finishing their sentences for them.

[sonya]

Actually, I still do have a lot of that childish wonder going on... so maybe alter my permanent age to 42 and 8 combined.

Always looking to the future.

[gremikin]

I haven't lived enough to consider my permanent age. But if I live mostly in daydreams, what does that count as?

Like, today I doodled a Tragasaurus Rex. It's a Tyranosaurus with wings, and it can breathe fire. But it still has little arms. I imagined things I could do with my Tragasaurus, and I paid little attention to whatever people were saying.

[sonya]

I think my permanent age may be early 30s, but I'm not there yet, so I can't be sure.

I always live in the future.

[TheGuyWhoOnlyCommentsOnce]

34 and present easily. No point in worrying about the past, it's immutable(probably). And I always did so bad in school because potential unhapiness tomorrow never dissuaded me from enjoying today. It sounds like it would suck the next day, but by the time the bad stuff happens it has by definition fallen into the immutable category and I can wash, rinse and repeat.

[Fury]

My permanent age is definitely 24. I had a great job, travelled, lived free and did not have the sole crushing responsibility I have now (promotion is not always a good thing). Today I still play computer games and do other teendult things so I guess that means I live in the past. Too bad.

[chitrak]

admit it, you have a bet going on how many comments will reference hitchhiker's guide for this post....whats the number set at? 42 in 42 days?

[Jess]

I was sixty until I was about 22, now, at 32, I think I'm pretty set at 24.
Good times.

[SpongeJim]

I've always figured I'm sort of a "mature 16". As a kid I always had a superior vocabulary and it seemed a more mature outlook on the "giggle topics". However, I still would partake of the immature sarcasm and slander that is the hallmarks of one's teen years. I always enjoyed "kid stuff", yet had an insatiable hunger for history and knowledge in general. I had a very good memory and could recount many obscure events and situations from the past. For this reason I feel I do live in the past, i.e. I often think of how much "better" I "should have" been at something had I known then what I know now, etc.

[Angry Lab Rat]

Though in reality I am 35, I believe I'm a permanent 16. Even when I was a small child I remember looking up to people in their mid-teens and wanting to be like them. Now, as an adult, I find myself wanting to be back in that position, teenage angst and all. I like the independece I felt when I first got a car (at 16), but wish I could afford to have sex and run around with the few cares I had then, indulging in my favorite hobbies (which are still remarkably similar). God help me when my two little children reach their mid-teens. Will I feel overjoyed at being able to live vicariously through them? Probably, but with a source of teen life so close, will I find myself "going native" and becoming too much like them? Would that be a good thing?

[Erik]

I'm only 19, so it's really hard to say, but I would guess I'm permanently around 16. I have just enough personal responsibility to get by, but I hate doing anything that's not a waste of time (school, work, chores most of the time).

And my best guess is that I think in some strange hybrid of future and present. I think in the present enough to hate the day, but I also think in the future enough to prepare to hate tomorrow (and the following two weeks and three days). I could easily be interpreting this incorrectly, but I'm 16 and I don't care what you say.

[D. Mented]

I always wanted to be a sophisticated and confident 30.
I will always be a naiive and awkward 15. (currently 47)
I have over-fourty-itis, though, and I'm not embarrassed at all about it.
(That's when you start thinking how the world has gone downhill and kids these days are all messed up)
I caught it when I heard an otherwise decent man use the word "pimp" as a compliment ("You are the mac-daddy pimp!")
To me, someone who persuades teenagers that are having problems with their parents to (try drugs and then) become whores is not someone worth admiring. At that moment I stopped trying to keep up with the culture and accepted that things really are going downhill.
I blame the influence of television. Watch how many different takes on 'mean is cool, selfish is smart, altruism is for losers...Oh, and pre-teens are acceptable objects of sexual interest' you can see in an hour of 'surfing'and multiply that by 24/7/52 for three or four decades.
The fifteen-year-old wonders how people can be so relentlessly shitty to eachother.
D. Mented

[Cute_chica]

I'm 13!
I'm too young to have a permanent age.

[Cute_chica]

I'm 13!
I'm too young to have a permanent age.

Depends on whether I'm