Went to the Mid-South Fair Sunday and did what I do every year I go: Make whoever brung me pay the age-guessing guy $3 to guess how old I am.
The guy took the $3, looked me up and down, then wrote a number on a piece of paper. He guessed that I am 30 - but I will be 36 next month!
Why this made me so happy, I don’t know, because I try not to be a vain person. But apparently I am. Now that I can see 40 down the road, I’m starting to realize how much our society values youth. And devalues age. Especially aging women.
So I was glad, for a moment, to be seen as younger than I am, even by a fair carny. And, I got to pick out a free ($3, actually) prize - a stuffed bunny that looks almost exactly like this - because the age-guessing dude was wrong!
October 4th, 2007 at 9:42 am
I know. It’s pathetic how much we care about our age. I’m a pretty-much-older-than-everyone-else mom, and I LOVE when my mom pals assume I’m their age, even if I haven’t been close in more than 10 years.
Here’s what I think, though: We need to take back our right to age the way we want. I meet women every day who are what the world would call old and who have so much left to give. So let’s stop worrying about getting older, and point out that this is what older looks like!
Congrats on staying as young as you feel.