Being an adult...what does that really mean?

Ascot · 09-14-2015, 06:07 PM

My parents liked to entertain when I was a kid. It was still the era of the cocktail party. The very end of the 60s, the early half of the 70s. They were teachers both, so were most of their guests. There might be the occasional higher-ranking military guy, a handful of locals from whatever part of the world we were living in at the moment, but the majority were American teachers. Civilian employees of the Dept. of Defense. They were quite the bunch. Adventurers, very creative educators, people who, for the most part, swallowed big chunks of life whole. They genuinely enjoyed and respected each other and often did things together in groups of varying sizes. It's from being around them and my kindred spirit parents that I got my first examples and notions of adulthood; of what it meant to be and feel like an adult. Fairly early on I embraced the idea that I would know when I was an adult, that I would be one and feel like one and live like one. Clearly all the big people around me did. That's what I thought.

It's many, many years later, and most of the time I still don't feel like an adult. I do adult things. I keep a roof over my head, my car on the road, I have people who trust, like and love me. I go for cocktails, love the BBC, get my teeth cleaned... I still don't know that I feel like an adult. I think it's just more that I am an older version of my kid self doing the things I'm supposed to do. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm ever going to feel like an adult. It seems like that should concern me, but it really doesn't.

I think most people, if queried, would say that they think being an adult means taking responsibility and handling one's business. To me, it seems so boring when framed that way.

What's your version of being an adult?

09-14-2015, 06:07 PM	#1
Ascot Member How Do You Identify?: Preppy Butch artist Relationship Status: Riding solo Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: North of the Emerald City Posts: 1,135 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 179 Thanked 2,487 Times in 549 Posts Rep Power: 21474850	Being an adult...what does that really mean? My parents liked to entertain when I was a kid. It was still the era of the cocktail party. The very end of the 60s, the early half of the 70s. They were teachers both, so were most of their guests. There might be the occasional higher-ranking military guy, a handful of locals from whatever part of the world we were living in at the moment, but the majority were American teachers. Civilian employees of the Dept. of Defense. They were quite the bunch. Adventurers, very creative educators, people who, for the most part, swallowed big chunks of life whole. They genuinely enjoyed and respected each other and often did things together in groups of varying sizes. It's from being around them and my kindred spirit parents that I got my first examples and notions of adulthood; of what it meant to be and feel like an adult. Fairly early on I embraced the idea that I would know when I was an adult, that I would be one and feel like one and live like one. Clearly all the big people around me did. That's what I thought. It's many, many years later, and most of the time I still don't feel like an adult. I do adult things. I keep a roof over my head, my car on the road, I have people who trust, like and love me. I go for cocktails, love the BBC, get my teeth cleaned... I still don't know that I feel like an adult. I think it's just more that I am an older version of my kid self doing the things I'm supposed to do. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm ever going to feel like an adult. It seems like that should concern me, but it really doesn't. I think most people, if queried, would say that they think being an adult means taking responsibility and handling one's business. To me, it seems so boring when framed that way. What's your version of being an adult? __________________ Now, if I could just find a way to get paid for what I can do with my tongue and a cherry stem.