I am going to start avoiding public places where I run the risk of running into old family friends, simply so I can avoid the question “what’s new with you, married, kids?”
I am 24, and not a, I got my shit together 24, more of a, oh she is still finding herself, 24. I specialized in booze and shopping for the greater part of my early 20’s, I had little to no desire to make it to my 8 am lecture in college because I had been up till 4 in the morning partying. I had no desire to marry the catastrophically wrong guy for me in my early 20’s, I understood birth control so there wasn’t a surprise baby and I wasn’t in a rush to find a unsatisfying career that would result in me waking up at 40 with a job I hate because society deemed it necessary that I picked a career path at 18.
Am I in a better place because of those choice? No, I am not, just a different place, I live in my parents basement, spend my Friday nights hoping a guy just as catastrophically wrong for me shows me some kind of interest, and I can sing every word to every Taylor Swift song...and I have choreographed dances to the majority of them.
Still, I feel like just assuming that because most of my peers have had some kind of accomplishment in their lives it is not okay to assume that all of us have. So asking the question “what’s new” is totally acceptable, assuming that I have made some great accomplishment by 24, like making a human being with my genitals, is not an okay postscript to the question what’s new. When I ask you, older family friend lady, what’s new with you, I don’t end the sentence with “how was menopause, those hot flashes are a bitch eh?” You know why I don’t ask that, because it’s fucking rude and I do have a small amount of couth.
29, this is the appropriate age where it’s alright to ask those questions, are you married , do you have kids, until then you just ask me how I am doing and I will reply with some kind of societal mainstream response. Chances are if I have spend a massive amount of money on one day, I will tell you, the chances are even higher, if I’ve made a human being, I will tell you.
You may be asking yourself why 29? To you I say, thank you for indulging me and letting me continue on this rant.
29, that is the average age women of Canada get married. So, if at 29 you feel the need to ask me if I am married, I will accept it and probably still reply with the same answer I did last night, “HA! I can barely get a second date from a guy, baby steps.” Which, in case you were wondering, is not a funny response and tends to lean to more awkward.
29 also happened to be the average age women choose to bare children, not 24. You know what average is for 24 year olds, having 510 friends on Facebook, and I am close to that, so I feel a small sense of normalcy and accomplishment.
No comments:
Post a Comment